As heavy rain continued to fall on the green hills of the Jura Sunday night, speculation was rife in the hotels and inns where the thousands of people following the Tour de France were staying. Among the questions being asked were: How could the race favorites allow 14 riders to gain almost 36 minutes? Will a similar breakaway happen Monday? Will the rain still be around? How long will Stuart O’Grady keep the yellow jersey this time? Or how strong a challenge will come from second-placed François Simon or fourth-placed Andrei Kivilev? All this speculation has arisen because this is a Tour

4:41 p.m. (local time) Ivanov held them off. The former Russian champion attacked the lead trio with 9km to go and held off his two breakaway partners, to earn his first-ever Tour de France stage win. Etxebarria and McGee finish just ahead of the quickly closing -- not quick enough, though -- peloton. Erik Zabel took the field sprint for fourth. 4:39 p.m. (local time) With 1km to go, Ivanov is 10 seconds ahead of McGee and Etxebarria. The field is 40 seconds back. 4:37 p.m. (local time)With four km to go David Etxebarria (Euskaltel-Euskadi)and Bradley McGee (La Française Des Jeux)

It was a hard race today to Aix-les-Bains. The attacks began nearly from the start, plus there was a tailwind. At the beginning, there was a lot of climbing with lots of false flats. It was hard up the climb and over it. . We kept going hard until the feed zone (at the top of the 1200m La Vattay, the second climb of the day), and it was then when the break suddenly gained five minutes. Bonjour and some other teams took up the chase. The last climb (the 520m Cote de Bossy) was really hard. Some of our guys had to chase back on. Our team rode hard for the last 20km, or so, to get Zabel up for

Zabel took the field sprint, still aiming for that sixth points jersey

5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time limit, but with 160 riders outside of that limit the Tour can invoke Article 22 of its rule book which states that if the percentage of riders to be eliminated is more than 20 percent of the number of riders who have started the stage, the time limit could be extended by agreement of race officials and organizers of the Tour. 5:35p.m. (local time) The main field has finished around 35 minutes behind the leaders. That is outside the 10-percent time 5:23p.m. (local

After an opening week at the Tour de France during which everyone was on edge, with riders struggling at their limit in the crosswinds every day, something had to give. And it finally did on Sunday. A typical group of headbangers went out on the early breakaway, just as you would expect on a long transitional stage, two days before the first high mountain passes of the Tour. But the end result added yet another twist to this year’s Tour, turning the standings upside down, putting the yellow leader’s jersey back onto the shoulders of Stuart O’Grady, and introducing a possible wild card into

5:53p.m. (local time) We just finished speaking with John Vande Velde, the father of U.S. Postal Sevice rider Christian Vande Velde. He says that his son has apparently suffered a fractured left arm, contusions on his neck and a possible concussion. Vande Velde was wearing a helmet when he struck a post after missing a turn earlier in the stage. He recovered enough to get back on his bike, but realized his injuries were serious enough to warrant medical attention and then withdrew from the Tour. We'll try to update you as soon as we know more. The senior Vande Velde, just back from the

For the Crédit Agricole team, the biggest player so far this year in the Tour de France, everything is going according to plan. For Laurent Jalabert, it’s almost as if he has no plan, taking everything day-to-day. Both approaches worked just fine on Saturday, as the Frenchman Jalabert won his second stage of this year’s Tour, while Crédit Agricole saw the leader’s yellow jersey change hands within the squad, going from Australian Stuart O’Grady to German Jens Voigt. Jalabert’s win was the second time in his career that he has won a Tour stage on the French national holiday Bastille Day, the

Kelme: A force in the peloton, a curiosity in the caravan It has had an incredible 20-year run as a cycling team sponsor, but Kelme’s entry in the Tour publicity caravan doesn’t quite live up to the same standards as the team, yet. While most sponsors in the caravan sport a whole fleet of elaborately decorated and rigged-up vehicles, Kelme really is an army of one. The green pick-up truck with the giant soccer shoe on top is kind of a lonely sight each day, looking like someone who sort of got swept away by a parade barreling down Main St. But is it effective? Well, hey, they got their

Many of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph of our daily updates, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:15 p.m. (local time) Stuart O'Grady retains the yellow jersey and Telekom's Erik Zabel continues in his quest for his sixth green jersey. 5:05 p.m. (local time) Kirsipuu! Telekom's Erik Zabel, was looking strong, but ran into traffic. Kirsipuu had a clear shot, while Zabel

On Friday, many of the riders at the Tour de France may have been breathing a sigh of relief, comforted in the fact that they had survived a very difficult opening week. For Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R Prevoyance), it was not only physically taxing, but also a mental challenge as well. However, he bounced back on Stage 6 and scored the second Tour de France stage win of his career, on the 211.5km stage from Commercy to Strasbourg. It won’t get any easier for the riders from here on out, but at least now, the Tour may settle down into a more recognizable rhythm. Week one of the Tour was

An analysis of the time splits at Thursday’s team time trial show that the U.S. Postal Service squad was on target to place second before Christian Vande Velde skidded on the slick, white-painted center line and fell, bringing down the team’s No. 2 rider Roberto Heras. The crash happened just inside 15km to go. If the other seven Postal riders hadn’t have waited, not only would Heras have lost a couple of minutes but he would also have felt abandoned. And that’s not how a team wants to go into the mountains, where the Spanish climber needs to be at his best to help Lance Armstrong win the

Even a brief visit to one of the women’s grand tours in Europe will leave even the most casual observer asking questions about equal treatment. The hotels are cheaper, the press coverage infrequent and the transfers often border on the ridiculous, sometimes up to 200km. But at least one front, this year’s edition of the Giro d’Italia femminile – the “Girodonne” – has achieved a degree of equity: the Italian drug police raided the hotels on Wednesday night. In a move reminiscent of this year’s men’s Giro d’Italia, the Italian anti-drug police, swooped in and searched the rooms and processions

There aren't too many flat roads on Wednesday's 215km stage 4 from Huy to Verdun that traverses the Ardennes range from north to south. And the stage won't be made any easier by a predicted three-quarter head wind gusting up to 25 mph and possible rain showers. The good news is that most of the day's climbing is in the first half of the stage, when the unfavorable wind should keep the peloton together.Despite that likelihood, there are bound to be early attacks. Half the field is now more than five minutes off the pace, and 40 of them are more than 10 minutes behind race leader Stuart

5:30 p.m. local timeSo a few of you have asked that we not reveal the winner in the headline or first paragraph, so if you don't want be surprised as you work your way through our now-not-so-live updates click HERE to work up from the bottom and follow the race from the start. For the rest of you today's winner was ... 5:12 p.m. (local time) Jalabert earns his fourth Tour de France stage win, but he will not make it into the yellow jersey. Stuart O'Grady managed to finish close enough to keep the overall lead. Dierckxsens earned second and Nazon edged out Fast Freddie Rodriguez for

On Wednesday, the Tour de France made its way back into France, after racing through Belgium for three days in the opening week of the race. Along the route from Huy, Belgium, to Verdun, France, was the war memorial in Douaumont, commemorating the two-and-a-half-year battle in World War I, where more than 150,000 French and German soldiers lost their lives. But looking back on Stage 4 of the Tour, it’s the 150km of roads before that monument that will be remembered most after an epic chase and a surprising show of force by the teams of the top contenders for this year’s overall title. On

5:16 p.m.(local time) Here is the unofficial top 20 list from stage 3 of the 2001 Tour de France. Stuart O'Grady is now officially the overall race leader with a 17-second advantage over Festina's Christophe Moreau, the man who first wore the jersey in Dunkirk. 1. ZABEL Erik GER TEL 198.5km in 4:5:7; 2. MAGNIEN Emmanuel FRA, FDJ; 3. GARZELLI Stefano ITA, MAP; 4. BALDATO Fabio ITA, FAS; 5. SIMON François FRA, BJR; 6. MIKHAILOV Guennadi RUS, LOT; 7. CAPELLE Christophe FRA, BIG; 8. BOUYER Franck FRA, BJR; 9. BAGUET Serge BEL, LOT; 10. ARMSTRONG Lance USA, USP; 11. MOREAU Christophe FRA, FES;

Everyone knows that a potential Tour de France winner has to make climbing strength his No. 1 priority. An inability to ride fast uphill is a serious handicap. And there's plenty of climbing ahead in this Tour -- starting with Tuesday in the Ardennes of southern Belgium. This is the hilly region where the infamous Liège-Bastogne-Liège World Cup classic takes place every April. It's a race that showcases strong climbers. Five-time Tour de France winners Eddy Merckx of Belgium, and Jacques Anqutil and Bernard Hinault of France, all won the Liège classic. Among the event's most famous climbs

After two days of chasing time-bonus sprints to try to get his hands on the leader's yellow jersey at the Tour de France, Australia's Stuart O'Grady did it the old-fashioned way on Tuesday -- by finishing in the lead group of stage 3. Meanwhile the race leader at the start of the day, Rabobank's Marc Wauters, fell far behind on the difficult climbs in the Ardennes region of Belgium. At the finish line in Seraing, Telekom's Erik Zabel took his second stage win of the week, thanks to the smooth teamwork of his Telekom team, while O'Grady finished in the pack, but took the race lead by 17

Warm sunshine, a favorable breeze and a completely flat stage Monday are all the ingredients needed for a stage of record speed. And for Tour stages longer than 200km that means the 48.764 kph average of 1998’s stage of 205.5km from Tarascon to Le Cap d’Agde won by Tom Steels. The absolute Tour stage record speed is the 50.355 kph set by Mario Cipollini on the 194.5km stage from Laval to Blois in 1999. Cipollini is, unfortunately, not at this year’s Tour, but Steels is. Ordinarily, Mapei-Quick Step’s big Belgian would be the favorite to win Monday in his own country, but on Sunday he showed

5:10.m. (local time)Wauters is the man in yellow. A Belgian takes the day when the Tour finishes in Antwerp. Stay tuned for complete results of today's stage, a post-race wrap up story from VeloNews Senior Writer Bryan Jew and analysis and a preview of tomorrow's race from VeloNews's John Wilcockson. 4:53p.m. (local time)Wauters! He takes the stage (and that $22,000 diamond) as the leaders have indeed managed to stay away from the frantically chasing field. And the Belgian from the Rabobank squad is now also the new overall leader of the Tour de France. 4:49p.m. (local time)

The Tour de France yellow jersey is one of those prizes that is known and coveted in the sports world for its history and prestige. Like the NHL captain who hoists the Stanley Cup, or the golfer who slides into the green jacket at the Masters, the rider who dons the maillot jaune at the end of the Tour de France has worldwide recognition. Everybody knows that the Postal Service’s Lance Armstrong has pulled that jersey on in Paris each of the past two years, and is one of the favorites to do so again. But in the early stages of the Tour, it’s a whole different breed of rider who chases after

Foreign riders won both the men's and women's races of the second leg of the four-race BMC Software Grand Prix in Arlington, Massachusetts, Sunday. In the end, it was Mercury-Viatel’s Australian Baden Cooke taking the 62-mile men’s race and Canadian Lyne Bessette of Saturn winning the 42-mile women’s race. The women's race kicked off the day, although many of the riders thoughts were anywhere but on the race as they struggled to face the memories of this event last year when Saturn rider Nicole Reinhart was killed in a crash. "Our goal is just to celebrate Nicole's life and get through the

6:00p.m. (local time) Telekom's Erik Zabel is celebrating his stage win and Festina's Christophe Moreau retains the overall leader's yellow jersey. Today's top five:1. Erik Zabel (Deutsche Telekom)2. Romans Vainsteins (Domo-Farm Frites)3. Jimmy Casper (Française Des Jeux)4. Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole)5. Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2R) Check back for complete results, a stage wrap-up from VeloNews Senior Writer Bryan Jew, commentary and preview from VeloNews editorial director John Wilcockson and compelling images from this first stage by VeloNews photographers Graham Watson and Casey

Making history was the last thing on Rob Hunter's mind as he became the first South African to ride in the Tour de France in Dunkirk Saturday. The 24-year-old Lampre rider, who relocated to Europe three years ago in a bid to join the pro ranks, was pre-occupied with the demands of the opening 8.2km prologue than etching his name in the record books. Hunter could only manage a "disappointing" 68th from 189 riders on the first day of the 3454km race, 32sec behind French prologue winner Christophe Moreau. But despite that setback, his comments prior to becoming the first South African to ride

The story of Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France seems typical enough for an opening road stage: a slow early pace; a long, eventually unsuccessful breakaway; a mass field sprint; and a stage win by one of the star sprinters of the Tour, Telekom’s Erik Zabel. Routine enough, but the 194.5km stage from Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the very north of France was anything but an ordinary, flat, sprinters stage. The stage began in the town of Saint-Omer, about 50km inland from the North Sea. Under gray skies and a light drizzle, 188 starters rolled out of town. Lotto-Adecco’s Fabian De

The story of Stage 1 of this year’s Tour de France seems typical enough for an opening road stage: a slow early pace; a long, eventually unsuccessful breakaway; a mass field sprint; and a stage win by one of the star sprinters of the Tour, Telekom’s Erik Zabel. Routine enough, but the 194.5km stage from Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer in the very north of France was anything but an ordinary, flat, sprinters stage. The stage began in the town of Saint-Omer, about 50km inland from the North Sea. Under gray skies and a light drizzle, 188 starters rolled out of town. Lotto-Adecco’s Fabian De

U.S. Postal Service general manager Mark Gorski, the 1984 Olympic sprint champion, said he was almost speechless when he read Sunday morning the accusations made by one of the team's early physicians, Prentice Steffen, in the London newspaper article authored by staff sportswriter David Walsh. Steffen told Walsh that "two of my riders approached me saying they wanted to 'talk about the medical program.'" Walsh then wrote, "Steffen is sure he was being asked to help two riders to dope." In commenting on those statements, Gorski said Sunday evening at the Postal team's hotel

U.S. Postal Service general manager Mark Gorski, the 1984 Olympic sprint champion, said he was almost speechless when he read Sunday morning the accusations made by one of the team's early physicians, Prentice Steffen, in the London newspaper article authored by staff sportswriter David Walsh. Steffen told Walsh that "two of my riders approached me saying they wanted to 'talk about the medical program.'" Walsh then wrote, "Steffen is sure he was being asked to help two riders to dope." In commenting on those statements, Gorski said Sunday evening at the Postal team's hotel 25 miles east of

If Mario Cipollini were riding this Tour de France -- as he and his Saeco team should have been -- he would be rubbing his hands with glee right now. He would have done well in Saturday’s prologue, as it was just the type of time trial he likes: enough turns to make use of his turn of speed, and long straightaways where a big rider like him could churn a big gear with great effect. Indeed, going into Sunday’s second stage, the Lion King would have been within a few seconds of race leader Christophe Moreau, and ready to take over the yellow jersey with a 20-second stage-win bonus. Cipollini

Lance Armstrong and Roberto Heras arrived on scene in a special Postal team car, rear windows tinted black, and the two stars were quickly ushered out, past the crowds, and into the Postal team bus parked at the prologue start in Dunkirk. A classic, rock-star arrival. Meanwhile, just a few meters away, Fassa Bortolo’s former world No. 1 rider, Francesco Casagrande, would later warm up for the race practically unnoticed, just one young fan poised against the Italian outfit’s taped-off team area. That was all just part of the curious scene in front of the Piscine Municipale Paul Asseman, the

Only four men in the 98-year history of the Tour de France have managed to win the race three times in succession: Frenchmen Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Induráin. American Lance Armstrong is now attempting to join those four greats of the past. Of the four, you would have thought that the insatiable Merckx would have had the easiest passage to his three in a row. He had won the Tour in 1969 and 1970 by margins of 17:54 and 12:41. Yet, his 1971 ride was the least glorious of his eventual five Tour victories. After wearing the yellow jersey for

A Tour de France contender can do everything right in training, but unless he balances that schedule with the right amount of racing, his chances of success take a nose-dive. In his first two Tour victory seasons, Lance Armstrong got it just right. In 1999, his last event before the Tour was the low-key Route du Sud, where he won the last stage, a summit finish at Plateau de Beilles. Then, last year he won the time trial stage of his last pre-Tour race, the Dauphiné Libéré, in which he helped teammate Tyler Hamilton take the overall. Both these performances boosted Armstrong’s morale

Only four men in the 98-year history of the Tour de France have managed to win the race three times in succession: Frenchmen Louison Bobet and Jacques Anquetil, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Induráin. American Lance Armstrong is now attempting to join those four greats of the past. Of the four, you would have thought that the insatiable Merckx would have had the easiest passage to his three in a row. He had won the Tour in 1969 and 1970 by margins of 17:54 and 12:41. Yet, his 1971 ride was the least glorious of his eventual five Tour victories. After wearing the yellow jersey for

On the final day of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Saturn’s Lyne Bessette wrapped up her third consecutive overall win a Fitchburg, while the weather once again led to a premature end of the men’s stage, neutralizing the results and leaving Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg as the men’s champion. The final stage of the women’s race came down to a field sprint, with national criterium champion Laura Van Gilder (Verizon) beating out Procter & Gamble’s Joanne Kiesanowski for the downtown criterium win. Just behind came Bessette’s closest challenger, Genevieve Jeanson (RONA),

France's Laurent Gané took the match sprint title as the World Track Cup continued Saturday in Pordenone, Italy. Other winners included Belarus's Natalia Markovnitchenko in the women's match sprint and Russia's Olga Slioussareva in the women's pursuit. American Tanya Lindenmuth took fourth place in the match sprint, losing to Oxana Grichina in the bronze-medal match.

Friday’s stage 2 of the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, saw no change in the overall standings, as Mercury’s Baden Cooke won the men’s 77.5-mile circuit race and Genevieve Jeanson of RONA won the women’s 40.3-mile race. Jeanson beat out Bessette in a big group finish, with Verizon’s Laura Van Gilder third, but the RONA rider could only pick up a few seconds on the day thanks to time bonuses. Jeanson now trails Bessette by 47 seconds In the men’s race, team Saturn was able to hold the race together for race leader Eric Wohlberg, and the race ended with Mercury’s Cooke

Lance Armstrong became only the second American to win the Tour of Switzerland, 14 years after Andy Hampsten took the second of his consecutive victories. In Thursday's final stage, Armstrong finished safely in the main pack, some three minutes behind a five-man break that resulted in a stage win for Oskar Camenzind of Lampre-Daikin. Camenzind was defending champion of the Swiss tour, but this year played a support role to teammate Gillberto Simoni, who finshed second overall, 1:02 behind Armstrong. To win the 176km stage 10, out and back from Lausanne, Camenzind escaped with Frenchmen

St. Omer has grown up around the Notre Dame basilica and St. Denis church. It is a city of art and history, a city that holds, in its Sandelin Museum, beautiful ceramics from Delft, paintings, archaeological artifacts and a masterpiece in gold -- the foot of the cross of St. Bertrin. In short, despite its history of considerable suffering (St. Omer was bombed during both World Wars), life here is good. We suppose it would be even better were it not for a small problem -- never, in 87 editions, has the city hosted the Tour de France! But St. Omer will emerge instantly from its anonymity

If the words carry a double meaning, this hamlet of Le Tap-Cul, which the race swallows in the guise of an hors-d’oeuvre, could be much more than a simple point on the map: an invitation, a warning…. Because in cycling, "tape-cul" (literally "slap-ass") means potholes and cobblestones, potholes and echelons, potholes and pitfalls -- in short, everything the vocabulary can imagine as soon as the peloton rides the back roads of the North. Leaving Calais, this Monday stage heads directly toward Flanders; at 1:30 p.m. it will cross the Belgian border. In Leisele, Gijverinkhove and Hoogstade,

The difficult opening to this stage, with its Ardennes climbs of Celles, Marquisette, Ave-et-Auffe and Rendu, should not fool us. The day’s 215km are theoretically reserved for the sprinters, and the renowned Tom Steels could again make his strength known, as long as the German Erik Zabel -- already a record five-time winner of the green jersey -- doesn’t decide to lay the foundations for a sixth triumph in the points competition in Verdun. Aah, Verdun. With or without cycling, for every Frenchman Verdun remains a name that defies understanding, where thousands of soldiers were

Since a certain Greg LeMond took out Laurent Fignon in the final moments of the 1989 Tour, thus imitating Jan Janssen in 1968 and Jacques Anquetil in 1964, everyone demands that the Tour’s final time trial have some degree of drama. Yet this requirement is rarely well received; the Tour plays tricks in its own way, and that way may not necessarily be the way one expects! Besides, how can we demand suspense for the finale, given that a successful Tour de France assumes that the time spent in the mountains has revealed the best riders? And unless we envision that the Alpe d’Huez stage was a

The questions that we were asking three weeks ago have since found their answers, questions about race contenders Armstrong, Ullrich, Heras and Casagrande; about Zabel, the man seeking a sixth green jersey, and Laurent Jalabert, the flag-carrier of French cycling. The report card is ready, and we now know whether the American has become a three-time Tour winner, matching his compatriot Greg LeMond. We also know how the race shaped up, and whether the organizers dealt us some winning cards. "This will be a very complete Tour, with a prologue, 10 flat stages, three semi-mountain stages, four

George Hincapie is no stranger to the Tour de France. The popular American racer rode his first Tour in 1996 with Motorola when he was just 23, and he has been a fixture at the July race ever since. In his first year, Hincapie had a bad crash and didn’t finish, but he has made steady progress in each of the following years. In 1998, the spring classics specialist had one of his best Tours from an individual standpoint, narrowly missing a chance to wear the leader’s yellow jersey after featuring in a winning breakaway on stage 3. The next two years, however, weren’t about individual goals.

Telekom’s Erik Zabel won the ninth stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Wednesday, 166.8km between Sion and Lausanne, Switzerland. Zabel beat out Gerolsteiner’s Saulius Ruskis and Domo-Farm Frites’ Robbie McEwen in the mass field sprint finish. U.S. Postal Service’s Lance Armstrong retained the leader’s yellow jersey with only one stage to go. Zabel profitted from the work of the Saeco, Domo and Cofidis teams who chased down lone escapee Bert Grabsch (Phonak) before the finish. Grabsch had escaped along with Rolf Huser (Coast) in the town of Martigny, but the German dropped Huser on the one

There will be only one American team at the Tour de France this year, Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service formation. The expected debut by Mercury-Viatel was thwarted in May by the Tour organizers’ jingoistic wild-card choice of two extra Division II French teams, as opposed to a second Division I team from the U.S. Despite that, there could still be as many as nine Americans on the start line in Dunkirk. Here is a quick look at each of them, with a review of their 2001 preparation and prospects. Lance ArmstrongAge: 29Height: 5 ft. 11 in. Weight: 165 lbs.Hometown: Austin, TXTeam: U.S.

Several of the major players in the sprints changed teams this year, something that is sure to shake up the dynamics of the Tour’s field sprint finishes. But five-time green jersey winner Erik Zabel hasn’t gone anywhere, and it’s this German rocket who tops our list of the Tour’s best sprinters. 1. Erik Zabel (G), 31, Telekom Until last year, Zabel had won four straight green points jerseys, but hadn’t won a Tour stage since 1998. Perhaps the arrival of leadout man Gianmatteo Fagnini -- formerly Mario Cipollini’s right-hand man -- made the difference: Zabel won the second-to-last stage last

Without incident. That was my biggest goal in the HP Women's challenge this year. Certainly I had people tell me otherwise. "That's a pretty small goal," I heard, or "30th place isn't worth defending." Well, it is to me. This is my fourth consecutive try at this race. The first one saw me starved, dehydrated and hooked up to an IV on day two. The second was supposed to be revenge. It was perfect until a flat on the last day in the first kilometer of the race forced me to chase all day and lose 20 spots. That was pure heartbreak. Last year, well, that crash was famous enough that the

Trek-Volkswagen rider Roland Green continued his dominance of the second leg of the NORBA National series by adding a short track title to Friday’s cross-country victory, while Chrissy Redden (Subaru-Gary Fisher) took the women’s race. The highly tactical men’s race began with Green sitting on the front of the fast-moving group in the early laps, challenged strongly by Snow Summit short track champ Ryder Hesjedal (Subaru-Gary Fisher) and his teammate Pavel Tcherkassov. In those first several laps, Hesjedal fell victim to trouble with his single-chainring setup. He was forced to dismount

Russia's Sergeui Ivanov, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won a sprint finish to take Sunday's 174km sixth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, which started and finished in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Ivanov came from behind to cross the line in 4:00:27, just ahead of Kazakhstan's Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom), France's Laurent Jalabert (CSC-World Online) and Switzerland's Alexandre Moos (KIA-Swiss) in the sprint to the line. Ivanov’s Italian teammate Wladimir Belli, who finished in 11th position at five seconds behind the leaders, retained the overall leader's yellow jersey with a one-second advantage

World champion Romans Vainsteins (Domo-Farm Frites) won the third stage of the Tour of Catalonia in a sprint finish at the end of a 148.6km day between Blanes and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat on Saturday, while ONCE’s Santos Gonzalez took the leader’s white jersey from teammate Marcos Serrano. Finishing 22nd on the stage, Gonzalez was credited with the same overall time as Serrano at the end of the day, but took the race lead by virtue of his standing in the overall points classification. Meanwhile, Spaniards Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal Service) and José Maria Jimenez (iBanesto.com) were caught

“Everyone said that the Dutchies were supposed to win the criterium,” Marielle van Scheppingen said after the 12th stage of the HP Women’s Challenge, “so we felt some pressure to do it… and we did.” Scheppingen (Dutch National) was part of a winning break of six that formed about two-thirds of the way into the 34.7-mile State House Criterium, a fixture at the 18-year-old women’s stage race through Idaho. Race leader Lyne Bessette (Saturn) was an early factor in the success of the small group. Not only did the 26-year-old Canadian in the blue race leader’s jersey power the group for two laps,

The list of potential winners for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce has been reduced to 21 riders from the 118 who started stage 4 Thursday morning. The reason? Only 21 riders were in the break that finished over 33 minutes ahead of the peloton, a margin so great that the entire field was within a couple of minutes of missing the time cut. David McKenzie (Ficonseils-RCC Conseils Assurance) gave his team its first win of the season by outsprinting Artour Babaitsev (Team Nurnberger) and Eric Wohlberg (Saturn), but every one of the breakaway members is virtually assured of finishing in the

Domo-Farm Frites’ Max Van Heeswijk won the second stage of the Tour of Catalonia in Spain, a 173.5km day ending in a sprint finish in Blanes on Friday. ONCE’s Marcos Serrano retained the race leader’s jersey. Van Heeswijk beat out Telekom’s Danilo Hondo, winner of two stages at this year’s Giro d’Italia, with Sven Teutenberg (Festina) in third, and the rest of the peloton, including Serrano, just behind. Friday’s transitional stage saw a long breakaway from Fabio Roscioli (Jazztel), who attacked just after the start and gained almost 10 minutes on the peloton, with Simone Masciarelli

Henk Vogels (Mercury) has been to Canada exactly twice: The first time was in 1994 when, as a member of the Australian team, he won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, BC, in the team time trial. The second is his current trip to the GP Cycliste de Beauce, where he won Wednesday’s third stage and took the overall lead in the race. Obviously, Canada agrees with him…. The third stage, at 190km, was the longest of the race. A single loop around the town of Lac Etchemin, it promised long rolling climbs of 7-8 percent, and strong winds. With less than a minute separating the first 35

Italian Gianluca Bortolami (Tacconi Sport-Vini Caldirola) took the overall race lead at the Tour of Switzerland after scoring the stage win in a two-up finishing sprint with breakaway companion Peter Wrolich (Gerolsteiner). Bortolami’s win came on the third stage of the Swiss race, 162.7km from Reinach to Baar. Australian Robbie McEwen (Domo-Farm Frites) won the field sprint for third, 2:53 behind Bortolami. Bortolami and Wrolich escaped at the 70km mark, from a group of six that also included Laurent Jalabert (CSC-World Online), and at one point extended their advantage to 9:19 over the

Ina Teutenberg flew into the finish of the 10th stage of the HP Women's Challenge Thursday at the head of this 12-day stage race's first full field sprint, adding yet another win to a race that has been almost completely dominated by her Saturn team. Saturn, which has pretty much controlled the race since the start more than a week ago, continues to protect Lyne Bessette’s very substantial 3:20 overall lead over second-place Judith Arndt (German national). It was nearly 100 degrees and almost 100 miles at the HP Women's Challenge on Thursday. And while the long trip from Twin Falls to

Intersports worked to protect Marsal's hold on the sprint jersey.

Mercury's Gord Fraser ended his longest winless streak in four years on Tuesday in convincing style, taking the second stage in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Beauce - Canada's only UCI-sanctioned stage race. Canadian Charles Dionne (7UP-Colorado Cyclist) finished third in the stage, behind Robert Foster of Team Nurnberger. Remegijus Lupeikis of Lithuania, riding for the Mroz-SupraDyn team, replaced his teammate Piotr Chmielewski in the overall leader's position by 1 second after receiving a time bonus during the stage. The 162km stage began in Charny, on the outskirts of Quebec City, and

Lance Armstrong retained his lead at the Tour of Switzerland Wednesday, after German Erik Zabel of Telekom won the opening road stage, 178km from Europa Park (Rust) to Basel. In a mass sprint finish, Zabel outsped Italian Paolo Bettini of Mapei-Quick Step and Saulius Ruskys of Team Gerolsteiner to take his 15th win of the season. Armstrong -- winner of Tuesday’s stage 1 time trial -- retained his overall lead by just three seconds, after Paris-Roubaix winner Servais Knaven of Domo-Farm Frites picked up a pair of two-second time bonus. The stage started in Rust, Germany, and passed through

Former Festina rider Richard Virenque has hit back at claims alleging he bribed Germany's former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich to allow him to win a stage in the 1997 Tour de France, while Ullrich said Wednesday he is "sick and tired" of being implicated in "unproven" indirect claims that he took drugs and accepted bribes.The bribery claims were made by former Festina team manager Bruno Roussel, who also claimed that other offers made by Virenque to riders who could have helped him win the Tour in 1997 were laughed off.In his tell-all book "Tour of Vices," which went on sale

Editor's note: Jen Dial, riding as a teammate of Jeannie Longo on Office Depot at the HP Women's Challenge, is providing an inside-the-race look at the biggest women's stage race in America. The latest from her diary: The warm ups are getting shorter as the days get longer and hotter here at the HP Women's Challenge. It's the time in the race when everyone has had a great day and a not-so-great day. Everyone is tired, and people become easily amused and excited by things other than the bike race. As we left Twin Falls on the way to Buhl, Idaho, Trout Capital of America, we crossed a

Lyne Bessette took advantage of a small opportunity in the closing kilometers of Wednesday’s Twin Falls to Buhl stage of the HP Women’s Challenge and scored her first stage win of this 12-day tour through Idaho. Overall race leader since last week’s head-to-head time trial, Bessette has played her hand carefully while racking up an advantage of more than three minutes on second-place Judith Arndt. “It’s nice,” said Bessette, the winner of this year’s Tour de l’Aude. “Usually if I win a tour, I don’t end up winning a stage, so when I saw the opportunity, I took it.” Bessette finished seconds

Prime Alliance’s Jonas Carney won the Nature Valley criterium in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday after a controversial finish to the 90-minute event. Carney topped Navigators’ Franky Van Haesebroucke and U.S. Postal Service’s Robbie Ventura in the downtown event, the second race in the Nature Valley Grand Prix, part of the Touchstone Energy Classic which included the U.S. elite track nationals in Blaine, Minnesota. Sunday’s event came down to a field-sprint finish, with the Navigators train leading the way on the final lap. Heading into the final turn, Carney dove to the inside, touching off

Trixi Worrack of the German national team sprinted out of an elite group of leaders Monday to take the seventh stage of the 2001 HP Women’s Challenge as it finished atop a long climb up to southern Idaho’s Pomerelle ski area. The 19-year-old’s win did little to alter the overall standings of this race, with Saturn’s Lyne Bessette now leading by more than three minutes. But included in the group of top finishers was Worrack’s teammate Judith Arndt who has moved past Acca Due O’s Rasa Polikeviciute to take over second place. Worrack and Arndt were among a group of five, including Bessette,

The Classique du Quebec is a one-day road race that was held Saturday as a lead-up event to the Grand Prix de Beauce, which begins Monday. The UCI ranked race was held around the island of Orleans, just outside the city of Quebec. Riders headed out from Quebec to complete two loops around the island before heading back to the city, for a total of 165 kilometers. On the second loop of the island a lead group of 14 formed, including Canadians Gord Fraser (Mercury), Dominique Perras (Team G.S. Ficonseils), Eric Wohlberg (Saturn), Czeslaw Lukaszewicz (Team Canada) and Mark Walters (Navigators),

He did once say that "it ain't over till it's over," but the Saturn team is putting that old Yogi-ism to the test at the HP Women's Challenge. Until today, the 12-day Idaho stage race had been a two-woman contest between Saturn's Lyne Bessette and the venerable French champion Jeannie Longo, competing with a composite team, sponsored by Office Depot. But by the end of today's flat and wind-blown 80-mile stage – won by Saturn’s Petra Rossner – Longo was knocked back to tenth place overall, more than 11 minutes back and Bessette now enjoys a lead of more than two minutes over second-place Rasa

There was yet another repeat winner at the USCF elite national track championships on Saturday morning. Jame Carney won his second straight national crown in the men’s points race at the National Sports Center Velodrome in Blaine, Minnesota. Carney has now won the title five times (1991, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2001). Saturday’s race came down to a battle between Carney, Prime Alliance teammate Colby Pearce, and NetZero’s Mike Tillman. The trio was part of a four-rider break that got away from the field in the early going and quickly put a lap on the field. The break’s other member was Tim

The Dutch National Team’s Chantal Beltman sprinted out of a lead group of three to take a stage win at the HP Women’s Challenge Elkhorn Circuit Race Saturday. However, the big news of this fifth stage is that overall race leader Lyne Bessette (Saturn) was among that group of three that finished 1:20 ahead of the field and second-placed Jeannie Longo (Office Depot). Bessette had just moved into the leader’s jersey Saturday morning in a head-to-head time trial against Longo. As the 18-lap, 28.8-mile stage began on Saturday evening, Bessette enjoyed just a small 12-second advantage over the

News flash: Marty Nothstein actually lost a race at the USCF elite track national championships. But before that happened the Olympic gold medalist added to his unprecedented cache of stars-and-strips jerseys by taking the top spot in the Keirin. That win gave Nothstein his 30th national title, one for every year of his life. In the Keirin final Nothstein was content to sit back during the moto-paced lead-out laps. But when the small motorcycle dropped off the track it was on, and as usual so was Nothstein. The 30-year-old seems to possess a gear not in his foe’s repertoires and he showed it

Britain's David Millar became the fourth race leader to lose the coveted yellow-and-blue jersey of the Dauphiné Libéré stage race in France on Friday. Frenchman Christophe Moreau, riding for Festina, did the honors of stealing the jersey after the 151km fifth stage between Romans and Grenoble. Moreau finished sixth on the day, 33 seconds behind stage winner Andrei Kivilev. The Cofidis rider from Kazakhstan won a sprint finish to grab his first professional stage win. Moreau’s overall lead is tenuous, as Mercury-Viatel’s Pavel Tonkov sits just one second behind Moreau. Millar has made

Fred Rodriguez maintained his overall lead as Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu won the second stage of the Tour of Luxembourg Friday. Rodriguez, the Domo-Farm Frites rider who won the USPRO championships in Philadelphia June 10, is on a roll. He took the overall lead at Luxembourg when he won stage 1 on Thursday. Kirsipuu, riding for the AG2R team, won Friday’s 214km stage between Wormeldange and Beckerich in a sprint finish. Finishing second was Italian Alessandra Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo). Rodriguez holds a lead of 9 seconds over Frenchman Eddy Lembo of the Jean Delatour team. Bulgarian Ivaila

Tanya Lindenmuth’s stranglehold on women’s sprinting in America continued on Friday morning at the USCF elite track national championships. The diminutive 22-year-old from Trexlertown, Pennsylvania easily dispatched Jennie Reed in back-to-back heats to win her third straight national championship at the National Sports Center Velodrome in Blaine, Minnesota. "Jennie let me keep the front and that’s dangerous with me," Lindenmuth said. "I like to ride up there and today that worked for me." Earlier in the week Lindenmuth won her third straight 500-meter time trail title, giving her six

“You know, I think I really like this stage,” said Alison Dunlap as she stood in the middle of the main street through downtown Ketchum, Idaho. She should like this stage, she’s now won it three times. Dunlap, riding for a composite squad sponsored by Boise Cascade Office Products, won the 62.3-mile Stanley to Ketchum road in a fashion similar to the way she’s done before: stay in the mix up Galena Pass, rejoin the leader or leaders, notch the speed up on the long downhill and then time her sprint perfectly. While Dunlap did her stuff, the two women atop the overall standings – Jeannie Longo

It sounds outrageous, but one more national title and Marty Nothstein will have a stars-and-stripes jersey for every year of his life. On Friday night the 30-year-old added title No. 29 when he took the men’s sprint at the USCF elite track national championships at the National Sports Center Velodrome in Blaine, Minnesota. It was his third title at these championships. Already he’s won the kilometer time trail and the Olympic sprint. He’ll get the chance to add No. 30 on Saturday when he competes in the Madison. Like so many of the others, Friday night’s win came easy. After advancing to

Lindenmuth takes out Reed to win the sprint.

It’s a good day for Americans racing in Europe. Just four days after winning the USPRO Championship in Philadelphia, Fred Rodriguez won stage 1 of the Tour of Luxembourg on Thursday. The Domo-Farm Frites rider covered the 182km stage in 4:26:22, beating Frenchman Eddy Lembo (Jean Delatour) in a sprint finish. Friday’s 214km stage is considered the most difficult of the four-day stage race in the small country of Luxembourg.

Marty Nothstein was just about to roll down the wooden start ramp for the time trial at the First Charter Criterium. "Hang on!" yelled a Mercury-Viatel staff support person. "Won’t need these." The staff member quickly removed a pair of water bottles from the two cages on Nothstein’s team issue LeMond race bike. It was a no-brainer that refreshments could wait until after Nothstein made his less-than-two-minute trip around the 1.4km TT course, but cut the guy some slack for not shedding the unnecessary weight. He’s used to racing bikes that don’t have water bottles — or gears for that

Lately, Josiah Ng has become known as "the guy who beat Nothstein." And beat him he did — twice. Sort of. But there’s a lot more to the 21-year-old from Carlsbad, California, than that simple label conveys. In April, Ng did surprise Olympic sprint champion Marty Nothstein at the American Velodrome Challenge in San Jose, California. In a three-up, one-ride final, Ng caught his two opponents eyeing each other and charged. He got a great jump and for 400 meters held off Nothstein and Jeff Solt to take a surprising win. "There was a lot of luck involved, but that’s part of bike racing, too," Ng

Jeannie Longo has held on to her overall lead in the HP Women’s Challenge, but the 42-year-old French rider may be facing serious challenges from three riders -- Germany’s Judith Arndt, Rasa Polikeviciute (Acca Due O-Hewlett-Packard) and Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner – who joined a winning break in the closing miles of the 58-mile Lowman to Stanley road race on Thursday. Arndt powered in to the sprint of the lead group of four that included Longo’s Office Depot teammate, Joan Wilson, the last member of a break that started just a few miles into this hilly and wind-blown stage near the Sawtooth