Road

Dueling big-guns Saturn-Timex and Mercury-Viatel made for high octane and unpredictable racing at the annual Sequoia Cycling Classic in Exeter, California. Men’s and women’s competition was fierce both in the Rocky Hill Road Race and in the Visalia Criterium the following day but Saturn made its presence known, taking the top spots in three out of four races. Day one of competition found riders seeing rings with Saturn dominating both the men’s and women’s Rocky Hill Road Race, a nine-and-half-mile loop with two climbs on each lap, totaling 600 feet of climbing per lap. Saturn and Mercury

She may have been biding her time in Arizona, rather than defending her title at Australia’s Tour de Snowy, but the lack of travel certainly hasn’t hurt Genevieve Jeanson. The 19-year-old Canadian blasted her way to the top of Riverside’s Mt. Rubidoux to take the opening stage of the 2001 Redlands Bicycle Classic and, coincidentally setting the stage for a win by her countryman, mountain-bike racer Roland Green, in the elite men’s event of this Southern California season opener. Jeanson (Rona) took on a strong women’s field — including 2001 Tour de Snowy winner Kim Bruckner (Saturn) and 2000

Crashes took their toll on a rainy Paris-Nice today, with Axel Merckx the principal victim of a 25-rider pile-up two-and-a-half kilometers from the line. Merckx finished the stage, but was taken to the hospital after the race. Earlier, Joseba Beloki, third finisher in the Tour last year, was put out by a broken rib after he collided with another rider while taking nature's call on the move. A reduced lead group fought out the stage finish in Clermont Ferrand, where Stuart O'Grady led out from 250 meters, but was overhauled just before the line by the Belgian Fabian De Waele. He took the

Belgian rider Nico Mattan (Cofidis) won the Paris-Nice cycling prologue over 6.2km through the streets of Nevers on March 11. The 29-year-old came in ahead of British teammate David Millar (at 0:08), with France’s Florent Brard in third, a further second behind during the stage made difficult by persistent rain. Mercury-Viatel's Peter van Petegem finished fifth and Floyd Landis 11th. Defending champion Andreas Kloden of Germany, who shot into the limelight with his surprise win last year, but who has had recent health problems, was 24 seconds behind the leader. Paris-Nice, under the

Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez (Kelme) won the Tour of Murcia on March 11 after winning the fifth and final stage, a 12.9km time-trial through the streets of Murcia on Sunday. Gonzalez was joined on the podium by compatriots Javier Pascual Llorente and Mikel Zarrabeitia, second and third respectively. The Spaniard, who turned professional 1998, was the only rider to finish the time-trial in under 15 minutes (in 14:57), with Italy's Marco Velo second in 15:07 and Spaniard Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano 15:18. U.S. Postal’s Lance Armstrong finished in fifth position in the TT (in 15:25), with former

Spain's Francisco Cabello came from behind to take the overall lead in the Tour of Murcia cycling race after winning the 166.2km fourth stage between Alcantarilla and Aledo on March 10. "We've been looking for this victory since the beginning of the season and we dedicate it to the Ochoa brothers," Cabello said, visibly moved at the thought of his Kelme team-mates. Ricardo Ochoa was killed during an accident near Malaga on February 15. which left his twin Javier (13th overall in the 2000 Tour de France) in a deep coma. Cabello's time of 4:15:15 brought him in three seconds ahead of

Australian Anna Millward (Saturn-Timex) won the Canberra World Cup cycling race with a devastating sprint finish here on March 10. Millward, 29, beat Dutch champion Mirjam Melchers and fellow Australian Rochelle Gilmore in a mass sprint finish to the 20-lap 102- kilometer race. It was her third win in the race in as many years and earned her the first World Cup leader's jersey for 2001. "I was extremely nervous before the race today, trying to do it for the third time running. In bunch sprints, so many things can happen -- you might not get a clean run through and it might all come to

Argentina's Martin Garrido won both the stage and the leader's jersey of the Tour of Murcia on March 9, as he outsprinted Italians Enrio Leoni (yesterday's winner) and Giovanni Lombardi. The time bonus helped the Team Relax rider take over the yellow jersey from Nuremberg's Werner Riebenbaur, who now is third overall, at 7 seconds. The stage, on a 152.4km route between Cieza and Archena, was marked by a long break by Guido Trenti and Tony Bracke, but like previous days, the teammates of sprinters worked to chase down the break and position their power riders for the final

Once again the Tour of Murcia ended in a field sprint, but today's fastest rider was Team Alessio's Endrio Leoni, while Jeroen Blijlevens and Bjorn Leukemans finished second and third, respectively. Yesterday's sprint king, Werner Riebenbaure (Nuremberg), held on to the leader's jersey after rolling in sixth for the day. The stage was marked by the long break by Italian Fabio Roscioli and Belgian Sven Njis, who rode clear at the 24km mark. But the pair was reeled in after 120km, and the sprinters worked to position themselves in the closing 17km. Lotto's Tayeb Braikia (Lotto) was expected

Kim Bruckner and the Saturn team fended off final-day challenges from world road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS Sport) to win Tour de Snowy, the Australian stage race that marks the unofficial start to the women's road season. In another of the race's many two-stage days, most of the attention was focused on the climbs in the morning's 69.3km stage from Tumbarumba to Tumut, especially a long 12km climb near the start. That climb represented the last real chance for Stahurskaia to knock Bruckner out of the lead. But Saturn would have none of that and the team successfully shadowed every

Team Nuremberg's Werner Riebenbauer won the 147km first stage of the Tour of Murcia on March 7, while American Antonio Cruz (US Postal) grabbed third, and Argentina's Martin Garridoa (Realx-Fuenlabrada) finished second in the mass sprint. Lance Armstrong, Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantini, had an easy ride, finishing in the main bunch on the route between Murcia and Aguilas, in the southeast of Spain.. The sprint finish brought about a huge fall of riders, with Lotto's Tayeb Braikia the main victim. Breikia, 27, and winner of Saturday's Classique d'Almeria, suffered facial injuries and

Italy's 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani extended a warm welcome to two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on March 6, when he declared he'd like to teach the Texan a lesson in this week's Tour of Murcia. The race in Spain runs March 7-11. Pantani, who's currently enmeshed in a series of judicial investigations in Italy over doping offences, pits his wits against Armstrong and the 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich in this week's 640km race. While both Armstrong and Ullrich are making their seasonal debuts, 31-year-old Pantani will be seeking to put the disappointment

It was supposed to be another match up between Tour de Snowy race leader Anna Millward and reigning world road champion Zinaidaia Stahurskaia … and it was, to a point. As the season-opening Australian stage race moved into serious climbing, Stahurskaia challenged Millward and forced her out of the leader's jersey. But Millward's Saturn team was ready and just as she faltered, her teammate Kim Bruckner was ready to take up the challenge winning the stage and keeping the jersey in the family. Saturn has clearly dominated the race from the start, with Millward winning the first three stages and

Mercury-Viatel’s Belgian recruit, Peter Van Petegem, scored his first victory for the American team on Sunday at the 54th Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne semi-classic in the north of Belgium. Van Petegem was in a group of five that had escaped from a lead group of 14 late in the race. Van Petegem faced off against Hans De Clercq (Lotto), Jo Planckaert (Cofidis), Marc Wauters (B) and Chris Peers (Cofidis) in the finale and beat De Clercq to the line for the win in Kuurne. "I absolutely wanted to win something very quickly for my new team," said Van Petegem after the 188km race.

World women’s road champion Zinaida Stahurskaia (GAS Sport) showed that this year’s Tour de Snowy would not be the exclusive realm of Saturn’s hometown favorite Anna Millward as she rode away from the field on the first major climb of this five-day, season opening Australian stage race. But Millward, too, proved herself to be a worthy competitor as the Australian worked tirelessly to catch Stahurskaia in the closing kilometers of the day’s 77.3 km stage, preserving her lead in the overall standings. Stahurskaia had been touted as Millward’s biggest threat, even as the Australian charged her

The two top teams from last year’s National Racing Calendar kicked off the 2001 NRC season with impressive sweeps at the McLane Pacific Cycling Classic in Merced over the weekend. On the men’s side, Australian Baden Cooke took both the road race and criterium for Mercury-Viatel, while Ina Teutenberg and Lyne Bessette took one win apiece for the Saturn women’s team. The weekend began with the Downtown Grand Prix on Saturday. With 19 laps remaining in the 45-lap, 36-mile women’s race, a group of seven escaped on the fast, eight-turn, 0.8-mile circuit. Teutenberg made an attempt at a solo

Sunday, the second day at Australia’s five-day Tour de Snowy offered a bit of a repeat of the first: a two stage day, marked again by the dominance of the Saturn women’s team and by Anna Millward in particular. The morning kicked off with a very short 35.9km stage from Jindabyne to Thredbo. Despite a series of breakaway attempts, the Saturn squad kept reign on the field and reeled in the final attackers with just a kilometer to go. Again, the stage was set for a Saturn-led field sprint and the team followed its script as written: Millward scooted home to take her third successive stage in

Saturn’s Anna Millward quickly established herself as the woman to beat in the 2001 Tour de Snowy as the 1999 World Cup winner took both stages contested on the opening day of the Australian stage race that marks the start of the women’s road season. Millward scored an impressive early win in the opening 30km criterium around the town center of Cooma. Fighting off riders from an impressive field of European, Australian and American riders – including the reigning world champions Zinaida Stahurskaia and Mari Holden -- Millward teamed up with fellow Aussie Kristy Scrymgeour, one of the newest

Switzerland's Fabian Jekker (Maia) won the Tour of Valencia following the fifth and final stage, a 23.5km time-trial around the east coast city of Valencia. Dutch rider Michael Boogerd, who predicted on taking the lead Tuesday that the race would hinge on the time trial, was proved correct when Jeker, who finished 15th in the stage, nipped him by 13 seconds overall and 13 seconds on the day to snatch victory. "This is a great victory for me," said Jeker after the biggest win of his career. The time trial through the streets of Valencia was affected by lashing rain. "At the end I was

Italian national champion and multi-classic winner Michele Bartoli sent a strong message today with a convincing win over a world class field in the Belgian season opener Het Volk. The 30 year-old Mapei-Quick step rider returned to form late last season following a difficult knee injury, and with today’s win showed that he may again be on the level that has already placed him among the sport’s legendary classics riders. The 200 kilometer test between Gent and Lokeren, covering much of the same terrain as the classic Tour of Flanders, got off to a chilly start with temperatures barely

Showing fine form heading into the spring classics, Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd won the toughest stage of the Tour of Valencia on a rainy day in Spain. The Dutch World Cup threat won Friday’s 147.2km stage 4, a mountainous journey between Benidorm and Campello pass. Boogerd, who also won the first stage, beat Fabian Jeker of Switzerland, Italian rider Leonardo Piepoli and Alexandre Vinokurov of Kazakhstan in a sprint finish to tighten his grip on the overall lead. Mercatone Uno’s Marco Pantani had failed to start Friday's stage because he was suffering from a high fever and bronchitis.

Euskatel-Euskadi rider David Etxebarria gave Spanish fans a home win in the third stage of the Tour of Valencia Thurday. The Spaniard won a sprint for the line at the end of the 149.5km stage between Denia and Benidorm. Extebarria outsprinted fellow Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez and an on-form Erik Dekker (Rabobank) to win from the lead group of seven with a time of 3:43:59. Dekker’s teammate and fellow Dutchman Michael Boogerd, who won Tuesday's first stage, holds the overall leader's yellow jersey, ahead of Switzerland’s Fabian Jeker and Italian Leonardo Piepoli. Thursday's stage, featuring

The 2001 Pro Cycling Tour will begin in March on the West Coast and conclude eight months later on the other side of the country in October. The 14-race series will include some of the highest-profile road races in the United States. On Thursday, Threshold Sports unveiled the schedule for the season-long series, which begins March 22 at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. Among the events returning to the Pro Cycling Tour line-up are the BMC Software series, the First Union Cycling series, the U.S. Postal Service Clarendon Cup and the Chris Thater Memorial. New additions include

For Telekom’s sprint star Erik Zabel, it almost looks too easy. Zabel took stage 2 of the Tour of Valencia in Spain Tuesday, adding to his pile of early season victories by winning a sprint finish in the 179.5km race between Segunto and Denia in eastern Spain. U.S. Postal Service rider George Hincapie finished third, just behind second-placed Biagio Conte of Italy. Rabobank’s Dutch classics rider Michael Boogerd retained the overall lead by finishing sixth. Right behind Boogerd in the overall are Swiss riders Fabian Jeker and Alex Zulle, along with Italian Leonardo Piepoli, all with the

Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd won the first stage of the Tour of Valencia on Tuesday, while Telekom’s Jan Ullrich made a last-minute decision to withdraw from the event. Ullrich made his decision on Monday night, and will instead make his season debut at next week’s Tour of Murcia, where Lance Armstrong and Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal) will also kick off the racing season. The first stage of the Tour of Valencia was contested on a 166.5km circuit beginning and ending at Puerto Sagunto. Thirty kilometers from the finish, Swiss Alex Zulle (Coast) set a rhythm up the Cat. 1 Garbi climb that only

Telekom's Erik Zabel won Sunday's 21st edition of the Luis Puig Trophy, 182km from Benidorm to Valencia, Spain. Zabel won the race for the third time in his career, outsprinting Sven Teutenberg (Festina) and U.S. Postal Service's George Hincapie. A trio of Spaniards - Xavier Zandio, Cesar Garcia Calvo and Juan Antonio Flecha - maintained a breakaway of about 100km, but the sprinters' teams held the threesome in check, finally bringing them back with 8km remaining in the race. On Tuesday, the five-day Tour of Valencia will commence, marking the debut for Zabel's teammate, 1997 Tour de France

Dutch cycling ace Erik Dekker won the Ruta del Sol race here on Thursday, easily retaining his lead during the 171km fifth and final stage, which was taken by Spaniard Mickel Artetxe. Dekker, 29, who won three stages in last year's Tour de France, was never troubled by his main challengers on Thursday letting a group of riders, who were not going to challenge for the overall lead, slip away to share out the finish. Dekker first took over the race lead on Monday, when he finished second in stage 2, the 178.5km ride from Sevilla to the mountain finish of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de

Slovenian Martin Hvastija (Alessio) took the fourth stage of the Ruta del Sol in Spain on Wednesday — a 175km run from Cabra to Benalmadena. Hvastja finished in a time of 4:39.27. Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto.com) was 27 seconds back in second, while Dave Bruylandts (Domo-Farm Frites) was third, 48 seconds off the pace. There were no changes in the overall standings, as Rabobank’s Erik Dekker finished 10th, maintaining his lead. Rabobank teammate Marc Wauters remained second, six seconds back of Dekker, while Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Sheffr (Alessio) is still third, trailing by nine seconds.

The three-day Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix, Arizona, February 16-18, saw Mercury complete a three-stage sweep in the men’s Pro-I race, while Canadian Genevieve Jeanson continued her early-season preparations by winning the women’s title. Mercury’s Derek Bouchard-Hall won the opening time trial, and Aussie teammate Baden Cooke rounded out the weekend by winning the road race, criterium and overall title. Jeanson meanwhile won the time trial and road race. AutoTrader.com’s Tina Mayolo took second in the road race and first in the criterium, and her time bonuses allowed her to

Italian cyclist Mirko Celestino, riding for the Saeco team, won Tuesday's Trofeo Laigueglia, a 173km run starting and finishing in the town of that name. It was an all-Italian podium with last year's winner Daniele Nardello of the Mapei team finishing second, and Davide Rebellin, of the Liquigas outfit, in third. The 26-year-old Celestino, who joined Saeco from the now defunct Polti outfit, nipped his rivals in a sprint finish to clinch victory in the race that has historically been the curtain-raiser on the Italian cycling season, though other races have already been staged this

German Erik Zabel (Telekom) won a sprint to capture the third stage of the Ruta del Sol on Tuesday. But in the overall standings Erik Dekker (Rabobank) was able to preserve his lead, staying six seconds ahead of Belgium Marc Wauters. Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Sheffr, Belgian Andrei Tchmil, and German Jan Schaffrath round out the top five in the general classification. The stage was an 180km ride between Luque and Jaen. Zabel was the overall winner of the race in 1997. Max Van Heeswijk of The Netherlands and Italian Endrio Leoni finished second and third in Tuesday’s stage. Tomorrow’s 175km

Rabobank’s Erik Dekker took over the overall lead at the Ruta del Sol Monday after finishing second to Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Sheffr (Alessio) in the race’s second stage. Fellow Rabobank rider Marc Wauters was third, while Andrei Tchmil (Lotto) and Jan Schaffrath (Telekom) were fourth and fifth. Strong winds during the early part of the stage made for few attacks during the 178.5km ride from Sevilla to the mountain finish of Santuario de Nuestra Senora de Araceli. Dekker, Tchmil, Sheffr, and Mikhailov didn’t try their move until the stage’s final climb. Sheffr was the strongest, pulling

The 2001 Tour de Langkawi has ended. After 12 stages and 1836 kilometers, Paolo Lanfranchi has led Mapei-Quick Step to a clean sweep of the overall awards. The final stage was anti-climactic, as expected, with the 7.6-kilometer circuit in downtown Kuala Lumpur, which the riders covered 12 times, not having any effect on the overall standings. Federico Colonna of Cantina Tollo took the field sprint to win the final stage.

Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) repeated his victory at the Tour of the Mediterranean as the five-day, six-stage season-opening stage race ended in Marseilles on Sunday, while Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) took his second stage win in as many days. Rebellin moved into the yellow jersey on Saturday, after race leader Ivan Basso crashed and then abandoned at the end of stage 4. Copyright AFP2001

Spaniard Diaz Lobato (Jazztel) survived a 120km breakaway effort to win the opening stage of Spain’s season-opening Ruta Del Sol. Diaz Labato slipped off the front of the peloton only 28km into the day’s 148.5km stage around the southern city of Cordova. Building an advantage that exceeded 15 minutes; Diaz Labato triggered a chase when the race’s powerhouse teams finally realized that he stood a real chance of taking a stage win. With Deutsche Telekom, Rabobank and Festina in pursuit, Diaz Labato still managed to hold on to a significant lead finishing 1:43 ahead of Deutsche Telekom’s Jan

Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step) became the fourth rider to win two stages in the 2001 Tour de Langkawi, consolidating his lead in the green jersey points competition, while his team mate Paolo Lanfranchi easily finished in the pack, protecting his yellow jersey.

Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), winner of the 2000 Tour Méditerranéen, took over the lead of this year’s edition from Ivan Basso (Fassa Bartolo) after Basso suffered a crash in the first of Saturday’s two stages, a 108km race from Aigues Mortes to Beziers. The day’s stage wins were still the property of the peloton’s top sprinters as Gabriel Balducci (Tacconi) and Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won stages four and five respectively.Rebellin moved from second overall after Basso’s crash and now holds an eight second advantage over David Moncoutie and 23 seconds over Laurent Brochard.Basso was the

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) has weathered the last serious threat to winning his second Tour de Langkawi by surviving the stage 10 time trial, while his team mate Paolo Bettini has moved into second and Chris Wherry salvaged some Mercury-Viatel pride with a superb ride that jumped him up two places into third overall. Australian Nathan O'Neill (Ceramiche Panaria) took the stage to give his team their third victory of the Tour.

La Française des Jeux’s sprinter Jimmy Casper took the third stage of the Tour of the Mediterranean, a 127km race between Gréasque and Salon-de-Provence, on Friday. Casper outsprinted a tough field of top sprinters, beating Czech Jan Svorada of Lampre and AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu, the Estonian who lead the opening week of the 1999 Tour de France. Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) maintained his hold on the overall standings with a four-second advantage over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin. American David Clinger finished 8th in Friday’s bunch sprint, while Bobby Julich (Credit Agricole) holds on to

Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei-Quick Step) was the substitute rider for an ill Andrea Tafi at the Tour de Langkawi. So far this 'substitute' has won both mountain stages and taken the yellow leaders jersey from team mate Paolo Bettini. Meanwhile, Mercury miscalculated big time by not paying attention to the time cutoff and losing Jans Koerts, Gord Fraser and Henk Vogels. The Genting Highlands stage - this year stage 9 - is legendary. After a 107 kilometer run up the riders face a 25 kilometer Hors Category climb that averages 8 percent and max's out at over 15percent. In the past, riders such as

Australian Robbie McEwen (Domo) took the second stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour on Thursday, finishing the 139km stage between La Garde and La Seyne by outsprinting Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu and France’s Damien Nazon. Fassa Bortolo’s Ivan Basso maintains his lead over Liquigas’s Davide Rebellin in the overall standings. The finishing sprint was marked by serious crash in which Basso’s teammate, Alessandro Pettacchi suffered a broken collarbone.

As Frankie Andreu stood outside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma hotel on January 11, he looked introspective. For the first time in 13 years, he wasn’t suited up, heading off into the sunshine on a crisp, bright morning with the rest of his pro team colleagues. Instead, Andreu was in jeans and a windbreaker, watching the U.S. Postal Service squad start its first group ride of 2001. At that moment, a chapter in North American cycling closed. Andreu was officially starting a new career as Postal’s domestic program directeur sportif — thus ending a racing career that began in 1989 with America’s

The mountains have spoken and the Tour de Langkawi has a new leader Paolo Bettini (Mapei-Quick Step). Bettini finished third in the frontgroup of four, behind his teammate Paolo Lanfranchi and Pascal Hervé(Alexia Alluminio), and ahead of American Chris Wherry (Mercury-Viatel). The riders faced 154 kilometers on stage 8 from Kuala Kubu Baru to Tanah Rata, climbing 2000 meters over the final 53 kilometers. There were a few attempts to get away before the climb, but Mapei and Mercury quickly brought them back, so that at the start of the first KoM (King of the Mountain) the peloton was

Fassa Bortolo’s Yvan Basso took the opening stage of the 28th Mediterranean Tour, stage between Antibes (the Alpes-Maritimes) and Mount Faron in the hills of the Cote d’Azur.Basso took charge on the final climb, a six-kilometer ascent of Mount Faron. 1. Ivan Basso (I) Fassa Bortolo, 3:13:252. Davide Rebellin (I) Liquigas, s.t.3. David Moncoutie (F) Cofidis, at 0:014. Laurent Brochard (F) Jean Delatour, at 0:165. Francisco Mancebo (Sp) Banesto, at 0:19

The U.S. Postal team and the management of Kelme have settled their differences over payment terms for the remainder of Spanish rider Roberto Heras’s contract, Kelme’s manager told the French wire service AFP on Tuesday. The U.S. Postal, led by two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, bought out Heras' contract with the Spanish team which had been due to expire in 2002, Juan Mas said. Heras had been due to join US Postal last October but the two teams had been unable to agree terms. Last month, Kelme announced Heras would be staying at the Spanish team for the upcoming season, a

Ivan Quaranta (Alexia Alluminio) finally got on the winner's podium, but unfortunately a large crash marred the end of stage 7 at the Tour de Langkawi. Jans Koerts (Mercury Viatel) finished second and continues to hold the yellow jersey after the last stage before the mountains. The 172-kilometer stage from Melaka to Klang (on the outskirts of KualaLumpur) had a profile like a saw blade. None of the rollers wasparticularly long, but with over 1100 kilometers on their legs, and twomajor climbing stages to come, no one was in the mood for a fast run.

So far, the Tour de Langkawi could be named the Tour de Jans Koerts, as the yellow jersey holder from Mercury-Viatel won his second stage on Sunday, the sixth day of racing in Malaysia. Koerts' victory came despite hitting the barriers 150 meters from the finish line and getting bopped on the head in the sprint. Sunday's stage from Kluang to Melaka was relatively short at 150km. It was probably also one of Koerts’s last days in the leader’s jersey - after Monday’s rest day there is one more day of relative flat and then two days of massive climbs, something Koerts is the first to admit is

Belgian cyclist Nico Eeckhout (Lotto) won the 31st edition of the Etoile de Bessèges by the slimmest of margins on Sunday after a final stage raced on a circuit around Molieres-sur-Ceze and Bessèges. France's Florent Brard (Festina) took the stage victory, and his compatriot Damien Nazon (Bonjour), who won the third and fourth stages, came in only 21 seconds behind his Belgian adversary from the Lotto team. However it was too little too late as Eeckhout put the finishing touches to a campaign which he got off to a perfect start with victory in the first stage. Eeckhout held on to

All it took was one little mistake in the race map, and Enrico Degano (Ceramiche Panaria) beat out powerhouses Mercury Viatel and Mapei-Quick Step in a bunch sprint to take his second stage of the Tour de Langkawi. Jans Koerts (Mercury Viatel) continues to hold the yellow jersey, although his lead over Degano has been cut to 18 seconds from 25.

Frenchman Damien Nazon (Bonjour) won for the second straight day at the Etoile de Bessèges as he took the fourth stage in Les Fumades in a sprint from Jo Planckaert and Steffen Radochla. Lotto’s Nico Eeckhout held onto the race leader’s jersey. The stage featured a 10-rider break – Peter Farazijn (Cofidis), Bert Scheirlinckx (Collstrop), Chris Peers (Cofidis), Sebastien Demarbaix (AG2R), Lenaic Olivier (Jean Delatour), Thierry Gouvenou, Loic Lamouller (both BigMat), Andy Flickinger (Festina), Franck Perque (Francaise des Jeux) and Stuart O’Grady (Credit Agricole) -- that went off at the 20km

Average speed: 51.95 kilometers per hour for 135.5km. That’s all you need to know to understand stage 4 of the Tour de Langkawi. It was fast, brutally fast, more than a kilometer and a half per hour faster than Mario Cipollini's record Tour de France stage last year. And at the finish, overall leader Jans Koerts (Mercury-Viatel) added a stage win to his honors, easily outdistancing Ivan Quaranta (Alexia Alluminio) and Andris Nauduzs (Selle Italia-Pacific).

French rider Damien Nazon of the Bonjour team won the third stage of the season-opening Etoile de Bessèges race on Friday but Belgium's Nico Eeckhout kept the leader's jersey he has held from the start. Nazon leapt into second place overall after winning the 140km stage from Nimes to Ales in southern France. Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic was second in Friday's stage and lies third overall. The stage was marked by a number of falls, before a group of 22 riders broke away 10km from Ales. Denmark's Nicolay Larsen led in the closing kilometers before falling, allowing Nazon to pedal to

Australian neo-pro Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) won the overall title at the Majorca Challenge, while another Australian, Robbie McEwen (Domo-Farm Frites), finally beat Germany’s Erik Zabel in a field-sprint finish. The final stage was a 153.4km circuit around Palmanova, which the peloton covered in 3:45:04, for an average of 38.104kph. With Hayman holding a 1:46 lead over Francisco Cabello, the Kelme team was the animator of the race, placing five of its riders into a 15-man break, which rode out to a three minute lead over the day’s three climbs. Behind, the Rabobank squad organized the chase

Mapei-Quick Step finally made it onto the winner’s podium Thursday at the Tour de Langkawi, with Paolo Bettini just nipping Phonak's Alexandre Usov at the line. Mercury Viatel's Jans Koerts continues to hold onto the yellow leader's jersey, with stage 2 winner Enrico Degano (Ceramiche Panaria) and Bettini 10 seconds back. The 177km third stage along the east coast of Malaysia, from Kota Bharu to Kuala Terengganu, was led for much of the day by the breakaway duo of Svein Tuft (Team Canada) and Soren Petersen (Saturn). Tuft initiated the break a mere 6km into the stage, and was soon joined by

Festina’s Steffen Radochla won the second stage of the Etoile des Bessèges, 151km between Septèmes-les-Vallons and Miramas in France. Belgian Nico Eeckhout (Lotto-Adecco) retained the leader’s jersey. Under sunny but windy conditions, the 22-year-old German Radochla won a sprint finish at the end of an animated stage marked by many aggressive, but failed, breakaways. After a 45km breakaway by Jean Delatour’s Christophe Edaleine was brought back, the attacks kept coming until the final kilometer, but the peloton regrouped in time to set up the field sprint, with Radochla edging out Jaan

Lotto-Adecco’s Nico Eeckhout took the leader’s jersey at the Etoile de Bessèges after winning the 141km first stage from La Ciotat to Aubagne. Eeckhout won a six-up sprint from fellow breakaways Nicolas Reynaud (Festina), Jakob Piil (CSC-World Online), Nicolas Jalabert (CSC-World Online), Chris Peers (Cofidis) and Christophe Bassons (Jean Delatour). Reynaud and Cyril Dessel (Jean Delatour) embarked on a long breakaway just 10km into the stage, on the climb of Ceyreste, eventually building a lead of 6:25. At the 100km mark, they were caught by the five other riders that made up the final

Mercury-Viatel’s Jan Koerts held onto the yellow leader’s jersey at the Tour de Langkawi on Wednesday, but Italian Enrico Degano rocketed up to second-place when he beat out Koerts for the stage 2 win in Kota Bharu. The 226.3km stage featured two long climbs early in the race, one of about 14km and another of 19km, making for a hard day in the saddle. However, the 171 riders were all together for field sprint finish. Koerts and Mercury were looking for another stage win, but Degano shot ahead in the last 250 meters to take the win.

Team rosters for the 2001 Tour of Langkawi. Ag2R PREVONYANCE (France) GILLES MAS, Manager LINAS BALCINUS STEPHANE BERGES PHILIPPE BORDENAVE LAURENT ESTADIEU ALEXANDRE GRUX THIERRY LODER INNAR MANDOJA ALEXIA ALLUMINIO (Italy) LEONARDO LEVATI, Manager IVAN QUARANTA ANDREA BROGNARA SERGUEI OUTSCHAKOV MARIO MANZONI CORRADO SERINA CHRISTIAN AURIEMMA TBA BONJOUR (France) CHRISTIAN GUIBERTEAU, Manager WALTER BENETEAU FREDERIC GABRIEL CHARLES GUILBERT OLIVIER PERRAUDEAU MICKAEL PICHON JEAN-CYRIL ROBIN THOMAS VOECKLER CANTINA TOLLO (Italy) ENRICO PAOLINI, Manager CLAUDIO ASTOLFI CESARE DICINTIO

Defending champion Mercury-Viatel has picked up where it left off last year at the Tour de Langkawi, with Gord Fraser winning the first stage and teammate Jans Koerts taking the yellow leader's jersey.

Telekom’s Erik Zabel scored his second stage win at the Majorca Challenge on Tuesday, winning the field sprint at the end of the 163km stage three from Cala Bona to Cala Rajada on the island of Majorca. Zabel, who also won the opening stage on Sunday, again outsprinted fellow German Sven Teutenberg, with Australian Robbie McEwen grabbing third for the second day in a row. Following a last-kilometer attack by Juan José de los Angeles (Kelme-Costa Blanca), the peloton regrouped, only to be splintered into several small groups due to a crash in the closing meters. Zabel escaped harm, however,

Telekom’s Erik Zabel scored his first win of the season on Sunday, taking the first stage of the Majorca challenge, an 80km circuit race in Palma de Majorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands. Zabel beat out Germany’s Sven Teutenberg in the final sprint, while American David Clinger scored a 10th-place finish. In Monday’s second stage, Australian Mathew Hayman (Rabobank) scored his first professional victory with a long solo breakaway. Run on a 10km circuit, the season-opening stage 1 was a nervous affair, and was marked by a big crash on the fourth of eight laps. That, coupled with the

The Jelly Belly cycling team announced its 2001 line-up on Thursday, and the squad features several youthful additions. Eddy Gragus will once again head the team, joined by returning riders Kirk Albers, Norm Carter and Mariano Friedick. The newcomers are Brad Buccambuso, Jonathan Erdelyi, Damon Kluck and Jason McCartney. "Brad and Jonathan did well in the espoirs ranks, both in the U.S. and abroad; Damon was riding on his own all season, yet still placed consistently in the top 20 or 25 in NRC events; and Jason is a very aggressive rider who impressed our guys at Killington. Combined with

A press release from the U.S. Postal Service team hit the digital in-box last night, and included a statement from the team's general manager regarding Roberto Heras's status with the team and ongoing negotiations to buy out his Kelme contract. The two-word summary for fans -- and perhaps Kelme management -- is: Sit tight. Here's the full content of the release: STATEMENT FROM U.S. POSTAL SERVICE PRO CYCLING TEAM GENERAL MANAGER MARK GORSKI CONCERNING ROBERTO HERAS There have been some questions raised today in media reports concerning the status of the transfer of Roberto

Officials with Team Kelme have complained to the UCI that the U.S. Postal Service had recruited Roberto Heras, but hadn't honored the Spanish rider's termination clause. That clause's deadline -- essentially a contract buy-out, with $1 million (U.S.) paid to Kelme -- passed on January 25, and Kelme considers Heras part of its team. Kelme management claims that Heras remains under contract because his transfer clause remained unpaid as of the January 25 deadline. According to Joan Mas, Kelme's team manager, representatives for the U.S. Postal Service called at 8 p.m. on the 25th,

Australian Stuart O'Grady donned the yellow jersey after claiming overall victory just two seconds ahead of German Kai Hundertmark in the close fought final stage of the Tour Down Under cycling race Sunday. "I'm over the moon," said 27-year-old O'Grady who races for the French team Credit Agricole. O'Grady, who also won the event in 1999, and Team Telekom's Hundertmark entered the 90km final stage deadlocked on time with six other riders within eight seconds of the pair. Cheered on by an estimated 100,000-strong home crowd lining the 4.5km Adelaide circuit, O'Grady crossed the line in

A fifth race leader in as many days was christened at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under when Germany's Kai Hundertmark took over the yellow jersey in Saturday's gripping stage. The Telekom rider's victory in the 156km leg from Gawler to the German town of Tanunda saw him depose overnight leader Nicolai Bo Larsen (CMS). Hundertmark, a former member of the now-disbanded Motorola team, won the stage by out sprinting 17 breakaway companions who finished two minutes, 47 seconds clear of Larsen's group. In second and third places were Australia's Peter Rogers (Sunsmart) and Allan Davis (United

The UCI released the list of teams that will make up Division II in 2001 on Friday, and only one half of the expected U.S. contingent is on the current UCI list. With key acquisition Kirk O’Bee and returning GC threat Vassiliy Davidenko, the Navigators are the only American team listed. However, Saturn is expected to be added to the list as soon as some paperwork is completed. According to Saturn team director Tom Schuler, the squad didn’t get its team audit completed in time, causing the omission. Schuler assured VeloNews that it was just a formality, and his team would be on the list

If Stuart O'Grady's fairytale return to winning form is to be, he will have to pull off one of the mightiest coups of his career. His bid to win the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under stumbled Friday when he lost the leader's yellow jersey to Dane Nicolai Bo Larsen (CSC). In the 157km fourth stage from Unley to Strathalbyn, O'Grady (Credit Agricole) looked set to finish with the perfect result until eight kilometers to go. That’s when Bo Larsen attacked. And missing Larsen's move was a mistake that may cost O’Grady dearly unless he can turn the tables on the red headed Dane Saturday. Larsen

Cancer survivor. Texan. Professional cyclist. Look for a one-hour show focusing on the two-time Tour de France winner on A&E cable network Monday, January 22. The segment will air at 8 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific); check local listings or the network's site, www.AandE.com, for broadcast times in other regions.

A bitter two-year spell of misfortune that once threatened Stuart O'Grady's life, let alone his career as a cyclist, may be near its end. The proof for O'Grady’s (Credit Agricole) came yesterday when he took race leadership of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under. The South Australian realizes the 757km race is still a long way from him adding a second victory to the one he claimed in 1999. But the image of O'Grady on the podium and in the yellow jersey after the 165km second stage from McLaren Vale to Victor Harbor, which was won by Italian Alessio Galletti (Saeco), heralded an emphatic

Italian rider Fabio Sacchi held off Stuart O'Grady in a thrilling sprint finish to claim the overall lead in the Tour Down Under cycling race here Wednesday. But an investigation involving Australian Olympian Graeme Brown was garnering all the attention. Brown is one of several Australian riders named in an alleged incident with a car at last year's Noumea six-day track race. After losing the race lead in stage two of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, Brown (United Water) denied knowledge of the incident. But Cycling Australia confirmed it has received notice from the New Caledonian

Reigning Olympic champion and 1997 Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich's pre-season campaign has hit a bump after a briefcase containing his training plans for this year was stolen. The case was swiped from the German cyclist's trainer, Peter Becker, in Majorca, Spain. Papers detailing Ullrich's training plans for 2001, as well as a gold watch were in the briefcase. "I only hope that the program doesn't fall into the hands of the opposition. I don't care about anything else in the case," Ullrich said.

There's been a lot of celebratory back slapping by organizers of the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under for signing up the world's number one team to race. So much so, some joked that they had beaten each other black and blue in the lead up to tonight's start to the 757km event, the stage one criterium in the Adelaide suburb of Glenelg. The 47km stage ended in a popular home win for the estimated 54,000-strong crowd that lined the tight 1.88km circuit. In balmy conditions that saw temperatures in the mid seventies, it was won by NSW's Graeme Brown (United Water). South Australia's Stuart O'Grady

Australian cyclist Stuart O'Grady rates German rider Steffen Wesemann as the big threat in the Tour Down Under starting in Adelaide Tuesday. Wesemann, who rides for the German Telekom team, has been training in Australia since December 3 to give himself plenty of time to become accustomed to the Australian heat and conditions. And 1999 race winner O'Grady said the 29-year-old German, who won a stage of last year's Tour Down Under and finished third overall, was giving nothing away in the lead-up to the six-stage, 757km race. "As soon as I found out Steffen was coming over this early

According to a tentative schedule posted on his Web site, two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will not compete in any French races prior to the start of the Tour on July 7. The 29-year-old, whose U.S. Postal team is at the center of a French judicial investigation into drug allegations, will steer clear of races in France, racing primarily in Spain and then capping his preparations with the Tour of Switzerland, June 19-28. Last season Armstrong participated in the prestigious Paris-Nice and Dauphiné Libéré in France as part of his build-up to his second straight Tour victory. But

On Thursday the USCF announced the National Racing Calendar schedule for 2001. Among the highlights of the 52-race schedule are eight new events, including the Manhattan Invitational in New York City on August 2 and the previously announced San Francisco Grand Prix, September 9. The other new events are the Housatonic Valley Classic in Danbury, Connecticut, June 24; the San Rafael Cycling Classic in California, September 8; the Irvine Cycling Grand Prix in California, September 24; the U.S. Open Cycling Champioinships in Columbus, Ohio, September 29; the Deland Cycling Grand Prix in Florida,

When the U.S. Postal Service submitted its paperwork to the UCI at the end of last month, an unexpected name appeared on the team's official roster, former Saturn sprinter Robbie Ventura. The move was part of an effort by the team to solidify its presence on the home front. Director of operations Dan Osipow said, "We were looking for some speed in criterium racing, which we've lacked in the last couple of years, in American-style events." Osipow said that the team's U.S. schedule will resemble that of recent years -- including Redlands, Sea Otter, the BMC series, Clarendon Cup

The juxtaposition of the Festina drugs trial going on in Lille and the announcement Thursday in Paris of next year’s Tour de France route was not lost on race director Jean-Marie Leblanc. In a 5000-word speech, Leblanc made one reference to the trial that is dredging up the Festina team’s exclusion from the 1998 Tour because of its systematic drug use. Leblanc said, "After being brought down by dubious hands — as the Lille trial is showing right now — cycling … has suffered so much and worked so hard to correct things over the past two years, that it will end up with its head held high.

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