Road

It couldn’t have been easier for Mario Cipollini. Instead of having to duke it out in another physical sprint like other flat stages have ended in, the Lion King was able to roll to an easy sprint win because of a crash behind him in the last corner. While most of Italy is as up and down as a crumpled rug, over the millennia the mighty Po River has ground down every bit of topography in a crosswise swath where the country widens at the top of the boot. Consequently, stage nine, which ran northeast for 142km in the Po valley and crossed the river once, was flat as a pancake and certain to

The Tour of Somerville is famous for the names that dot its deep winners list. Olympians, national champions, and trendsetters have all won this race that has taken place on Memorial Day for nearly 60 years. But the 2001 edition of the race paid tribute to a rider who will never have the chance to put her name in the event's record books: Nicole Reinhart. Reinhart, a star sprinter for the Saturn women’s team, died from injuries sustained in a crash in a race last fall. But now, thanks to the committee that organizes this quintessential American race, the spirit of Reinhart - a rider who

On a day when a tireless 40-year-old animated the action all day long, it was an up-and-coming 26-year-old on a first-year team who stole the show at the elite men’s national road race championship in Redding, California, on Saturday. A teary-eyed Remi McManus of the Boise Stars team accepted the national championship jersey after outsprinting four breakaway companions at the end of the 111-mile race. The finish came down to McManus and four others: Brice Jones (Mercy Fitness), Patrick Heaney (Lombardi Sports), Tim Unkert (Capital Velo Club) and Chris Walker (Triathlete Zombies). Of those,

Once again, Julio Perez was the animator of a pivotal stage and came agonizingly close to winning it. The pack had not even left the vacation spa town of Montecatini Terme when the Mexican Panaria rider attacked with five others just two kilometers into this difficult 185km stage. Among those with him was Pietro Chaucchioli, who rolled into Reggio Emilia alone 183km later. Behind, in a small chase group finishing a minute behind the 26-year-old Alessio winner was ONCE’s José Azevedo, who came within a whisker of taking over the maglia rosa. After 9km, a group of 11 took off after Perez’s

Iban Mayo ( Euskaltel Euskadi) achieved his first career win by taking the final overall victory of the Grand Prix Midi Libre, following the end of the sixth and final stage as the race concluded in Sete Sunday. The 23-year-old, who only turned professional last year, had an overall 35 second advantage on stage winner and former champion here Benoit Salmon of France following the final run between Florac and Sete. Mayo, a virtual unknown, set a cracking pace under the blazing sun and was in second position following the double climb of 12 percent incline of Mont Saint-Clair. But French

Canada’s Lyne Bessette overcame a final stage challenge to lock up her second overall win at France’s Tour de l'Aude on Sunday. Germany’s Judith Arndt and Bessette successfully chased down breakaway attempt by Susanne Ljungskog (Vlaanderen) the winner of the women’s edition of the Milan-San Remo World Cup, La Primavera Rosa. With 40 kilometers remaining in the final stage, Lungskog – who started the day in fifth place overall at 7:50 -- moved off the front of the field in an attempt to lock in a solo win, and a possible upset in the overall standings. But the two race leaders – Bessette in

At Saturday’s national road race championships, Saturn’s Kimberly Bruckner demonstrated again that she was the strongest woman on the roads of Redding. Two days after winning the national time trial championship, Bruckner broke away with Harbour Lights’ Amber Neben 27 miles into the 69-mile championship road race and eventually soloed in for her second national title in three days. Saturday’s women’s race consisted of four laps of a hilly, 14-mile circuit west of Redding, with a six-mile starting and finishing tail from town to the circuit. The 64-woman field was content to stay together at

Canadian Lyne Bessette held on to her overall lead in the Tour de L’Aude as AutoTrader.com's Sarah Ulmer won eighth stage of the French stage race. A break of 10 riders escaped the field at the halfway point of the 122km stage between Limoux and Espéraza. None of the escapees posed a threat to Bessette’s grip on the overall lead. The American Autotrader team had two of its riders in the break – Ulmer and the team’s new recruit Katrina Berger. Berger attacked as the lead group -- now down to eight riders -- reached the final finishing circuit. With her teammate ahead, Ulmer sat on as the

Stefano Zanini outsprinted a group of 49 riders to win the longest stage of the Giro, beating Gabriele Missaglia and Jan Ullrich after a great leadout from Stefano Garzelli. For the first time in the race, the Olympic road champion was feeling well enough again to come over the top of a big climb with the front group and even to mix it up in the sprint. The 239km stage started in Rieti in the province of Lazio, headed north through the entire length of Umbria and finished in Montevarchi in Tuscany. It started slowly, winding along picturesque roads in hilly country along lakes and past

Swiss rider Sven Montgomery (La Française des Jeux) assumed the overall lead of the GP Midi-Libre after winning the fifth stage of the race as it moved to the city of Mende on Saturday. Montgomery broke away in the final kilometer on the Col de la Croix-Neuve to pull away from Mercury’s Andrei Kivilev of Kazakhstan. It was the second straight win for Montgomery's team after Bradley McGee triumphed in the fourth stage on Friday. Copyright AFP2001

Scott Price seemed to be smiling all the way from Durango to Silverton on Saturday. The Team Landis rider's grin was even wider after he won a three-man sprint in the 30th annual Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. Price, 31, nipped Federico Ramirez (Cafe de Costa Rica/Pizza Hut), part of a four-person Costa Rican contingent, and Durango favorite Ned Overend (Specialized), who at 45 was looking to add to his four Iron Horse road race titles that he began accumulating in 1983. The three riders, along with Price's teammate, Drew Miller, crested Molas Pass, the course's last long climb,

Australian Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux) raced to a sprint finish to win the 209km fourth stage of the Midi Libre in Laissac, France, on Friday. Overall leader Kazakh Andrei Teteriouk of the Mercury team retained his leader's jersey after the stage, which included two first category climbs, between Pont-du-Gard and here. Former track rider McGee sprinted ahead of a packed peloton to relegate Italian Nicola Loda into his second second-place finish of the week after he came second in Pezenas on day two. Copyright AFP2001

With another tremendous burst of power, Mario Cipollini has become the second-winningest rider in Giro history. With extremely aggressive riding once again, the big Saeco rider turned a seemingly hopeless position with 500 meters to go into a perfect one with 200 meters to go. And when he stood up to finish it, he blew the doors off Danilo Hondo and Massimo Strazzer, grinning the entire way to the line. The going in the sprint was a bit easier by virtue of a long climb with 27km to go that caused Ivan Quaranta to lose contact. Yesterday’s sprint winner showed once again that he is the

Lyne Bessette, riding as a member of the Canadian national team, took over the lead of the Tour de L’Aude Friday, after escaping in a crucial break in the second of the day’s two stages. The first of Friday’s two stages saw two riders escape early in a short 45km race between Castelnaudary and Bram. France’s Magali Le Floc’h (C.A Mantes La Ville) and Australia’s Sara Carrigan (Australian National) crossed the line 56 seconds ahead of Anna Millward, who won a field sprint for third. After a brief break, the race resumed with another short 63km stage between Bram and Limoux. Despite the

Stomping each of his unique snakeskin carbon-soled Gaerne shoes down with enormous power, Ivan Quaranta held off Mario Cipollini to take the first purely flat sprint of this Giro on May 24. Today's 229km stage, starting just east of Naples and ending just south of Rome, did not affect the overall standings. This was the Alexia sprinter’s fifth Giro stage win in three years, and he still acknowledges that, "Cipollini (who has 30 Giro wins) is still the king of us sprinters." Boxed in at the final corner 500 meters from the line, Quaranta -- nicknamed Cheetah -- managed to pop out in time to

Mercury Viatel’s Andrei Teteriouk won the individual time trial on the third day of the Midi Libre Grand Prix in Montpellier, France, on Thursday. Teteriouk averaged 57.791 kph over the 19km course and finished 17 seconds ahead of Australian Bradley McGee (La Française des Jeux), and 22 seconds faster than France's Gilles Maignan (Ag2r). The 33-year-old from Kazakhstan also takes over the overall lead of the 33rd Midi Libre from Czech Jan Svorada with a 22-second advantage over Maignan, and a 30-second lead over Frenchman Christophe Moreau. Teteriouk’s stage win marks the 37th for the

Team Saturn continued its mastery of the 2001 U.S. road season on Thursday, sweeping to dual national titles at the national time trial championships in Redding, California. Trent Klasna, on the biggest roll of his career, won the men’s title over defending champion Adham Sbeih (Navigators), while Kimberly Bruckner scored a mild surprise win, beating world time trial champion and four-time national time trial champion Mari Holden (Alfa Lum). The women took to the road first on a day when high temperatures were to rise into the mid- to upper-90s. The rolling, 34km out-and-back course would

A tough day with five rated climbs at the Tour de l’Aude ended Thursday with another win for the UCI’s current number 1 rider and World Cup leader, Anna Millward. Millward riding for the Australian National team sprinted past Canada’s Lynne Bessette to earn her third stage win at this year’s Tour de l’Aude, France’s major stage race for women. Bessette and Millward usually ride on the same Saturn cycling team, but are representing their respective national squads at the French race. The began with a break by Autotrader.com’s Sarah Ulmer who took off from the main field some 90km from the

Anna Millward, riding France’s Tour de l'Aude as a member of the Australian National Team earned a win as she cruised to a 30-second win in the stage five time trial around Castelnaudary on Wednesday. Millward, the world’s number 1 who usually rides for the U.S. Saturn team, beat overall race leader Edita Pucinskaite (Alfa Lum) , covering the 26.5 km course in 38:48. Millward's Saturn teammate Lyne Bessette, riding the Tour as a member of Canada's national team, continues to hold on to second place in the overall standings, 57 seconds behind Pucinskaite. Copyright AFP2001

Jan Svorada of the Czech Republic on Wednesday won the second stage of France’s Grand Prix Midi-Libre, moving into the overall lead of this traditional Tour de France preparatory race. The 32-year-old Lampre rider, who last won the overall event in 1994, sprinted ahead of a 30-strong bunch of riders in 4:43:43 to grab the red and yellow leader's jersey after a 197km stage between Saint Cyprien and Pezenas. "I love this race, the weather is always great," said Svorada, originally from Slovakia. Italian Nicola Loda (Fassa Bortolo) came in second, with Telekom’s Alexandre Vinokourov arriving

Jerome Bernard (Jean Delatour) earned his first win as a professional Tuesday on the opening stage of the 53rd edition of the GP Midi Libre. The 30-year-old domestique shadowed a breakaway attempt by Rabobank’s Matthe Pronk, halfway into the 183km stage from Gruissan to Saint-Cyprien. The two stayed together for most of the 90-kilometer effort, but the Rabobank rider began to suffer leg cramps only a few kilometers from the finish in Saint-Cyprien and was soon caught by the field. But Bernard continued on ahead and staved off a hard charging peloton, beating the field by only four seconds.

Saturn continued their dominance and kept their lead riders high in the NRC points, as Trent Klasna and Kimberly Bruckner won their respective races at the Housatonic Valley Classic in Danbury, Connecticut, on Sunday. This new race on the calendar offered the men a fantastic but gut-wrenching 140-mile undulating course. The climbs were a challenge and the winding descents on Connecticut's narrow backroads sent a few unsuspecting riders into the hedgerow. With little time for rest and recuperation the 220-man field knew that it would be a race of attrition.After a few initial breakaways from

American Danny Pate won the overall title at the four-day Triptyque Arennais stage race, which finished in Belgium on Sunday. Pate, riding for the U.S. under-23 national team, placed in the top five on three of the four stages, including a second place finish on stage three which moved him into the overall lead. Pate finished fifth on the final stage Sunday to clinch the overall victory. Earlier this month, Pate took two stage wins at the Thuringen Rundfahrt stage race in Germany.

Steady performances by Lyne Bessette over the weekend, and a finish within the main group on May 21 have paid off for the Canadian with a second day in the No. 2 spot on the GC standings. Saturday's stage winner was sprinter Petra Rossner (Germany), while Sunday's 126km route was suited more to climbers where Edita Pucinskaite (Lithuania) won the stage and the leader's jersey. Monday's winner was Olga Slioussareva (Russia), who rode clear with her teammate to take the Stage 3 victory on May 21. The top six GC spots after Monday's stage were identical to Sunday's list. Saturday's finish came

Hey, it’s a bike Mecca and the teams from the University of California at Davis proved it when both the school’s men’s and women’s teams wrapped up wins in Monday’s National Collegiate team time trial championship. Meanwhile the host team – the U.S. Air Force Academy – scored a win in the men's Division II event, while Yale captured the Division II women’s title. The three-day national championship finished up with a 10.5-mile out-and-back team time trial, pitting riders against the clock and the windy remnants of a fast-moving Canadian cold front that tore through the Colorado Springs area

On a stage that was expected to produce a sprint finish and no change in the overall standings, a sudden rain in the last hour wreaked havoc on the peloton and on the overall standings. Rik Verbrugghe, yesterday’s time trial winner, worked hard to hold on to leader’s jersey, but that was only a small part of the day’s action – and crashes involving some of the race’s top riders, including Francesco Casagrande who abandoned the race after the stage finish due to his injuries. Shortly after the rain started with around 40km to go, a crash in the middle of the field took down Jan Ullrich

Colorado’s unpredictable weather lived up to the old “if you don’t like it, wait five minutes” rule and opened a small window of opportunity for riders to take on the National Collegiate road racing championship on Sunday. After Saturday’s rain-plagued criteriums, Sunday started dawned warm and sunny as Carolyn Donnelly (University of New Mexico) and Sarah Konrad (University of Wyoming) finished together winning the women’s Division I and II events. The weather cooperated all the way until moments after UCLAs’ Alex Smith and Tyler Wren of Princeton rode to their respective wins in the

The 20 teams and riders at the 2001 Giro d’Italia, and the route they’ll face in the next 23 days. ALESSIO Italy Top GC rider: Gotti Top sprinter: Leoni Best stage-win hopes: Leoni, Zanetti Giro will be a success if: Gotti finishes top 5. Equipment: DeRosa bikes Sponsor: Alloy automobile wheels Director: Bruno Cenghialta Giro team: Stefano Casagrande (I); Davide Casarotto (I); Pietro Caucchiolo (I); Ivan Gotti (I); Martin Hvastija (Slo); Ruslan Ivanov (Mol); Endrio Leoni (I); Alexandr Shefer (Kaz); Mauro Zanetti (I). ALEXIA Italy Top GC rider: Hervé Top sprinter:

Belgian Rik Verbrugghe of the Lotto-Adecco team continued his spring tear Saturday, winning the 7.6km prologue on the opening day of the Giro d’Italia. Verbrugghe, who also won the Flèche Wallone classic on April 18, beat out Italian Dario Frigo by nine seconds. The 26-year-old averaged more than 58 kph on the flat course. Tune in shortly for a full race story and results.

If there ever was a day to break some records for time trialing, this was it. The course for the prologue of the 84th Giro d’Italia was short, completely flat and straight as an arrow. The weather was overcast and cool, with a tailwind. Always an opportunist, Rik Verbrugghe took advantage of the conditions to set a record that will probably stand for a very long time. The Lotto-Adecco rider covered the 7.6km along the Abruzzi coast at a blazing pace of 58.874kph, the fastest average time trial speed in professional cycling history, eclipsing the storied record Tour time trial speeds of

Italy's Marco Pantani and Germany's Jan Ullrich are the two stars in the field as the 84th running of the Giro d'Italia gets underway in Pescara on Saturday. But while Pantani and Ullrich's pedigree is beyond reproach it would be a surprise if either was to cross the line wearing the leader's pink jersey on June 10. Pantani, assailed by legal and health problems, has had a miserable campaign so far while Ullrich insists he is only using the Giro as a stepping stone for the one race that is more important in the cycling calendar, the Tour de France. Pantani has not been invited to the

Saturn's Anna Millward pulled on the leader's jersey of the 10-day Tour de l'Aude after putting in the fastest time on the 3km prologue course in Gruissan, France, on May 18. The Australian's time was 4:23, with New Zealand's Sarah Ulmer the surprise of the day, coming in for second place, three seconds back. Germany's Judith Arndt and Petra Rossners -- two know as TT specialists, finished third and fourth, 4 and 8 seconds slower. Canadian Lyne Bessette (Saturn) was the day's top North American, finishing sixth, 9 seconds slower than Millward. Tomorrow's first stage is a 106km loop at

With one day to go, Dane Jakob Piil (CSC) retains his overall lead at the Peace Race, heading in to Saturday's 166km stage with an 18-second margin. Saturn's Michael Barry dropped two spots on the GC standings, and now is fourth overall, down 45 seconds. The peloton faced a 25.8km morning TT and a 97km afternoon stage on May 18. Germany's Thomas Liese (Nuremberg) won the morning's event, clocking in at 34:27, while Spain's Aito Arbillo Garmendia was second, four seconds slower. Piil rode in at 34:57 to protect his lead and finish fifth for the stage. Later in the day, Ukrainian Bogdan

Francesco Casagrande is an old-fashioned racer. He comes from a different school than pro cycling's other stars, despite his No. 1 UCI ranking. His passion for the profession is rooted in an appreciation of the great riders of the past (remember last year's Giro when he dedicated his victory on the Abetone to Gino Bartali?), and his understanding of the sport's traditions. That said, one of the most important developments in Casagrande's career is his new partnership at Fassa Bortolo with Giancarlo Ferretti, one of Europe's most celebrated and esteemed directeurs sportifs. Casagrande is one

Denmark's Jakob Piil (CSC- World Online) won the 209.2km seventh stage of the Peace Race, which ran from Pilsen, Czech Republic, to Zwickau, Germany. Piil took the sprint ahead of Poland's Zbigniew Piatek and Australian Scott Sunderland. This was Piil's second stage win of the race, and the day's effort moved him into third-place overall. Germany's Enrico Poitschke (Wiesenhof) finished 4:10 down for the day but retains the overall lead going in to Friday's 25.8km time trial. Saturn's Michael Barry remains in second place on the overall standings. Copyright AFP 2001

Disgraced Colombian climber Jose Jaime Gonzalez Pico has been recruited by Italian team Mobilvetta only days prior to the start of the Giro d'Italia. The 32-year-old, known as Chepe Gonzalez, who won the Giro's mountains plaudits in 1997 and 1999, was sacked by team Selle Italia last month after he was charged with possession of doping products. Gonzalez was charged by Modena (Italy) magistrates after the discovery of a range of doping products in his hotel room at the end of March during the Coppi-Bartali International Cycling Week. He was sacked days later by Selle Italia, who

German rider Enrico Poitschke (Wiesenhof) moved into the overall lead of the Peace Race after stage 6 in Pilsen, Czech Republic, on Wednesday, while Canadian Michael Barry of Saturn moved into second-place overall, just 10 seconds behind. Poitschke began the day fifth on general classification, but finished fourth on the 234.5km stage, the longest of the race, to take the overall lead. Poitschke's countryman Christian Lademann won the stage, outsprinting his four breakaway companions, while Barry took third on the stage. The main peloton finished 4:47 behind the breakaway. The race saw one

Italy's Dario Frigo, riding for the Fassa Bortolo team, had little trouble holding onto his overall lead during the final stage of the Tour of Romandie Sunday in Switzerland. Paris-Nice champion Frigo, 27, first took the overall lead during the race’s thrid stage, when he put 21 seconds on compatriot Paolo Savoldelli. Meanwhile, Saeco’s Mario Cippolini won a sprint finish to take the fifth stage, a 178km run between Saxon and Geneva. Copyright AFP 2001

Didier Rous (Bonjour) easily held on to win the 47th running of the Four Days of Dunkirk in France on Sunday. Rous assured himself victory by winning back-to-back stages Saturday (stage 5) and Sunday morning (stage 6). Former world No. 1 Laurent Jalabert (CSC-World Online) ended up second overall, 40 seconds behind Rous. Stephane Heulot (BigMat) was third. The win in the final stage, a 103.4km ride from Saint-Pol-sur-Mer to Dunkirk, went to Estonian Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r). Kirsipuu, who won four stages and finished sixth overall, outgunned Damien Nazon (Bonjour) and Zoran Klemencic

French rider Didier Rous grabbed the overall lead in the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race after Saturday's fifth stage, a 170.5km run from Outreau to Boulogne-sur-Mer. Rous, one of the Festina riders expelled from the 1998 Tour de France, now riding for Bonjour, finished in 4:10:35, narrowly beating out Dutchman Jeroen Blijlevens and Frenchman Stephane Heulot, while French veteran Laurent Jalabert finished fourth. Former world No. 1 Jalabert, still recovering form after an injury earlier this year, took on the race with 45km remaining after young Frenchman and Rous's teammate Sylvain

Italy's Gilberto Simoni riding for Lampre won a sprint finish in the fourth stage of the Tour of Romandie, a 171.5km run between Saint-Aubin and Nendaz, Switzerland on Saturday. The 29-year-old produced a blistering sprint to beat Spain's Manuel Beltran into second and Switzerland's Sven Montgomery into third while Italy's Dario Frigo of Fassa Bortolo held onto the overall lead. Simoni's finishing flourish was testament to his fitness as he builds up to his main objective the Giro d'Italia in which he has finished third the past two years. But Frigo, who finished sixth 14 seconds adrift, on

Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu of the AG2R team won a sprint finish that saw 12 riders fall to take the fourth of seven stages of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race in Saint-Vanant, France on Friday. Sprint specialists Jo Planckaert and Jeroen Blijlevens fell in the mass tumble in which US Postal's Stephen Barthe broke his wrist and Irishman Ciaran Power suffered a concussion. In the first stage of the race, fellow Postal rider Dylan Casey crashed into a TV soundman, and broke his pelvis and collarbone. Casey's agent has said the rider may file suit against the TV station the soundman works

Festina's Spanish rider David Plaza won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Tour of Romandie in Payerne, Switzerland on Friday. The 30-year-old Plaza completed the 25.5km time-trial course in 31:20, outsprinting Italy's Dario Frigo of the Fassa Bortolo team by 0.72. Third place finisher Andrei Teteriouk of Kazakhstan was 16 seconds back. Paris-Nice champion Frigo, 27, took the overall lead with a 21 second advantage on compatriot Paolo Savoldelli. Plaza is in third position, at :26. Copyright AFP 2001

Czech rider Jan Svorada of the Lampre team won a sprint finish to take the third stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling race in Landrecies, France. Svorada clocked a time of 4:35:10 to pip Italian Endrio Leoni of Alessio, and Slovenian Zoran Klemencic of Tacconi, to the post after the 189km run. Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu of AG2R, winner of the first two stages, had difficulty throughout the stage and was overwhelmed some 100 meters from the line. He holds the overall leader's pink jersey ahead of Australians Baden Cooke (Mercury-Viatel) and Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) at 13 and 14

Italy's Paolo Savoldelli won a sprint for the second stage of the Tour of Romandie in Vevey, Switzerland on Thursday. The Saeco rider, winner of the opening prologue, covered the 171.7km run between Tramelan and Vevey in 4:04:48 to come in ahead of Spaniard Manuel Beltran and Italian Dario Frigo, plus a pursuing peleton of eight riders. The Italian recaptured the overall leader's green jersey from Australian Bradley McGee, but has just a seven-second lead on second-placed compatriot Dario Frigo. "Everything is to play for in Friday's time-trail at Payerne. If the rider who has the green

Italy's Fabrizio Guidi, of the Mercury-Viatel team, won the 165km first stage of Switzerland’s Tour of Romandie between Pfaffnau and Tramelan. The 29-year-old Guidi won in a sprint finish, just nipping Swiss riders Oscar Camenzind (Lampre-Daikin) and Niki Aebersold (Team Coast), then used the opportunity to take a swipe at Tour de France organizers who did not select his American team as a wild card entrant last week. "It was a political and not a sports decision," said Guidi. The Italian added that he hadn't thought Camenzind would be the main danger but quickly readjusted his target. "My

Estonia's Jaan Kirsipuu (AG2R) won his second successive stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk cycling event Wednesday to hold on to the leader's pink jersey. The 31-year-old, who held the Tour de France yellow jersey for several days in 1999, won in a sprint finish against Australia's Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) and Mercury-Viatel's Dutch rider Jans Koerts. The day’s stage was a 192.2km run between Roost Warendin and Haines-Les-La-Bassee in France. Copyright AFP 2001

AG2R’s Jaan Kirsipuu captured the leader’s pink jersey after winning a sprint for the first stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk on Tuesday. The Estonian rider covered the 164.8km between the northern French towns of Dunkirk and Steenvoorde in 3 hours, 46 minutes, pipping Australia's Baden Cooke (Mercury-Viatel) and French champion Christophe Capelle of BigMat-Auber. Meanwhile, American Dylan Casey (US Postal) crashed just after crossing the line when he collided with a sound engineer from a French television station. According to early medical reports Casey suffered a fractured pelvis and

Defending champion Paolo Savoldelli of Italy won the opening 6.9km prologue of the six-day Tour of Romandie in Pfaffnau, Switzerland, on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Saeco rider was clocked in 9:00.63 between the towns of St. Urban and Pfaffnau to lead compatriot Dario Frigo by 0.83 and Australia's Bradley McGee by 1.15. "I didn't think I had the right rhythm. The first 4km uphill really broke my legs," said Savoldelli, who won last year's prologue here, but does not feel in top form this time around. "I didn't take part this year in the Tour of the Basque Country, which is a really hard race

The 2001 Tim Schoeny's Tour of the Gila ended on Sunday with the Gila Monster road races, an epic 100-mile test for the men and 66 miles for the women. The final stage gave the overall race winners one last chance to show who was strongest, as Scott Moninger (Mercury-Viatel) and Genevieve Jeanson (Rona) each added to their win totals en route to the overall, with Moninger taking his third and Jeanson her fourth stage win. Jeanson dominated the final day in the same way that she did every other road race stage, ending the day with a 5:56 advantage over Saturn's Kimberly Bruckner and 17

Gorazd Stangelj of the Liguigas team won the Tour of Tuscany in Italy Sunday. Stangelj came to the finish with Alexia’s Pascal Herve and beat the Frenchman in a sprint to win the 194km race with a time of 4:50:45. Spaniard Garcia Lastras (iBanesto.com) finished third, another 41 seconds back.

Jelly Belly’s Mariano Friedick earned a long-sought-after win on the fourth day of the Tour of the Gila after outsprinting three breakaway companions at the end of a 43-mile criterium Gila in Silver City, New Mexico on Saturday. In the women’s race, Saturn’s Ina Teutenberg crossed the line ahead of teammate Anna Millward as this season’s top women’s team enjoyed a win in a stage race dominated by the young Canadian phenom’ Genevieve Jeanson. Jeanson maintains a seven-minute lead in the overall standings, while Mercury’s Scott Moninger maintains a grip on the overall lead in the men’s

For Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg and the rest of the men’s field chasing Scott Moninger at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico, any hopes of overtaking Mercury’s race leader will most likely have to wait until Sunday’s finale. For the women, any slim hopes of catching race leader Genevieve Jeanson pretty much vanished after another solo victory by the Canadian teenager. Friday’s men’s race saw a south-of-the-border sweep, as a trio of Mexicans went 1-2-3 on the day. Jesus Zarate of the Tecos team took the win, outsprinting his breakaway partner Siddharta Camil of Corona. Mostly, though, it was a

On Friday, Mercury-Viatel’s team director at the Tour of the Gila spoke to VeloNews about the recent news of Viatel’s bankruptcy filing. Eddy Borysewicz, one of the men behind the Mercury-Viatel merger over the off-season, said that the news will not affect operations of the cycling team. "It’s only the U.S. division that filed [Chapter 11] for protection," he said. "The division in Euorpe, with its own network, is fine. So, we have money in the bank, everything is fine …. With the team, everything’s fine. And the European [division of Viatel] is very happy with the team." Borysewicz also

On Thursday, the racers at New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila encountered their second test of the five-day stage race, and once again, Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson and Mercury’s Scott Moninger came out on top. Jeanson and Moninger each won their second consecutive stage, increasing their overall leads over chasers from Saturn. In the women’s race, Jeanson had already established a big lead with her day 1 time trial, which meant that the other teams would be on the offensive, trying to wear down the 19-year-old Canadian. Saturn took the initiative early, launching Lyne Bessette at the first bonus

The Tour of the Gila stage race got underway in Silver City, New Mexico, with a 15.7-mile time trial contested under typical windy conditions. On day 1 of the five-day race, Mercury’s Scott Moninger and Rona’s Genevieve Jeanson jumped out to the early race leads. Moninger beat Saturn’s Eric Wohlberg by 36 seconds on the out-and-back course that featured a climb on the way out and the way back. 7UP-Colorado Cyclist’s Doug Ziewacz and Clark Sheehan took third and fourth, respectively. In all, the top eight consisted of three 7UPs, three Saturns and two Mercurys before Landis-Trek-VWs Scott

Five years after his brother Beat won here, Marcus Zberg (Rabobank) of Switzerland ended Telekom's two-year home monopoly to win the Frankfurt Grand Prix on Tuesday ahead of Italy's Davide Rebellin (Liquigas) and Kurt Van de Wouwer (Lotto-Adecco) of Belgium. Zberg and Rebellin made the decisive move 70km from the finish as they broke away from a group of ten riders, which included last year's winner Kai Hundertmarck (Telekom), while ascending Mammolshainer, a climb leading to the Taunus mountains. On the final approach a fresh looking Zberg beat off Rebellin while Van de Wouwer put

The Navigators came knockin’ all week long, but never quite got the door down at the Circuit des Mines in France, April 26-May 1. On the final stage, Tuesday’s stage 8 112.3km road race in Hayange, the American team’s Russian connection of Vassiliy Davidenko and Oleg Grishkine took second and third, respectively, behind Robert Sassone (Cofidis) of France. For Davidenko, it was his fourth podium finish of the race, to go along with second place on stage 2 and third place on stages 3 and 5. In the overall, Great Britain’s Chris Newton (British National) took the race lead after then-race leader

While America is asleep Wednesday morning, six French officials from the Société du Tour de France will be meeting in Paris for a couple of hours to select the final teams that will contest this year's Tour. By 11 a.m. local time, at the Maison du Nord-Pas de Calais in the 9th Arondissement, their director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, will address a news conference, announcing the four wild-card picks -- or will it be five? When Leblanc revealed the first 16 teams in January (see list below), he said that the number of starters at the 88th Tour de France would, as last year, be limited to 180 -- 20

Lance Armstrong climbed a notch in the UCI rankings, which were updated and posted on Monday. The defending Tour de France champion’s second place finish in Saturday’s Amstel Gold World Cup put Armstrong at No. 2, up from his previous ranking of No. 3. Dutch Rabobank rider Erik Dekker, who squeaked by Armstrong to win Amstel Gold, was the big mover, climbing five spots to No. 3. Fassa Bortolo’s Italian Francesco Casagrande kept his No. 1 tag, while two of his compatriots, Mario Cipollini and 1998 Tour de France winner Marco Pantani, wallow in 73rd and 179th respectively. Germany's

Nancy Brunner, a 45-year-old cyclist from Broomfield, Colorado, died Sunday morning from injuries sustained in an accident in a road race near Boulder, Colorado. According to police, Brunner lost control on a descent and crashed into a guardrail during the Carter Lake Road Race. She was attended to by paramedics immediately after the crash, but died from head and neck trauma. Andrew Rosen, chief referee of the Carter Lake race, told the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper that it was the first death from an accident in a Colorado road race that he was aware of. Brunner, a member of the

The U.S. Postal Service has entered a three-year extension of its sponsorship of the American-based cycling team of Lance Armstrong. Tailwind Sports, the agency that owns and manages the U.S. Postal Service team, issued a release Monday stating that the Postal Service has extended its support through 2004. "We are honored and excited that this extension will enable us to continue to build an already successful program into a true dynasty in the sport," said Mark Gorski, the CEO of Tailwind Sports. "We are equally as proud of the marketing success of our program and what we have

The U.S. national team placed two riders in the top 10 of the Under-23 Tour of Flanders on Sunday, with Danny Pate finishing second and Josh Thornton taking sixth place. Pate finished second to Dutchman Roy Sentjens in the 174km race over many of the same roads and climbs as the professional Tour of Flanders World Cup. The U.S. team had a total of four finishers in the race, with Brice Jones in 29th place and Pat McCarty 44th. Last Wednesday, Pate took eighth place at the French race, La Cote Picarde. The U23’s will be in action again on Tuesday, at their version of Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Lance Armstrong’s bad luck run at the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands continued Saturday with an ugly repeat of a narrow loss to a Rabobank rider. Two years ago, Armstrong lost by inches to Rabobank’s Michael Boogerd, heralding the Texan’s dramatic return to racing following his comeback from testicular cancer. In a repeat of a bad dream, Armstrong lost to Rabobank’s Erik Dekker this year as the pair charged into the finish in Maastricht clear of the chase group.

Belgian cycling was reeling on Saturday after the Belga news agency reported that Jose De Cauwer, the national coach for the professional team, was under investigation for supplying doping products. According to the report, police discovered syringes at his house and he is under investigation for breaking the law regarding the taking of growth hormones, a charge which De Cauwer denies. However, Laurent De Backer, president of the Belgian Cycling Federation, hinted that De Cauwer would be fired if the case was proved against him. "If it is proved he broke the law my organization will meet

It was closer to midnight than twilight when racing finally ended, but that didn’t stifle the celebration of the NetZero squad. The newly formed gray-and-red clad team picked up its second win in as many days when Graeme Miller rolled across the line first to win the Twilight Criterium on the streets of Athens, Georgia. A day earlier it was teammate Jamie Paolinetti getting the win at the First Charter Criterium three-and-a-half hours to the north in Shelby, North Carolina. In Athens, the 40-year-old Miller was part of an eight-rider break that slipped away from the field early in the

Jamie Paolinetti thanked all the right people after his win Friday at the First Charter Criterium in Shelby, North Carolina. His sponsors were great. His teammates did their jobs. And, oh yeah, the Saturn team helped out quite a bit too. See, for all but the first few laps, plus the one that counts the most -- the last one -- a Saturn rider was near the front pushing the pace. "Having Saturn up there forced Mercury and Prime Alliance to chase all day," said Paolinetti, who rides for NetZero. "There’s no question that helped at the end because they weren’t around." And at the end it was

When most people think of Holland, they think cheese, windmills and tulips. Maastricht is all that, plus some surprisingly tough hills, that, when packed in tight make for a formidable challenge for the 36th Amstel Gold Race on Saturday, the fifth leg of the 2001 World Cup. While the hills, or beklimmingen in Dutch, at only a few hundred meters each hardly rival the giants of racing lore, 29 climbs over the 254km (152-mile) course at breakneck World Cup speed can prove punishing. In the tradition of the spring classics, weather forecasts call for a cold, blustery day with a chance

At the16th running of the Tucson Bicycle Classic, Canadian Olympian Genevieve Jeanson again showed the form that has made her a dominant force in 2001. Jeanson (RONA) easily won all three stages, plus the overall, at the race run April 6-8. Her time of 5:11.41 in the stage 1 time trail bested the previous record by 10 seconds, her nearest rival by 36 seconds, and would have been good enough for second place in the Pro-1/2 men’s field. "I felt good," Jeanson said. "The changes in rhythm were hard, the climb was not steady, but I went as hard as I could. I liked the course." Stage 2 was

Italian Endrio Leoni (Alessio) got the best of the other sprinters at the Scheldeprijs Schoten in northern Belgium on Wednesday, taking his second win in a row at the Belgian one-day race. The race was marked by several crashes, including Mercury-Viatel’s Jans Koerts, whose springtime bad luck continued. Koerts crashed with 50km remaining and was taken to the hospital with numerous cuts and abrasions. After several late-race breakaways were thwarted, the race came down to a mass sprint, and Leoni beat out Lotto’s Jeroen Blijlevens and Fakta’s Kurt-Asle Aversen. Just behind, U.S. champion

Oscar Camenzind outsprinted Davide Rebellin, David Etxebarria, Francesco Casagrande and Michael Boogerd in an exciting finish to the Ardennes classic. Earlier in the race, American Tyler Hamilton suffered a broken elbow involved in a crash at the base of the Côte de Wanneranval. Camenzind the Swiss Lampre-Daikin star followed the moves of the powerhouse Fassa Bortolo team of Casagrande and Raimondas Rumsas, who led in the bunch 25 seconds behind the first five. Another Fassa Bortolo rider, Dario Frigo, had been off the front with Camenzind’s teammate, Max Sciandri, for well over an hour

Ukraine's Sergei Gontchar, of the Liquigas team, won the overall title in the 31st Settimana Lombarda in Bergamo, Italy Sunday. Fassa Bortolo’s Alessandro Petacchi, won the fifth and final stage, a 163.4km run from Colzate to Clusone. Petacchi outsprinted Latvia's world champion Romans Vainsteins and Giuseppe Di Grande, also an Italian. Copyright AFP2001

Mercatone Uno’s Marco Pantani pulled out of the Settimana Lombarda prior to the start of Saturday's 187km fourth stage from Roncadelle. The 31-year-old rider, winner of the 1998 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia double, also pulled out of the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this month, because of a recurring bronchitis problem. “There was no question that he would take any risk before the Giro. It's better for him to train on roads he knows and in more favourable climatic conditions," said Mercatone team manager Giuseppe Martinelli. After three stages of the five-day event, Liquigas’s

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)edged out Domo’s Fred Rodriguez at the end of the second stage of the Settimana Lombarda. Petacchi finished at the head of a mass sprint after a 174-kilometer race near the city of Alzate Brianza in Lombardy. Petacchi, recently injured in the Tour of the Mediterranean, also narrowly beat Serguei Yakovlev (Cantina Tollo) and Liquigas's Daniele Contrini. With three stages of the five-stage Italian tour remaining, Tacconi Sport’s Stefan Rutimann moved into the overall lead. Copyright AFP2001

On a day that started in the rain, passed through driving hail, and finished in bright sunshine, Fabiana Luperini confirmed that she is indeed on form this season with a dominating victory on the Mur de Huy in the women’s fourth World Cup of the season, Belgium’s Fleche Wallone, held April 18. The diminutive climber waited until the final climb to unleash a devastating attack that left her closest challengers, Anna Millward (neé Wilson) of Saturn and Trixi Worrack (German National) nine seconds back. Throughout the 93.5km race over six steep hills in the Ardennes region of Belgium, the

When Rik Verbrugghe won the Criterium International, he said he would improve on his placing in the Flèche Wallonne from last year, when he finished second to Francesco Casagrande. The lean Lotto rider kept his word, chasing down an early breakaway of eight riders alone, dropping all but three by the final climb, and finishing alone on the steep ascent of the Mur de Huy. The eight riders in the initial break were Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo), Grischa Niermann (Rabobank), Luca Paolini (Mapei), Koos Moerenhout (Domo), Jörg Jaksche (ONCE), Marcelino Garcia Alonso (CSC), Constantino Zaballa

With four riders in the final top-10, Saturn men appeared to have had a stranglehold on the six-stage Tour of Willamette -- but the placings didn't come without a battle. At the top of the it was Eric Wohlberg, with Matt DeCanio in third, Soren Petersen sixth and Tim Johnson, 10th. Prime Alliance's Danny Pate, and Jelly Belly's Damon Kluck squeezed in for second and fourth, respectively. And on the women's side, GT's Alison Dunlap out-rode the other squads in Sunday's snow-accented stage to take back the leader's jersey for the overall title. Hail, rain, wind and 5-foot high snow banks were

For all the exposure they receive in July, Tour de France contenders rarely cross each other's paths in the preceding months — particularly in a competitive situation. That's why the French classic Paris-Camembert on Tuesday was so unusual. Americans Lance Armstrong and Bobby Julich, along with British standout David Millar, all came to the start line with something to prove. Armstrong is nearing the end of his phase-one race preparations for this year's Tour, and wanted to improve on the second place he took in Paris-Camembert last year. Julich, too, was after a win — “This and

All week long the reports from northern France promised epic conditions for the 99th edition of Paris-Roubaix, and the race on Easter Sunday lived up to all the hype. This year’s race served up 24 sections of cobblestones in absolutely awful condition, turning the race into total chaos from the beginning. Although the heavy rain at the start diminished throughout the day, and the sun finally popped out late, it truly was an epic race all day long. And once the race hit the cobbles in the second half of the race, the Belgian Domo-Farm Frites team showed that it is ready to assume the title of

This report filed at 12:06 p.m. Eastern: Domo-Farm Frites finshed 1-2-3 at today’s Paris-Roubaix. Servais Knaven won, then teammate Johan Museeuw jumped away with one kilometer to go and finished second, and then Romans Vainsteins, the world champion, outsprinted U.S. Postal’s George Hincapie for third place. Hincapie’s fourth place is the same spot he earned here two years ago. Vainsteins now has taken the lead of the UCI men’s World Cup. Domo’s Wilfried Peeters finished fifth, and Telekom’s Steffen Wesemann finished sixth. After the finish, Hincapie said: "There was nothing I