Cycling photography for March - Part I

The Local East Coast Australian Time is plus 30 minutes

Trofeo Pantalica
AIS women's team bike launch
GP Lugano
Tour de Snowy
Tour of Tasmania
Clarence St Cyclery Cup
Tour of Cuba
Tour du Haut Var
Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne
Omloop Het Volk
VDB arrested
A Sirotti Gallery - early-season images from Italy
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Copyright notice: The photo's that appear here are all subject to copyright, and may not be reproduced in any form anywhere else without the owner's permission. Copies, either print or electronic, of the photographs can be requested by contacting the photographer in most cases, as email or website addresses are usually provided with the images. The exceptions are AFP photo's, which are not available for individual sale.

Trofeo Pantalica

Photo's by Roberto Bettini

Fabio Baldato - raises his arms in triumph as he wins the uphill dash
Podium - Massimiliano Gentili (Acqua&Sapone, 2nd), Fabio Baldato (Fassa Bortolo, 1st), and Giuliano Figueras (Panaria, 3rd)

AIS women's team bike launch

Photo's by Tom Balks

Star rider Rochelle Gilmore - on her new Trek
The AIS women's team - ready to roll on their new Trek 5500's
The AIS women's team - pose outside Clarence St. Cyclery in Sydney.
Clarence St. Cyclery founder Tony Cook - explains some of the Trek frame specifications to the AIS women
AIS team manager James Victor - explains his plans for the 2002 season

GP Lugano

Pictures by Pascal Meisser

Bo Hamburger tries a solo attack
Ruslan Ivanov (Alessio) on the way to the win
The five-rider breakaway that made up the final selection

Clarence St Cyclery Cup

Photo-finish images courtesy Dunc Grey Velodrome

The speed demons derby - can you separate Anthony Peden and Danny Day (bottom)? Neither could the judges.
The keirin finish was amazingly close but went to Shaun Hopkins (center) when Sean Eadie (bottom) was DQ'ed for an earlier infringement.

Photos by John Stevenson

Thanks for the push Sean! - Sean Eadie always happy to help aspiring little trackies in the Stars of the Future race.
Outta control....almost - Sean Eadie struggles to control his bike as his rear wheel flats metres from the line in the keirin final.
The main event - the Wheelrace Final, won by Mark Renshaw from the Bathurst Cycling Club
Motor pacing, trackie style - a rider from St George being paced by a derny bike, the final event of the night won by Mark Renshaw from Bathurst.
38 to go - Shaun Hopkins from the Paramatta Cycling Club just loves going 'round and 'round and 'round and...

Tour of Cuba

Photos by Joe Papp and Mike Fraysse

Team USA for the Vuelta a Cuba.

Stage 7

Joe Papp - all smiles before the start of stage 7.

Stage 11a

Josh Horowitz - receives a 3 peso haircut.
Michael Dietrich (USA) - before the ITT.
Lazaro Gomez (Cuba) - riding for the Mixed International team, before the start of the ITT.
Cuban schoolchildren - await the arrival of riders during the stage 11a ITT.
Gianpaolo Cheula (Mapei) - during the ITT.
Switzerland's Aurelien Clerc (Mapei) - during the ITT.
Iosvani Falcon (Cuba) - gets some support from the locals during the ITT.
Graziano Gasparre (Mapei) - takes his turn at the ITT.
Bernhard Eisel (Mapei) - during the ITT. He finished 2nd on the stage.

Stage 13

Aurelien Clerc (Mapei) - takes the final stage ahead of teammate Graziano Gasparre and Joel Mariño (Matanzas).
The German team - cheering on the American team at the after-race party during a chug-a-lug contest.
The post-race party - for riders, staff and support personnel.

Tour du Haut Var

Photos by Daniel Schamps

The Aussie contingent get together before the race.
Jurgen Van de Walle - leads the bunch up the Côte de Montauroux.
Kevin Livingston (Telekom) - climbs Côte de Montauroux.
Laurent Jalabert (CSC-Tiscali) - makes his move.
Laurent Jalabert takes the title

Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Ludo Dierckxsens (Lampre-Daikin) leads a small break early in the race
Kim Kirchen (Fassa Bortolo) was one of the riders who drove the selection
Mapei and Robbie McEwen (Lotto) lead the peloton
Glenn d'Hollander (Lotto) and Paolo Bettini (Mapei) power the break
Chris Peers (Cofidis) takes a turn
The bunch strings out on wide-open Belgian roads
Paolo Bettini looks as composed as ever
Paolo Bettini leads the break over the inevitable pavé
Jan Kirsipuu cries with joy as he crosses the line
Jan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) in the finishing straight on his way to his win.
Exhaustion follows elation . . . Jaan Kirsipuu (Ag2r) comes to terms with his fabulous win.

Images by AFP

Estonia's Jan Kirsipuu (AG2R) celebrates on the podium after winning the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne cycling race.
Jan Kirsipuu gives the victory salute as he crosses the line on his own after attacking with 10km to go in the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne cycling race.

Omloop Het Volk

Frank Høj (Coast) - follows Peter Van Petegem (Lotto) near the end
Peter Van Petegem (Lotto-Adecco) - celebrates on the podium after winning the Omloop Het Volk for the third time

Pictures by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

Lotto-Adecco lead the field down a narrow cobbled lane.
The bunch enjoys the unusual Belgian sunshine.
Paolo Bettini (Mapei) leads the bunch early in the race; a vigilant Van Petegem keeps a watching brief
Andreij Tchmil (Lotto-Adecco) shows no sign of slowing down
Andreij Tchmil working hard in the peloton
A US Postal rider leads the peloton across Flanders fields.
Frank Høj looking determined, leads Peter Van Petegem
Frank Høj solo, approaching the finale
Frank Høj leads Peter van Petegem through a town
Robbie McEwen protests the UCI's banning of Spinaci bars by using his brake cables instead.
Riders battle up the Muur
More action from the Muur. At least it's not raining.
Telekom lead the chase, but it was too late
Peter Van Petegem out on his own
Peter Van Petegem ascends a pave-surfaced climb
Peter Van Petegem cruises in after his win
Peter Van Petegem and Kevin Hulsmans (Mapei-Quick Step) in an early move
Peter Van Petegem punches the air in triumph as he crosses the line
Peter Van Petegem and his unfeasibly large trophy

VDB arrested

Pictures by AFP.

Frank Vandebroucke arrives at the court in handcuffs
Patrick Lefevere announces the sacking of VDB
The scene of the alleged crime, VDB's house
Prosecutor Christian Dufour

A Sirotti Gallery

Early-season images from Italy

Here's a special selection of pictures of Italian stars in action in the opening races of the season, by Fotoreporter Sirotti. As always, these images are copyright Sirotti, but prints and other usage is available though Sirotti's website

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) - can't believe his luck as he wins the first stage in front of teammate Dimitri Konyshev
Alessandro Petacchi - celebrates as he wins the third stage
Alessandro Petacchi - adjusts his leader's yellow jersey on the podium
Antonio Colom - puts on the leader's jersey after stage 4
Danilo Di Luca (Saeco) - narrowly beats his compatriot Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo) on the finish line of stage 4
Alex Zulle (Team Coast) - on his way to victory in the final stage of the Volta Valenciana
Final podium - Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo, 2nd), Alex Zulle (Team Coast, 1st) and Claus Møller (Maia, 3rd

Want some more?

For more cycling photography, with events such as Eastern Suburbs Summer Criterium Series , Pace Bend Road Race, NSWIS-Francaise des Jeux presentation, Austral Wheelrace, Australian MTB national championships, Randwick Botany Cycling Club , 9th Classic Haribo, DEIA-Pragma-Colnago Team Launch, Valley of the Sun Stage Race, Giro Riviera Ligure Ponente, Vuelta Andalucia (Ruta del Sol), Trofeo Laigueglia , MTB Beach Challenge Knokke-Heist, Warragul track carnival/Victorian Madison Championships, Tour Méditerranéen, NSW Track Championships, Commonwealth Games fundraiser, Mercatone-Uno team launch, and World Cyclocross championships please consult our monthly archives