Ludo Dierckxsens breaks wrist

Medical Report on Swedish Cyclist

Museeuw in intensive care in Gent

Gert Jakobs back on the road

Robbie Vandaele misses drug test again!

Amstel Gold Race

Other starters: Erik Zabel, Leon van Bon, Michael Boogerd, Laurent Brochard, Laurent Jalabert, Abraham Olano, Richard Virenque, Frederic Moncassin,Frank Vandenbroucke and Rolf Sörensen.

Bjarne Riis (winner 1997) and Jan Ullrich will not start.

Tour of Willamette

The short but steep 1km climb to the top was over in less than three minutes, not much in a five-day stage race, but no one was taking the opening day to be just a warm-up.

"It’s a stage race and a lot of things can happen in a race this long and difficult¯but, it could very well come down to just seconds, and if you slack off at the prologue it can really come back to haunt you," said Doug Kaufman, team manager for the Saturn men’s and women’s teams.

In a closely contested men’s field, Eddy Gragus (Oilme) and Scott Fortner (Saturn) tied for first in 2:15. Mark McCormack (Saturn) took third at 2:17.

The rest of the pack was close behind, and five riders tied for fourth place -- Adham Sbeih (NutraFig), John Leonard (Lemond-Bike Gallery), Mike McCarthy (Saturn) and Mercury’s Gord Fraser and Mark Walters finished four seconds of the leader, with times of 2:19.

In the women’s competition, the Saturn team came on strong with a first place finish from Karen Kurreck, who finished in 2:38, while teammates Julie Hanson and Clara Hughes finished just five seconds back, tied for fifth at 2:43.

The Saeco-Timex squad also did well, with Susy Pryde taking second place at 2:39, and Pam Schuster in third spot at 2:41.

"I went out too fast. I thought it was a minute shorter -- my lungs were on fire. I hurt!," said a tired but happy Nicole Freedman (Shaklee), after finishing in 2:42, placing fourth among the women and four seconds off the lead.

Tomorrow’s event, the JogMate Brownsville Road Race, begins at Camp Harlow, off County Farm Road, at 10 a.m.

Prologue, 1km

Men

1T. EDDY GRAGUS (OILME), Fort Collins, Colo., and SCOTT FORTNER (SATURN), Littleton, Colo., two mins, 15 secs; 3. Mark McCormack (Saturn), N. Easton, Mass., 2:17

Women

1. KAREN KURRECK (SATURN), Cupertino, Calif., two mins, 38 secs; 2. Susy Pryde (Saeco-Timex), Auckland, New Zealand, 2:39; 3. Pam Schuster (Saeco-Timex), Northridge, Calif., 2:41.

Stage 1

You couldn’t have asked for better conditions or more excitement from the thrilling second stage of the Mercury Tour of Willamette Thursday. Those conditions produced two very different races.

In the men’s event, a small group of racers broke away unusually early in the race and held off the rest of the pack over two grueling climbs and for more than100 miles.

"We went from the first mile of the race," said Roy Knickman (Mercury) of the five riders who got out front early and stayed away. Of the five, it came down to Knickman out-sprinting Norm Alvis (Saturn) to win Thursday’s Brownsville Road Race and move into the top spot in the overall standings.

"It was a strange move tactically because we weren’t the designated leaders, none of us were," Knickman said. "It was a big chess game out there. We rolled to an eight-minute lead and then they started racing behind us. And we were waiting for them to get close, but it was very cat-and-mouse."

As the race progressed the eight-minute gap got smaller, but the rest of the peloton never caught up. The five riders in the breakaway dueled among themselves, but by the end, only Knickman and Alvis were left.

"It was just a race of attrition within our group," Knickman said. "We hit the hill the first time and we lost one rider, and then on the descent we lost another, and then on the big hill again we lost another, and then it was just Norm and myself."

With a kilometer to go, and with Knickman in the lead, Alvis took over to lead the sprint.

"At 300 meters he (Alvis) started to accelerate and I didn’t want him to fully get the jump," Knickman said. "I wanted it to be a drag race, so I jumped hard to get next to him to force him to either drag race me or get on my wheel and try to come around. We drag raced and then I came around at 100 meters and just held him off."

It is Knickman’s first national win since returning competition after a three- year retirement.

Knickman finished less than a bike-length ahead of Alvis and they both clocked in at four hours, 44 minutes and 51 seconds. Gord Fraser (Mercury) took third at 4:46:17 and teammate Mark Walters led Bill Innes (Kissena) along with a group of riders in at 4:46:20.

Where the men split up early, the women stayed much closer together. The field finally split apart somewhat around 40 miles into the 66 mile women’s course when the Saturn and Saeco-Timex teams began to send riders off.

A group of six riders, led by Clara Hughes (Saturn), crossed the finish line at three hours and 43 seconds, less than two minutes in front of the main peloton.

Nicole Freedman (Shaklee) placed second and moved into second overall behind Hughes; Susy Pryde (Saeco-Timex) took third, followed Cheryl Binney (Ralph’s- Klein), Tammy Jacques (Clif Bar) and Kathleen Gleason (Potomac).

More than 60 women then crossed in a mad sprint 1:28 behind the leaders. The margin of victory is very slight and no team has emerged as a clear leader.

While Hughes took the win, it was a day for other teams to gain some satisfaction.

Binney, who placed fourth, gave all the credit to her team members for getting her out front.

"Our job was really to cover the bigger teams, because there are only three of us," she said. "Our team was able to do that, whether it was me one of the others, but we were going to have one of us up front. I wouldn’t have been there without my teammates."

Friday’s race, the Smith River Road Race, is one of the most difficult stages, with about 6,000 feet of climbing and a distance of just under 100 miles. The twisty, narrow BLM roads demand a high level of technical skill and concentration. Riders have to contend with rough, resurfaced logging roads, complete with storm damage and moss-slickened shaded areas. The demanding conditions take their toll on both riders and equipment and could serve to open up the overall race for both the men and women.

The Smith River Race begins at the Clay Creek Recreation Area about one-hour from Eugene. Start times are10 a.m. for the men and 10:30 a.m. for the women.

Stage One, Brownsville Road Race

Men

1. ROY KNICKMAN (MERCURY), Colorado Springs, Colo., 4 hrs, 44 mins, 51 secs; 2. Norm Alvis (Saturn), Colorado Springs, Colo., s.t.; 3. Gord Fraser (Mercury), Ottawa, Ont., Canada, 1:26; 4. Mark Walters (Mercury), Blackstock, Ont., Canada, 1:29; 5. Bill Innes (Kissena), Flushing, N.Y., s.t.

Overall

1. Knickman, 4 hrs, 47 mins, 2 secs; 2. Alvis, :04; 3. Fraser, @1:29; 4. Adham Sbeih (NutraFig), Sacramento, Calif., 1:37; 5. Eddy Gragus (OilMe), Fort Collins, Colo., 1:42.

Women

1. CLARA HUGHES (SATURN), Hamilton, Ont., Canada, 3 hrs, 0 mins, 43 secs; 2. Nicole Freedman (Shaklee), Palo Alto, Calif., s.t.; 3. Susy Pryde (Saeco- Timex), Auckland, New Zealand, s.t.; 4. Cheryl Binney (Ralph’s-Klein), Los Angeles, Calif., s.t.; 5. Tammy Jacques (Clif Bar), Carbondale, Colo., s.t.

Overall

1. Hughes, 3 hrs, 3 mins, 11 secs; 2. Freedman, 0:04; 3. Pryde, 0:06;.4. Jacques, 0:21; 5. Binney, 0:24.