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Mont Ventoux
Photo ©: Sirotti

Pro and elite racer web pages

Edited by Anthony Tan and Gregor Brown

In the last few years more and more professional riders (and a couple of top amateurs) have set up websites where you can keep track of their racing and general activities. These range in quality from Lance Armstrong's very detailed personal website to basic sites knocked up by neo-pros; what they all have in common is an insight into what the rider thinks of themselves that's sometimes missing from the regular media.

The following list is all the sites we've been able to find to date — if you know of others, please let us know. As always, our e-mail address is cyclingnews@cyclingnews.com

We often say among ourselves that cyclingnews.com's greatest asset is our readers, and you prove it to us again and again. Keep them coming!

Sites are listed in alphabetical order by rider surname.

| L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
Click here for Pro Sites A-K

Click here for rider transfers for 2006-2007

Floyd Landis

www.floydlandis.com

Judging from his website and online diary, the mountain biker turned US Postal pro roadie still has a bit of fat-tyre humour left in him. Floyd's site is regularly updated, with bits and pieces of news and gossip ('The Scoop'), an online diary ('The word of Floyd'), bio, race schedule and photos – mostly taken by Graham Watson. So, for all you homie Floyd fans out there, check it out – NOW!

Greg LeMond  

www.greglemond.com/

The official site of US legend, Greg LeMond, is built using Flash, but there's plenty of stuff to keep the fan entertained. News, tips, bio, photos, fan club, and adventure tours are all part of the site.

Cool quote: "It doesn't get any easier, you just get faster."

Kashi Leuchs

www.kashileuchs.com

The official site of the half New Zealand, half German pro cross-country mountain bike rider. A very clean looking website with a strong Kiwi theme throughout – it's worth checking out just to read Kashi's life story.

Marcus Ljungqvist

www.marcusljungqvist.com

After a very brief Flash intro, Credit Agricole rider Marcus Ljungqvist's site itself is also rather succinct – at least the English version is, anyway. Any news on Ljungqvist is only available in Swedish; however both language versions contain some personal details, race schedule, palmarés, photos and guestbook.

Kevin Livingston

www.kevinlivingston.com

Livingston has recently signed for Telekom, and you can read about that here as well as his racing history and personal info.

Rachel Lloyd

rachellloyd.8m.com

Official site of this rising star of the US MTB and cyclo-cross scene.

Magen Long

www.magenlong.com

Results and race schedule for this US junior road and MTB racer, and reigning US junior cross champion.

Brian Lopes

www.brianlopes.com

Recently-created and somewhat incomplete official site of the downhill and dual slalom mountain bike star. Lots of nice pics and webmaster Stikman promises lots more to come.

Cassie Lowe

www.cassonbike.com

Neat, well presented site detailing Australia's reigning RAAM (Race Across America) champion's career. An amazing 2001 race saw her finish in fourth place overall – though her assault on the race record was stymied by unfavourable winds.

Ludewig in the 2003 TdF
Photo: © Jon Devich
Click for larger image

Jörg Ludewig

www.joerg-ludewig.de

The official site of the faithful Saeco domestique from Germany who has been riding for the Italy's red train for the last four seasons. A professional-looking web site with lots of photos, personal information, and plenty of plugs for his sponsors – Jörg knows where his bread is buttered!

Peter Luttenberger

http://www.luttenberger.com

Official Italian/German/English site on the Austrian rider, although only the German news section is updated. As the site quite openly states,'..it would be too time consuming to continuously update this page in all three languages.. !' Luttenberger is currently employed by Tacconi Sport/Vini Caldirola, the site is a little out of date in that department, though it does feature a bio and palmarés up until 1999.

Katie Mactier

katiemactier.com

Site of Australian track/road cyclist Katie Mactier. The home page features a handy tool – a countdown of the number of days to the Beijing Olympics.

Born in 1975, Mactier updates her diary regularly. The March 2007 entry includes details of her 'gruelling' pre-World Championships program.

The diaries, combined with updated photos, make this site a 'must-see.'

Jose Angel Gomez Marchante

www.gomezmarchante.com

Young Spanish pro, now with Saunier Duval in 2005. Pretty simple, and not terribly exciting, but there's a bio, some photos and press clippings.

Franco Marvulli

www.francomarvulli.ch

One of the stars of the Six-day circuit, Marvulli is best known for his skills in the Madison, where he teams up with compatriot Bruno Risi. The site is typically Swiss: well structured, informative and easy to navigate.

Mmmm... yummy gold!
Photo: © Jon Devich
Click for larger image

Loes Markerink

www.loesmarkerink.tk

17 year-old Loes Markerink shot to prominence at the 2003 World Road Championships in Hamilton, taking out the women's junior road title and grabbing a silver medal in the time trial three days prior. After a brief career in ice-hockey, Markerink left the ice-rink and began cycling at 11 years of age, and has spent her last few years as part of the Dutch national squad. About her win in Hamilton, the Dutchwoman said: "I hoped that it [sprinting early] would work good, and I guess I won!" You've got to love her youthful exuberance.

Markerink's site is fairly basic, with news, photos and palmarés sections – but how many 17 year-olds have their own web site?

Robbie McEwen

www.mcewenrobbie.com

Official site of the Aussie pocket rocket who talks the talk but walks the walk. Two elite national road championship wins, two Tour de France green jerseys, a swag of stage wins at the Tour and Giro and a handful of semi-classics – the only thing missing from Robbie's enviable collection is a rainbow jersey.

Bradley McGee

www.bradleymcgee.com

The site of Aussie FDJeux.com star and Commonwealth, Olympic and World Champion. Not surprisingly, despite his young age, his achievements are already a mile long. The usual suspects are there, including his bio, palmarés, media clippings – as well as some interesting titbits, such as his training schedule and recipes for his favourite meals.

Scary fact: McGee's average wattage for the 4000m individual pursuit is 390-410 watts at 195-205 bpm, and has a VO2Max of 89/mmol/min/kg!

Bradley McGee and Baden Cooke

www.mcgee-cooke.fr.st

Fan site of the FdJeux.com duo from Down Under. Clearly a home-job, with news items, bios, results, photos, press articles and a forum. For die-hard fans only.

Melanie McQuaid

www.racergirl.com

Melanie McQuaid is behind this site, but it's not the usual ego-fest. Racergirl is mostly a resource for female MTB racers, current and aspiring, with fitness tips and a guide to MTB lingo. Dig deeply enough, though, and you'll find McQuaid's journal and her tale of talking her way into Sydney's 'Home' nightclub after the 2000 World Cup.

Scott McGrory

www.scottmcgrory.com

Olympic Gold Medalist in the Madison, Scott McGrory (Australia) has launched his own site. It's complete with the obligatory diary, profile, racing schedule, photos and a Q & A. The diary is great reading, as it gives an insight into the top echelons of professional track racing.

Sven Montgomery

www.svenmontgomery.ch

Neat, well presented site, featuring the Française de Jeux rider in current team strip. Not much in the way of palmarés but some nice pics and 2001 race calendar included.

Cool fact: Sven is of Swiss/American descent and his nickname is 'cowboy'.

mtbchick

www.mtbchick.com

This may blow you away, but funnily enough, this website is all about chicks who ride mountain bikes. The riders in the team race at various levels, from beginner to pro, but all embrace the ideology of "empowering women to achieve their goals, in mountain biking and in life." Aaaww, dat's so cute :)

Roli Müller

www.roli-mueller.ch

Relatively new site, but very active, with diary, palmarés and a handful of pics. In German.

Ishmael Muscat

www.ishmaelmuscat.com

Ishmael Muscat is an elite cyclist from the island of Malta; a hop, skip and a jump away from the southern-most part of Italy. Ishmael is the current Malta mountain bike national points series overall winner, road champion and MTB champion – quite a handy cyclist.

Johan Museeuw

www.johanmuseeuw.com

The official site of the Lion of Flanders. A great site that includes a daily news update, a personal diary updated almost every day, photos, and a list of Johan's extensive palmarés. Very comprehensive and easy to navigate.

Daniele Nardello

www.danielenardello.it

A neatly presented site in Italian that includes a daily diary, photos, news updates on major races and fan club details. The pages download very quickly and navigation is molto facile ('very easy'), provided you can understand Italian!

Chris Newton

www.chrisnewton.ndo.co.uk

From the same guy who developed Paul Curran's web site comes an equally comprehensive site of a more contemporary British rider, 2002 points race world champion Chris Newton. Webmaster Douglas Driscoll once again goes to great lengths to track down every major result, report and photo involving Newton from 2000 onwards (Driscoll is still working on his earlier years).

Grischa Niermann

www.grischa-niermann.de/

Rabobank's sole German representative limits his website to German speaking fans only, but he does offer the possibility to sign up to receive a regular newsletter detailing the exploits of the hard working rider from Hannover. (A very nice feature.)

Nick Nuyens

www.nicknuyens.be

Along with Tom Boonen, Nick Nuyens is another promising young Belgian to grace the pro cycling scene in Northern Europe, and like Tom Boonen, Nuyens will be riding for Quick-Step Davitamon under the direction of ex-Mapei and Domo-Farm Frites DS Patrick Patrick Lefevere. A nicely laid out website in Dutch only.

Sven Nys

www.svennys.com

Fan site of the cross ace, in Dutch.

Stuart O'Grady

www.stuartogrady.com.au

New English-language site of the TDF green jersey contender, packed full of goodies for his fans. Includes a personal race diary and calendar, photo gallery, online forum and guestbook.

Christophe Oriol

www.perso.wanadoo.fr/christophe.oriol

This fan site, in french, is pretty useful. Oriol will ride with AG2R in 2002.

Tarja Owens

www.tarjaowens.com

A very professional looking site for Ireland's only professional female rider. Tarja Owens (pronounced Taria) is a mountain bike rider but is riding for the professional road team TwoKTwo in preparation for the Olympic Games in Athens, where her aim is to win the XC event. Tarja is also the only athlete observer for the CAFDIS project; a project financed by the European Commission whose aim is to create a network for collecting information on actions undertaken in the fight against doping in sport.

Jonathan Page

www.thejonathanpage.com

Despite lovin' the Belgian mud, the reigning US cyclo-cross champion's website has an all-American feel about it, which shows where his true allegiance lies. JP's got a great webmaster who is also a big friend and fan, providing regular updates in the form of news flashes and photos.

Strange fact: Page decimated his opposition in Napa, yet somewhat unbelievably, is still looking for a contract to race in Belgium for the 2003 'cross season. Someone sign this man now!

Caroline Payot-Podevin

carolinepayotpodevin.online.fr/accueil.htm

Official site of the French professional who will be entering her 13th year of racing in 2003. Updated weekly with news items, team information, palmarés and photos.

Luboš Pelánek

pelanek.com

Luboš Pelánek is young talented Czech rider. After riding the last two years with Relax, he will ride for home team AC Sparta Praha in 2007. He is climber and a rider for stage races.

Though the website is only written in Czech it is interesting to navigate as there are plenty of photos.

Fun facts: Pelánek's VO2 max is 85, he likes Ferrari cars and enjoys 'vino'.

Pellizotti – a Sideshow Bob lookalike?
Photo: © Chris Henry/CN
Click for larger image

Franco Pellizotti

www.francopellizotti.it

The blond curly locks of Franco Pellizotti have made the Italian a hit with the tifosi, and the young professional, only in his mid-twenties, already boasts a palmarés a mile long – his biggest victories so far being stage wins at the Vuelta al País Vasco and Tirreno-Adriatico, the points competition in the Osterreich Rundfahrt and the Italian Autumn classic, the Giro del Friuli.

After an annoyingly-long wait (and no "hold" music either!), one's taken to the index page of Pellizotti's web site, which is well laid-out and contains the usual bits and pieces: a brief bio, a brief breakdown of his De Rosa King bike, a brief description of his team, and a race calendar and photo album... so brief there's nothing there for 2003!

Dominique Perras

www.geocities.com/dominiqueperras

Québec-born Perras now has his own site that is updated on a regular basis. Plenty of info there, but the content could be structured a little better.

Power sprinter: Alessandro Petacchi
Photo: © Sirotti
Click for larger image

Alessandro Petacchi

www.alessandropetacchi.com

This sprinter from La Spezia has now emerged as the world's best fast-man after an incredible season in 2003, winning stages in all three Grand Tours among his 24 victories, something even he admits will be hard to repeat. Petacchi's site is available in English and Italian, however, the English language version is very light on content, missing out on news items and for some strange reason, photos from his amateur days, which are definitely worth a look.

Interesting fact: Alessandro loves pets; he has a parrot and a black and white cat named Trudy. Not surprising is also his need for speed – parked in his garage is a Porsche 4S.

Paola and bambino Kevin
Photo: © Tim Maloney
Click for larger image

Paola Pezzo

www.paolapezzo.it

Official site for the double Olympic Champion, who has recently announced to the public her serious attitude towards completing a hat-trick of MTB cross-country gold medals come Athens 2004.

A well-designed site in both Italian and English and in Paola's favourite colour – pink – featuring a news section (Italian only) and some very sexy photos. Towel please... is it getting hot in here?

Stage 10 victory at the 2003 TdF
Photo: © Olympia
Click for larger image

Jakob Piil

www.jakobpiil.dk

Denmark's Jakob Piil, now 30 years old, is in his prime. A splendid 2002 season with victories in Paris-Tours and the Post Danmark Rundt lead to a fantastic 2003, where Piil took a memorable stage at the Tour de France in Marseille as well as wins in the CSC Classic and Wachovia Invitational, excelling under the direction of fellow Dane Bjarne Riis.

Jakob's site is updated regularly, with a diary (excellent), race calendar, photo gallery (could be better) and guest book. The bad news – it's only in Danish (: Translator please.

It pays to win...
Photo: © AFP
Click for larger image

Marco Pinotti

www.cyclingfx.nl/MarcoPinotti

Official site of the specialist time trialist from Osio Sotto, Italy, whose most recent victory was the fourth stage of the 2003 Vuelta al País Vasco (also known as Tour of Basque Country), where Pinotti also won the mountains classification.

A well-structured web site, albeit slightly uninteresting (very different to that other Marco we know, Il Pirata Marco Pantani), it contains a bio, a handful of pics, a comprehensive results listing, regular news items and a guestbook.

Postiefans.com

www.postiefans.com

As expected, this is a site dedicated to loyal US Postal Service fans the world over. Mostly news snippets about members of the Postal squad, which take you to a link on another cycling website. Warning: for die-hard Postal fans only.

Mikel Pradera

www.mikelpradera.es.vg

A seasoned Spanish professional who has had a solid upbringing with Euskaltel-Euskadi and ONCE-Eroski, but hasn't really delivered on his promise, Mikel Pradera's website includes a bio, diary, plenty of photos and a few other odds and ends.

A woman for the tours: Pucinskaite at the 2002 Grande Boucle
Photo: © AFP
Click for larger image

Edita Pucinskaite

www.editapucinskaite.com

Official website of the champion cyclist from Lithuania, who has been a consistent performer on the professional women's circuit for over 10 years, notably winning the 1998 women's Tour de France (Grande Boucle Féminine) and 1999 world road championship. In Italian only, Edita's site is neat and entertaining, especially the section titled "La mia vita" (my life story), which is quite literally presented as an interactive story book. Also contains regular diary entries and photos.

Cool fact: Pucinskaite's favourite dish is gelato, gelato and more gelato – you go girl!

Roman Rametsteiner

www.rametsteiner.at

Official site of the Austrian National Cross Country MTB Champion. Well designed site that features a very regularly updated news section and a few pics/bio.

Michael Rasmussen

http://feltet.dk/michaelrasmussen

The rider nicknamed 'Chicken' has very successfully made the transition from world champion mountain-biker to world-class road rider. This is the gangly Dane's third attempt at a website, and it looks like it's for the better, with regularly updated news, along with Chicken's palmarés, race program and photos.

Ciao fans!
Photo: © Sirotti
Click for larger image

David Rebellin

www.rebellin.it

The rider with the nickname 'Tintin', Davide Rebellin, often looks very worried, but shouldn't be – the 32 year-old Italian has a palmarés most would envy, but that said, the petite Tintin certainly could have more than two World Cup victories to his name, finishing second more times than he cares to remember.

Rebellin's flash web site is one of the best, with both Italian and English versions. A detailed biography contains numerous photos from his childhood days, with a page dedicated to photos and letters received from his supporters the world over. There's also feature articles on his diet and training tips from his sports doctor, Dr Gaggioli – and a very cool cartoon titled 'Rebelix', which chronicles Davide's alter ego. According to the web site, Rebelix is "a nice guy who is always popping in, but he gets into a lot of trouble..." A must-visit.

Nicole Reinhart

www.nicolesbench.com

Simple tribute page for the Saturn rider, who tragically died in a racing accident in 2000.

Mark Renshaw

www.mrenshaw.com

Mark Renshaw is building his way to greatness; since moving from Française Des Jeux to Crédit Agricole, the Australian has started to collected the wins. The Tro Bro Leon in April 2006 marked his first major win in Europe, and was backed up one year later with the prologue of the Tour Down Under and a stage in the Tour de Picardie.

The website (mrenshaw.com) is an opportunity for friends and fans to follow his career in the coming years. "I'm hoping to keep this site updated for everyone to keep an eye on my results ...," Renshaw wrote in his first diary entry. "Enjoy cycling everybody."

It is flashy, loaded with photos and contains ambient music (which we elected to turn off).

Hans Rey

www.hansrey.com

The Swiss trials rider's personal site has useful info about trials techniques and lots about Hans' globe-trotting adventures in search of silly places to do silly things on bikes.

Cool fact: Hans once rode/abseiled down a high rise building in Auckland, New Zealand. Even he describes that as a 'publicity stunt'.

Pascal Richard

www.pascal-richard.ch

This thoroughly professional site contains only the barest of details of the 1996 Olympic champion's palmarés, instead focussing primarily on a cycle touring event bearing his name and of course, la boutique – where you can purchase your very own official watch! Thankfully, has a non flash-dependent version.

Luke Roberts

www.luke-roberts.com

A member of a number of world record-breaking Aussie team pursuit squads, most recently at the Athens Olympic Games, Luke Roberts is also an aspiring road rider and has so far done well in shorter stage races and a few of the smaller European classics. Contains what one usually expects to find at a pro rider's website, but is still missing the all-important diary that brings readers back for more.

Fred Rodriguez

www.fredrodriguez.com

There are plenty of big, good-quality pics of the US Pro champion here, plus bio, palmarés and the like. Somewhat in need of updating though.

Cool fact: Despite racing under the US flag, Freddie was actually born in Bogota, Colombia.

Michael Rogers

www.mickrogers.com.au

Destined for greatness
Photo: © AFP
Click for larger image

2003 was clearly a turning point in the career of the Canberra-born Quick.Step-Davitamon rider, claiming victories in the tours of Belgium, Germany and Route du Sud, as well as the espoirs (under 23) classification in the Circuit de la Sarthe, where he finished fourth overall. Despite nerves getting the better of him in the prologue, Rogers' excellent form continued throughout the Tour de France, where he played a significant role in helping team-mate Richard Virenque secure a record-equalling sixth King of the Mountains title.

Mick's flash web site is neat and well-designed, containing a brief bio, a calendar of events he will be participating in, and a news and diary section, both to be updated in the near future. Although a lacking a little in content for now, just like Rogers the rider, the platform is there for future greatness.

Toni Rominger

www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/4116/rominger.html

Lovingly put together site with detailed palmarés and some nice photos, including the homepage shot of the time trial ace in action for Mapei.

Cool fact: Rominger won 3 Vueltas and a Giro but never quite cracked the Tour, second to Indurain in 1993.

Melissa Sanborn

www.melissasanborn.com

An aspiring American road sprinter from Salem, Oregon, Melissa Sanborn's site is pretty simple, but her journal's a good one and at times poetic.

Mark Scanlon

http://markscanlonfans.tripod.com/

Comprehensive fan site dedicated to the former junior world champion from Sligo. Contains plenty of news, a bio, palmarés and photos.

Roy Sentjens

www.roysentjens.com

Official website of the young Dutch/Belgian rider currently riding for Rabobank who won the under 23 Tour of Flanders. A very sexy, professional looking site, featuring both Dutch and English versions. Includes a bio, palmarès, photos, news (in Dutch only) and a guestbook.

Nico Sijmens

http://members.lycos.nl/nicosijmens/

Website of this Belgian all-rounder, who enjoyed his biggest wins to date in 2005 – the Hel Van Het Mergelland and overall victory at the Rothaus Regio-Tour. A very basic site.

Gilberto Simoni

www.simonigilberto.it

Official page, still predominantly under construction though has his full 2001 calendar listed. Features a funky front page in Lampre colours.

Erik Saunders

www.eriksaunders.com

More like a weblog than anything else, but worth a read if you're looking for a laugh.

Cristoph Sauser

www.sauserwind.com

Official website of the 2004 and 2005 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Champion. A lot of features and information on the Swiss ace, including a game that you can win prizes on. You can also send your bike a postcard.

Can Oscar change the colour to yellow?
Photo: © Sirotti
Click for larger image

Oscar Sevilla

www.oscarsevilla.com

Official site of a rider many thought would be a threat to Armstrong in the Tour de France after taking the best young rider (under 25) competition at the Tour and finishing second at the Vuelta a España in 2001. However, a combination of injury, intense media pressure and poor form meant that has never eventuated.

This flash site's a goodie, with a great historical profile on the baby-faced Spaniard, an easy-to-scroll though collage of images and palmarés, and a very detailed photographic and literary account of his ride at the 2001 Vuelta, where Sevilla lost the race in dramatic fashion to Angel Casero on the final day. In Spanish only.

Christian Stahl

christianstahl.us

Futuristic-looking website of this American trackie whose speciality is the kilo and team sprint. A bronze medallist at the 2001 junior world track championships, Stahl's website deserves a gold medal for presentation and navigation, backed up by fresh content including a regularly updated journal.

Florian Stalder

florianstalder.ch

Florian Stalder of Volksbank can't be bothered with a busy website and flashy graphics; instead this German-speaking Swiss rider has a crisp appearance on his website. There are photos, palmarès and a regularly updated blog from the third year professional. The only draw back is that the website is completely in German; so bust out your German to English dictionary.

Hobbies: Florian enjoys climbing, cars and going to the movies.

Gert Steegmans

www.gertsteegmans.com

Another rider who has spent ages on a great intro, but could do with a little more in the way of content. Contains a news section on Gert that is updated about once a month, as well as a bio, palmarés and photos. In Dutch only.

Christophe Stevens

www.stevens-c.net

A very professional-looking site for the Flandrian who comes from the famous Belgian town of Geraardsbergen, an often decisive point in the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). Includes a regular diary, photos, team profile, palmarés, and biography. In Dutch only for the moment, but watch out for an English and French version shortly.

Franz Stocher

www.stocher.at

Austrian veteran of both the track and road, Stocher's palmarés includes 2 World Military Championships and 4 Olympic Games campaigns, including a 6th in the Sydney 2000 Points Race. Nice site, but German only.

Rory Sutherland

www.rorysutherland.com

U23 cyclist Rory Sutherland hails from Barton, ACT, and has entered the pro cycling scene virtually unannounced (that was before Cyclingnews.com got wind of Rory, though!). The Rabobank rider is part of Rabobank's Div III development squad, and hopes his site will "keep my family and friends updated on where I am and what's happening in my career." Containing Rory's race diary, results, his season plan, photo gallery – even his bike specs – this site is a must for fans of this emerging young talent.

Alison Sydor

www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/2186/index.htm

Excellent fan site (this is the European version; the US version is being rebuilt) and home of the official Sydor fan club.

Cool fact: Sydor plays hockey in the winter (of course she does, she's Canadian) and those cyclist leg muscles come in handy for outskating everyone.

Tafi victorious at the 2002 Ronde
Photo: © AFP
Click for larger image

Andrea Tafi

members.lycos.co.uk/tafi2

Fan site of the man some call "The Gladiator" after his incredible victory in the 1999 edition of Paris-Roubaix. The site's not too bad, with a good bio, race calendar and photos.

mapeifan.tripod.com/tafi/

"Io Tifo Tafi" is the name of this site, that is dedicated to the Gladiator of Italian cycling, Andrea Tafi. The site contains information about his career, photos and personal details.

Interesting fact: It appears the "The Gladiator" has a green thumb; one of Tafi's favourite pastimes is gardening.

Bram Tankink

www.bramtankink.nl

Spotted in Australia recently for the 2003 Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, Bram's obviously been doing plenty of miles because he hasn't touched his website recently. Needs a bit more information before one can make any sort of comment on it. In Dutch only.

Trampusch at the Tour du Haut Var
Photo: © Emmanuel Isnard
Click for larger image

Gerhard Trampusch

www.gerhard-trampusch.de.vu

This professional from Percholdsdorf, Austria, came closest to a big win in 2003 at his home-town race, the International UNIQA Classic stage race, but missed out on victory by a mere four seconds from Britain's Roger Hammond (Palmans-Collstrop). Plenty of stuff there, including interviews, news stories, mug shots and a detailed palmarés.

Jan Ullrich

www.janullrich.de

What more is there for this man to do? Tour de France (1997), Olympic Champion (2000 - Road) are just two entries on his awesome palmarés. This official site has a fairly commercial bent, one or two diary entries and a season calendar – along with plenty of stuff to buy.

Cool fact: Ullrich is a banana addict who eats about 10 a day. Did someone say potassium overdose?

Romans Vainsteins

www.vainsteins.com

The 2000 world champion's official site is a comprehensive professional effort with pics, background, personal details and couple of 'coming soon' areas like a diary.

Cool fact: "Twice a week he undertakes wearying massages." Not clear if he's the masseur or the recipient (we assume the latter) but isn't massage supposed to feel good, if only when it stops?

Alexander Vinokourov

www.alexander-vinokourov.com

This is the official website of Kazakh cyclist and Tour de France contender Alexander Vinokourov of Team Astana. It posts the latest news involving him and his team, results, pictures, and much more.

Tadej Valjavec

www.valjavec.de.tf

An unofficial site of this promising young rider from Slovenia, who won the Baby Giro in 1999 and rides for Giancarlo Ferretti's Fassa Bortolo squadra. The site is still under construction and fairly simple but thankfully in English, which suits most of us.

Van Goolen in the 2003 Vuelta
Photo: © AFP
Click for larger image

Jurgen Van Goolen

www.jurgenvangoolen.be

In 2003, only his second year as a professional, 22 year-old Jurgen Van Goolen has already shown plenty of promise, showing good form in the Tour de Suisse and Vuelta a España, and finishing second at the Belgian road championships and the 2.2 ranked Tour of Denmark. Jurgen's web site is neat and orderly, although a little unexciting. Spice it up, webmaster – this guy's a rider to watch!

Kurt van de Wouwer

kurtvandewouwer.homestead.com

A basic yet functional official site for the Lotto rider who appears to be improving with age, just like a good bottle of vino. Includes a brief bio, palmarés, a regularly updated race programme with van de Wouwer's results and a guest book.

Good as gold at Lisbon in 2001
Photo: © Sirotti
Click for larger image

Jurgen Van den Broeck

www.jurgenvandenbroeck.be

A well-designed and very thorough official site of Belgium's first ever time trial world champion and a big future talent, Jurgen Van den Broeck. After a year spent with Quick.Step-Davitamon's feeder team, Van den Broeck has left to join the Blue Train at US Postal Service/Berry Floor under the direction of Belgian directeurs-sportifs Johan Bruyneel and Dirk Demol in 2004. The youngster from Herentals has certainly got his act together with his official web site that is available in Flemish/Dutch and English (some sections still yet to be translated), and includes an interesting bio, palmarés, radio and print interviews, video clips, a news section (Dutch only) and a good selection of photos.

Interesting fact: Under his bio, Jurgen lists his sole leisure interest as "Have fun with Kim", his girlfriend Kim Schoonbaert. Hmmm...

Kevin Van der Slagmolen

http://users.skynet.be/kevinvanderslagmolen

A young-ish Dutch rider with the Division II Vlaanderen-T-Interim squad, Kevin Van der Slagmolen's site is pretty basic, but pluses are that it's in both English and Dutch and his race reports are entertaining – although you'd be pressed to find them... they're buried under the 'Cycling News' link, which contains both his race program and diary.

Stefan van Dijk

www.stefanvandijk.nl

Official website of the driver from Honselersdijk, Netherlands who currently rides for Lotto-Domo. Contains a bio, palmarés and photos, and in Dutch only.

One of Hincapie's right-hand men in the Classics
Photo: © Emmanuel Isnard
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Max van Heeswijk

www.maxvanheeswijk.nl

A new-look, very Postal-ish looking web site for the popular sprinter from Hoensbroek, Netherlands, who will be entering his ninth season as a professional cyclist in 2004 with US Postal Service/Berry Floor.

In Dutch and English, Max's site is neat and detailed, but could use a little spicing up. Contains a bio, palmarés, photos, multimedia bits and pieces, interviews, guestbook and a few screen saver shots for die-hard Max van Heeswijk fans.

Leontien van Moorsel

www.leontienvanmoorsel.nl

The official site of the star of the Sydney Olympics, requires flash and Dutch language only at this time. Contains a thorough review of her stunning triple gold Sydney performances with pics, bio and current season programme.

"I'm baaaack..." Frank VDB
Photo: © Luc Claessen
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Frank Vandenbroucke

www.vdb-online.be

Our on again, off again anti-hero – adored by many, despised by some, criticised by thousands – you can never say Franky's not a character. The new site (in Flemish only) is certainly very professional looking, containing a bio, news, photos, guestbook, links, downloads – all sorts of stuff really, but Franky, where are the results?

www.frankvdbroucke.be

With the prodigious but once-troubled rider looking good in the peloton once more, fans of "Franky-boy" are busy telling the world about his rebirth. Similar to the other VDB site, this one's also very neat and even more comprehensive, containing news, interviews, a year-by-year palmarés, pictures by Cor Vos and a forum, where Franky fans can exchange their opinion this man once destined for greatness in the Classics.

www.frankyboys.com or www.frankvandenbroucke.com

Fan site (exactly the same, just different URL) of the man whose life exhibits more twists and turns than all episodes of Days of Our Lives put together. For Franky fans only, as you may have guessed.

Sven Vanthourenhout

www.svenvanthourenhout.be

A simple yet informative website with regularly updated news on Sven and his progress, palmarés, photos, guestbook, fan club info and race schedule. Dutch only.

Cedric Vasseur

www.cedricvasseur.com

Neat unofficial fan-site (despite the name) for the French USPS rider, best known for his time in yellow in the 1997 Tour and his valiant attempted defence of said jersey on the slopes of l'Alpe d'Huez. Features up to date palmarés in English... photo section under construction and coming soon. Also contains a link to the French fan club site.

fanclubvasseur.free.fr

Geert Verheyen

www.geertverheyen.be

Basic site of experienced Marlux-Wincor Nixdorf rider Geert Verheyen, which could probably do with a bit more in the way of colour (and results). In Flemish only.

This one's for you, Kivi
Photo: © AFP
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Alexander Vinokourov

www.totallyvinokourov.tk

One knew this guy from Kazakhstan was going to be something special after he won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1999 in only his second year as a professional. However, 2003 proved to be a year of both ecstasy and anguish for Vino; victories in Paris-Nice, the Tour de Suisse and Amstel Gold, as well as finishing on the podium of the Tour de France, were offset by the tragic death of his best friend, Andrei Kivilev, who died from head injuries sustained after a crash on the second stage of Paris-Nice. 'Kivi' appeared to ride on emotion for the remainder of the race and for the remainder of the season, challenging his despair into fantastic, emotion-charged riding.

As you may have guessed, Totally Vinokourov is for totally-obsessed Vino fans. A relatively new site, with the best bits being the photos and a regular Vino-only news section.

Jens Voigt

www.geocities.com/jens_voigt2001/jens_voigt.html

Enthusiastic, unofficial homage to the German Credit Agricole star. In English and seems to be regularly updated. Also has some nice pics and links to relevant articles.

Todd Wells

www.toddwells.net

The official site of the 2001 US Cyclo-cross champion. Generally speaking, the best parts of a rider's website is their diary, and Todd's relaxed perspective of the US 'cross is both funny and refreshing. And if you're up for more reading, Todd's other half also writes a diary on his site. One (important) thing missing is a bio, a must for any fan who wants to know the man behind the lycra.

Matt "Batman" Wilson
Photo: © Mark Gunter
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Matt Wilson

www.mattwilson.com.au

Official website of the 2004 Australian road champion. A slick-looking site, with regular diary entries, plenty of pics, FAQs and a guest book. Watch out for this guy in a few years' time – he could well turn out to be the next Phil Anderson!

Trent Wilson

www.trentwilson78.com

Site of our very own Cyclingnews diarist from Sydney's western suburbs. Pretty simple, but contains a detailed bio/palmarés and some insight into Willo's off-season training when he's back home in Oz.

See also: Moving on up – The Trent Wilson diary

Oenone Wood

www.oenonewood.com

The 2004 World Cup champ has launched her own website recently, with all the usual gubbins, including a bio, news stories and results. It will be interesting to see how she fares as a member of the German powerhouse Nurnberger squad in 2005, so watch this space (or more correctly, click on the link!).

Robyn Wong

www.robynwong.com

Official site of the 2002 New Zealand XC MTB champion and Oceania Games XC silver medallist. Includes a regular journal while Robyn's overseas racing on the World Cup circuit, her profile, palmarés and some nice pics.

Oenone Wood

www.oenonewood.com

The revelation of women's road cycling in 2004, Australia's Oenone Wood is also the new 2004 women's World Cup road champion. This site has all the usual components, plus a regular diary.

Marcel Wust

www.bullteksports.com/wust/

Though a racing accident in 2000 has prematurely ended Marcel's career, it seems as though he will continue to be involved in the sport, both with the Festina squad and in journalism.

Unai Yus Querejeta

www.unai-yus.tk

The only Spaniard on an otherwise all-French team after Joseba Beloki left Brioches La Boulangère midway through 2004 for Saunier Duval, Unai Yus' site isn't terribly exciting, but neither is his career so far.

Remember the name Zabriskie
Photo: © Bob Wilson
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Dave Zabriskie

www.davezabriskie.com

Best young rider at the Four Days of Dunkirk, 2003 looked like a year Postal rider Dave Zabriskie was coming into his own in the pro ranks before a head-on collision with a SUV in June wiped him and his chances out for a Tour spot and the remainder of his season. However, remember the name Zabriskie – the 1997 USCF Junior Male Athlete of the Year has oodles of potential. A fairly basic site however, with a semi-regular news and diary section, updated around once a month, along with some neat photos and a guestbook.

Eric Zabel

come.to/erik-zabel or users.pandora.be/zabel/main.html

An unofficial fan site with bare bones bio and history and over 100 pics of the Telekom sprint star.

In support of Tom Danielson at the Iron Horse Classic
Photo: © Beth Seliga
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Phil Zajicek

www.philzajicek.com

A promising junior, Zajicek appears to be still finding his feet in the pro peloton after stints at Colorado Cyclist, Mercury and Saturn. Originally from Leominster, Massachusetts but now a resident of Tucson, Arizona, the aficionado of coffee, Alfas and Aprilias needs to step it up a notch if he's to hit the big time. Zajicek's official web site is well-designed, with some cool pics and info about his hobbies, curiously titled: "Misc. Debris".

Weird fact: Phil received the the "Top Overachiever" award in 1997 at the Lance Armstrong Points Series. Now is that a good or bad thing?

Steve Zampieri

www.stevezampieri.ch

Steve Zampieri keeps a clean site with monthly news postings in the Carnet de Route section (sorry, this is in French). After spending the 2005 and 2006 seasons with Phonak, he is ready for a fresh start in the red colours of Cofidis, and perhaps a change from the green and yellow on his website.

Fun fact: Zampieri's hobbies are "Cars, nature, relaxing."

Markus Zberg

www.markuszberg.ch/

The German language site of this Swiss rider is tidily done, with photos, palmarés and full results from last year.

Alex Züelle

www.alex-zuelle.com

A predominantly German language site with some English translations.

Cool feature: A thorough chronology of the 1998 Festina affair.