Kirk O'Bee of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis began a strong run of form four weeks ago in Minnesota at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. He won two of the six stages, finished second in another, and ended up third overall. Two weeks later he ventured to Oregon for the Cascade Classic, a climber's race, and came away with a stage win in the tough final-day circuit race.

He returned this week to his adopted home town of Vancouver, B.C., and has kept on rolling with consecutive victories in two legs of what is known as B.C. Superweek.

On Wednesday, O'Bee earned a measure of vindication at the Tour de Gastown, where he finished third last year out of a three-man break while riding a flat for the final lap. This year, despite constant rain, there were no mishaps. He initiated the decisive break with 19 laps to go, drawing out Oleg Griskin (Navigators) and Svein Tuft (Symmetrics).

The trio extended their lead and looked as if they'd fight it out for the win. However, with 11 laps to go, the dynamic changed a bit. "Oleg wasn't working, so I put in an attack," O'Bee explained. "Svein grabbed my wheel and then we slowed up a bit for a lap." The change of pace allowed Brad Fairall to make his solo chase of the trio a success, and almost earn him a win.

"He kept dropping us in the corners because he was riding some old winter tires," O'Bee said. "He would fly through the corners and gap us on almost every turn." In fact, with five to go, Tuft slid out and went down in one of the slippery corners, but took advantage of the free lap rule to get back in with the leaders. However, his momentum was gone.

On the final lap, Griskin went to the front, but he nearly slid out in one of the last corners, which opened the door for O'Bee to come underneath and lead through the final corner and take the sprint win. Tuft finished third.

A shot at the win was in jeopardy early, as a dangerous break went away 20 laps into the 50-lap race, without Health Net Presented by Maxxis representation. But Roman Kilun and Doug Ollerenshaw help bring back that move, and helped keep things together until O'Bee could initiate the winning move. "Those guys were key," O'Bee said. "They helped close down some early moves."

Kilun kills it for O'Bee in Burnaby

O'Bee got the win Thursday evening at the Giro di Burnaby with a big assist from Kilun. The two Health Net Presented by Maxxis riders were part of the decisive 10-man break that went just two laps into the 30-lap, 55 km race, and would fight it out to the finish. The break contained three riders from Symmetrics, who again had a full squad for the race in their home country, and two from Navigators, who also have a full team for B.C. Superweek.

With five trips around the 1.6 km circuit remaining, Symmetrics became particularly active, with newly minted Canadian national champion Cam Evans putting in the attacks. Each time, Kilun would chase it down and then counter-attack to make them work. On the final lap, Evans attacked again, trying to set up Symmetrics sprinter Andrew Pinfold. But the lead-out was too early, and it opened the door for O'Bee to once again out-duel Griskin for the win. "There's no way I have a chance at the win without Roman there chasing down everything," O'Bee said. "He rode really well."

Tour de France: Saunier Duval recap stage 12

Fran Ventoso did not feel very well on Friday morning: "This morning I wasn´t sure whether I would take part in the race or not. My doctor recommended being cautious, which meant I shouldn´t have ridden. I decided to start, anyway, and once I made the decision, dropping out was out of the question. I was determined to finish, no matter what, because I could get over between today and tomorrow, but this isn´t as simple as I thought it would be. I had a bad time -I had to shift gears with my right hand only, and I was 20 metres behind all the time. To top it all, I punctured early in the race, when the bunch was keeping a relentless pace. Now we´ll have to find out if this is worth the risk."

The number 3 of the general classification,Iban Mayo was already thinking about todays time trial: "I´m not estimating a specific amount of time to lose tomorrow, but I know time-trialists will take full advantage because it´ll be a long and difficult ITT. But I´m not complaining, since the day after tomorrow there come the Pyrenees and there are three mountain stages ahead. I´m sure the Tour will be decided over these climbs rather than in tomorrow´s time-trial. The key days are those on the Pyrenees, where time gaps are bound to be wider."

Tour de France: Milram recap stage 12

Erik Zabel sprinted to rank two on the twelveth stage of the Tour de France. Only Tom Boonen of Team Quick Step was faster on the 178.5 kilometers. The winner of the previous day, Robert Hunter (Barloworld), finished third, only a few centimeters after the Milram-pro.

With his second rank Erik Zabel won some points in the struggle for the best sprinter’s green jersey. He is now only one point behind the South African Hunter. „If the Quick Step guys open a train, there is hardly anything to be done“, Zabel said after the race. "So I fought for Boonen’s back wheel. Christian Knees and Marcel Sieberg took me to the front, but then I really had to fight. Steegmans was so fast that Tom had to do 200 meters only. I tried and got as far as Tom’s bottom bracket, but no further," the Milram-pro continued.

Milram rider Alberto Ongarato dropped out of the Tour de France during the twelfth stage. The Italian crashed shortly after the start. Ongarato came back into the race first, but after a visit to the race-doctor's car he had to stop. Ongarato was taken to the hospital in Montpellier with suspicion of a clavicle fracture. He also has injuries at his arm and leg. Now Team Milram is in the race with seven riders only. Brett Lancaster dropped out on the fifth stage already, after his injuries from a crash on the first stage were too bad.