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Furlan wins stage 2 at Dauphine; Evans holds lead
Angelo Furlan (Lampre) upset Tom Boonen (Quick Step) in a mano-a-mano sprint to win the second stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré on Monday while Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) retained the overall lead. A five-man breakaway — Iñaki Isasi (Euskaltel), Hector González (Fuji-Servetto), Paul Voss (Milram), Stéphane Augé (Cofidis) and Alexandre Pichot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) — gained an advantage in the long, rolling 228km stage from Nancy to Dijon before Quick Step and Silence-Lotto joined forces to neutralize the aggression with 5km to go.
Mach, Pitel take Mt. Hood
Bissell’s Paul Mach and Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte) held off final-stage challenges to lock up overall victories in Oregon’s Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic on Sunday. In the women’s race, Pitel ensured her victory over ValueAct Capital’s Leah Goldberg by winning Sunday’s Downtown Hood River Criterium. Similarly, in the men’s event, Chris Baldwin (OUCH-Maxxis) wasn’t able to fight past Bissell’s superior numbers to pull back 13 seconds from Mach, who won the overall GC on the time he gained in the first stage.
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Columbia-Highroad goes 1-2 in Philly
There’s no stopping Team Columbia-Highroad’s blond German sprinter André Greipel. He has won race after race since he returned from the injured list a month ago. After a stage win at the Four Days of Dunkirk on May 10, three stages of the Tour of Bavaria in late May, and Germany’s Neuseen Classic last week, he made it six wins in four weeks on Sunday afternoon by taking the 25th anniversary edition of the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship.
Saxo smokes ’em in Luxembourg
It was double delight for Saxo Bank on Sunday in the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg as Matti Breschel dashed to a stage victory and Fränk Schleck wrapped up the overall. Breschel’s win made it three straight stage victories and the top prize as Saxo Bank dominated the five-day Luxembourg tour and held off a challenge from Andreas Klöden (Astana). Andy Schleck won Friday’s attack-riddled stage, winning an eight-up sprint that put Kazakh rider Assan Bazayev (Astana) into the leader’s jersey.
Evans nips Contador to open Dauphiné
Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) powered to a morale-boosting time trial victory Sunday against archrival Alberto Contador (Astana) to open the 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Evans covered the technical, 12km course in Nancy in 15 minutes, 36.64 seconds, posting the best time on a steep climb at 3km and then holding off Contador by eight seconds to win the stage and claim the leader’s jersey at the eight-day Dauphiné.
Teutenberg says her third Philly win was the hardest
It all looked so easy for Team Columbia-Highroad’s Ina Teutenberg as she sped along Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday morning to win her third TD Bank Liberty Classic. At the line, the veteran German sprinter was two lengths clear of New Zealander Joanne Kiesanowski (Team Tibco) and the top American, third-placed Shelley Olds (Proman Hit Squad), at the head of a 12-strong breakaway group.
Three top Katusha riders oppose new team rules
Three top riders on the Katusha cycling team are refusing to comply with new internal anti-doping rules imposed by the Russian-backed program, a team official said on Sunday. The trio who are refusing to sign contracts including the new conditions are Australian Robbie McEwen and Belgians Gert Steegmans and Kenny De Haes, Katusha's sporting director Serge Parsani told Agence France Presse. Under the stringent new conditions, racers testing positive would have to pay a fine amounting to five times their annual salary.
Mach and Pitel fight off challengers at Mt. Hood Classic
With more than 10,000 feet of climbing on tap, the 92-mile Wy’East Road Race was supposed be the day for riders to shake up the overall GC of the 2009 Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. But little changed in the overall after stage 3 as OUCH-Maxxis rider Chris Baldwin, who started the day 15 seconds down on race leader Paul Mach, failed to detach the Bissell rider from his wheel after several blistering attacks in the final kilometers. Trek-Red Truck’s Rob Britton won the stage in 4:07:31, just one second ahead of Baldwin and Mach.
Dominguez tests 2010 Fuji in Philly
Fuji-Servetto sprinter Ivan Dominguez will race the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship aboard a prototype 2010 Fuji SST bike. Fuji has only produced five such frames, and Dominguez is giving the company final feedback before it begins full production for the 2010 model year line. The 2010 SST represents an evolution of the 2009 model, with the most obvious differences being the integrated carbon seatmast instead of a seatpost, and a 1.5-inch lower headset instead of the 1 1/8-inch version.
BMC ready for Dauphiné challenge
BMC lines up Sunday for the 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in what will arguably be the team's most important stage race since its inception. A seven-man squad begins the grueling eight-day stage across the French Alps with high hopes of putting a man in the top-10 overall and making a strong impression against the top ProTour squads.
Hinault blasts … well, everyone
Bernard Hinault never had the reputation of guarding his tongue when he ruled the peloton as the patron. Now 54, it’s obvious some things haven’t changed. Le Blaireau — the Badger — didn’t hold back when he fielded questions during a presentation this week in Montereau, the starting village of the final stage of the 2009 Tour de France. The last French winner of the Tour had an opinion on just about everything, and didn’t hold back when it came to criticizing the current state of the French peloton.