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Zack Vestal tries Specialized’s Super Phat Bar Gel handlebar tape and padding
The cobbled classics in Europe are just around the corner, and ProTour team mechanics are likely to be prepping bikes in the coming weeks. In addition to fitting sturdy wheels, wider tires, and other heavy-duty parts, a common practice involves wrapping the handlebars with two or more layers of bar tape to soften the blows from rough roads.
Trek-Brentjens wins stage at Absa, while the songo.info team gets more bad news
The top men's teams battled for advantage in the Absa Cape Epic's penultimate stage, with the Trek-Brentjens team winning the stage, but the Bulls team maintaining a tight grip on the overall lead.
Sibex Sports Titanium Disc Rotors
Price: $120 to $220 Sizes: 140mm to 220mm Web site: www.sibexsports.com New for 2009 from Sibex Sports are titanium disc brake rotors. The rotors are available in eight sizes, between 140mm and 220mm, to meet the specific demands of the disc brake market. The Sibex rotors are made from hardened 6/4 titanium for maximum durability.
Leipheimer wins Castilla y León
Two stage races and two victories, not a bad start to the 2009 season for Levi Leipheimer. The Tour of California champion finished safely in the bunch in Friday’s final stage behind winner Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) to wrap up the overall victory in the five-day stage race across northern Spain.
Mailbag: Praise for Phinney, Leipheimer and Barry and the risks of predictions
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Agony to ecstasy: A conversation with Amber Neben
Amber Neben’s 2008 season could adequately be labeled an emotional roller coaster, full of ups and downs. After months of deliberation by USA Cycling, Neben was named to the squad for the Beijing Olympics (up). Despite her talents in time trialing, she was named to the road race team and left off the Olympic time-trial squad (down). During the Olympic road race Neben made the selection on the final climb (up), only to watch in horror as her chain shifted off of her chain ring, and the lead group sped away (down).
Cycling Twips
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Day 2 at the UCI World Track Championships in Pruszkow, Poland
While American readers saw the big news from this week's UCI world track championships to be Taylor Phinney's victory in the men's individual pursuit, there was plenty of other racing at the velodrome in Pruszkow, Poland, on Thursday, including a return to the boards for recent Milan-San Remo winner, Mark Cavendish.
Men’s Scratch
Frenchman Morgan Kneisky upset the field in a chaotic men's scratch final to win gold Thursday. Dario Colla of Argentina took the silver with Austrian Andreas Müller taking the bronze.Proud mother: Connie Carpenter’s report on day 2 at track worlds
Editor's Note: Connie Carpenter is in Pruszkow, Poland, covering the Track World Championships for VeloNews.com while supporting her son, Taylor Phinney. Carpenter is a former world champion on the track and an avid fan of track cycling. The beauty of that rainbow jersey — even when it’s a titch too big. The simplicity of the flowers doled out by ladies in red silky dresses. The glory of hearing your own national anthem and watching your flag raised. This is the view from the podium.
Cobo wins, Leipheimer defends lead
Juan José Cobo (Fuji-Servetto) attacked with just under 2km to go to win Thursday’s 145.4km “queen stage” over two first-category climbs at the 24th Vuelta a Castilla y León. Cobo, who started nearly three minutes out of the GC fight, timed it just right to bolt clear of a reduced pack of leaders to win for the first time this season.
Amber Neben, Ben Day win the prologue at Redlands
Grimaces, frowns and faces of pain abounded during Thursday’s opening prologue at the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic. While the 5km journey from downtown Redlands to the top of Sunset Drive wasn’t long, it packed a serious punch in the form of 1000 feet of elevation gain, most of it within the final steep kilometer. The lion’s share of the 350 men and women racers spent the final meters out of the saddle, suffering their way to the summit.
Damiano Cunego wins his second stage at the Coppi e Bartali, and takes over the lead
Damiano Cunego won his second stage in a row to take the overall lead in the Coppi e Bartali race following Thursday's 163.4km fourth stage from Borgo San Lorenzo to Serramazzoni. The Lampre rider outsprinted Australian Cadel Evans to take the leader's pink jersey from Italian countryman Giovanni Visconti. The day's racing was marked by a break from Kanstantin Siutsou, Felix Cardenas and Enrico Rossi but they were caught 10km from home. With 1km left Evans made a bid for home on a steep climb but Cunego caught him and pipped him to the post.
SoCal high school mountain bike league sees an attendence increase at Round 2
Despite some wintry weather, attendance was up for Round 2 of the budding SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League’s 2009 race series. The event was held Sunday at Warner Springs Ranch, 40 miles east of Temecula. High rainfall so far this year had given these rolling hills an emerald green hue, but rain falling in sheets on race day, driven by 20 mph winds, added to the multiple challenges of rocks and thickets of prickly pears punctuating the 4.5 mile course.[nid:89777]
After yesterday’s setback at the Cape Epic, Sauser and Stander win stage 5 and up a spot to third.
The Songo.info team of Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser partially made up for stage 4's penalty and mechanicals to win stage 5 and move back into contention for the overall. Songo.info finished 1:14 seconds ahead of the second team of Trek-Brentjens on the stage. It was Songo.info's fourth stage win.
Tour de Nez returns with five days of racing action
LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (June 2009) - Cycling returns to Downtown Reno this June as the Northstar-at-Tahoe Tour De Nez gears up to bring the Reno/Tahoe area 5 days of racing action and parties galore. The 18th annual Tour De Nez will take place over 5 days, June 17-21, in Historic Downtown Truckee, Downtown Reno and wraps up at the village at Northstar-at-Tahoe. The race will feature both pro and amateur events including men’s and women’s races, hand cyclists, messenger races, the infamous clunker classic and even The Biggest Little Kid’s Race.
Women’s Prestige Cycling Series Kicks Off at Redlands
(March 24, 2009 - Minneapolis) The 2009 Women’s Prestige Cycling Series gets underway this week with the Redlands Bicycle Classic, the traditional opener for this women-only national series. Roster changes and changes in the Series schedule will add to the drama in this Series as it enters its sixth year. “Women’s racing is alive and well”, said Redlands Race Director Dan Rendler. “Our women’s field is the largest we have had in years with the who's who of women's cycling.”
American development team member Cole House wins Belgium’s G.P. Waregem
The USA Cycling National Development Team's Cole House of Oneida, Wisconsin, won the 130km G.P. Waregem in Belgium Wednesday. Cole also is a member of the U23 BMC team. Around 50 kilometers into the UCI 1.12 race, the 20-year-old joined a 20-rider breakaway. With his teammates Austin Carroll and Taylor Shelden helping control a chase group, House's group stayed out front through several climbs and cobblestone sections. In the final kilometers House outsprinted the remaining 15 riders.
Kelly Benefit Strategies Brings Triple Threat to Redlands
Jonas Carney's 2009 Kelly Benefit Strategies squad heads to the Redlands Classic this weekend with one of it's strongest line ups ever. The team moves west with an A-list roster that includes former Redlands Overall winner Andrew Bajadali, KOM jersey winner and new addition Jake Erker plus 2007 rainmaker Alex Candelario, pivotal in Bajadali's win two years ago. "We're beginning our season well rested but ready," says Jonas Carney, performance director. "There are a lot of teams out there with a ton of racing in their legs already but we're just getting started.
Rebecca Rusch Absa Cape Epic Diary, 2009, stage 4
Editor's Note: Rebecca Rusch is competing in South Africa's Absa Cape Epic stage race on a Mixed team with fellow American Matthew Weatherley-White. Rusch, a two-time 24-hour mountain biking world champion, is sharing her daily diaries with VeloNews readers. This stage was reported to be an “easy” day. We are tired, bruised and the effects of this many days of racing are starting to show. Matthew and I are both feeling fine, but the legs are sore and the 5 am wake up call is taking its’ toll on me!
Phinney wins pursuit gold at worlds
Teenage track sensation Taylor Phinney struck gold in the men's pursuit to end the United States' 16-year wait for the title at the world track cycling championships Thursday. Phinney, who turns 19 on June 27, fulfilled pre-race predictions to overcome a strong challenge from Australian Jack Bobridge, who finished second. Belgian Dominique Cornu won bronze after beating Volodymyr Dyudya. With 2008 world and Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins not competing, the way was open for the likes of Phinney, considered the new sensation of American cycling, to strike gold.