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Tech Update with Lennard Zinn – Specialized for 2010
When Specialized began making the bikes for Tom Boonen, he was not exactly complimentary about their stiffness. The company’s engineers worked hard to get him what he wanted, and when they delivered the S-Works Tarmac SL2 to the Quick Step team, the riders gave it a thumbs-up. Nonetheless, they decided for 2010 to again re-engineer the Tarmac from the ground up. Knowing that the SL2 was already a home run made the goals for the Tarmac SL3 different.
Schumacher’s B sample confirms
The positive test of German cyclist Stefan Schumacher for EPO Cera during last year's Olympic Games has been confirmed by the B sample, his lawyer Michael Lehner said on Tuesday. The 27-year-old rider, however, continues to protest his innocence and is determined to clear his name. Lehner said they are contesting in particular the circumstances under which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) analysed the B sample in a laboratory of the French anti-doping agency (AFLD).
Lanterne Rouge Stage 3
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Bissell’s Tom Zirbel takes over the NRC
Bissell's Tom Zirbel, one of the very best domestic time trialists, is showing he is well-rounded enough to lead the National Racing Calendar, thanks to recent top performances in stage races.
From tight start to a Cav’ podium
For a working journalist, the Tour de France isn't exactly a day at the beach, even when it finishes at one. But when race security supplies a few extra obstacles, our man Casey B. Gibson manages to clear them with ease, two-ton camera bag and all. Here's what he shot.
Q&A with Bob Stapleton: Cav’ has home at Columbia
Bob Stapleton was already in a good mood Monday morning before the start of the third stage of the 2009 Tour de France at Marseille’s old harbor. The president of Columbia-HTC was enjoying the warm afterglow of Mark Cavendish’s explosive victory in stage 2 and Andre Greipel’s win at the Tour of Austria.
Cagey Cancellara keeps hold on jersey
Fabian Cancellara saved his yellow jersey Monday by slipping into the stage-breaking attack powered by the entire Columbia-HTC team. The Saxo Bank rider was the only one from his favored team to be in the decisive, 28-man breakaway featuring Lance Armstrong (Astana) but not second-place rider Alberto Contador. Cancellara came across the line sixth and actually widened his lead, from 19 seconds over Contador to 33 seconds over Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC), with Armstrong climbing to third at 40 seconds back.
Breck Epic – Day 2 diary by Brandon Dwight
Day two of the Breck Epic is in the books and indeed it was epic. It wasn’t epic in the sense that it was one of those gnarly all-day rides where you are so spent at the end you can barely muster up enough energy to take a shower. It was epic in that the course was absolutely spectacular.
Ullrich faces inquiry, paper reports
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is to be the subject of a disciplinary procedure by the Swiss anti-doping commission, according to Tuesday's edition of the German daily Suddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Gerhard Walter, president of the Swiss Olympic Committee's disciplinary anti-doping commission, told the paper that they had been asked to open an inquiry. "I can confirm that we have received a request from the Swiss Antidoping Foundation (ADS) and for that reason we have launched a disciplinary procedure," said Walter.
Columbia-HTC’s stage 3 throw down presages great TTT battle on Tuesday
George Hincapie should know. He called Monday’s amazing collective performance by his Columbia-HTC team as the greatest he’d been associated with. And that’s saying something when you consider that the American veteran was on all seven of Lance Armstrong’s winning Tour de France campaigns.
Was Armstrong just riding smart, or looking for an edge on Contador?
Naysayers will be quick to point out that Lance Armstrong’s presence in and Alberto Contador’s absence from Monday’s decisive 28-man breakaway is all the proof they need that the Texan is riding against the Spaniard in the 2009 Tour de France. Calmer heads might suggest that experience ruled the day when Armstrong followed Columbia-HTC into the biting crosswinds across France’s Camargue and bounced from 10th to third overall, now 40 seconds behind overnight leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank). Armstrong insists he was just riding smart.
Astana fined for late sign-in before stage 3
Lance Armstrong's Astana team was fined on Monday after failing to sign on within the specified time at the start of the third stage of the Tour de France. Heavy traffic in Marseille city centre meant Astana broke the organizers' rule that teams must register for the stage at least 20 minutes before the start of the race. The Kazakhstan-backed cycling team have been fined 65 euros for the infringement. "How typical that this team were late. It is disrespectful to the public who came here just to see Armstrong," said race director Jean-Francois Pescheux.
Cav’ crushes in stage 3 as late break astonishes field
Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) won his second consecutive stage of the Tour de France on Monday as a late break of two dozen riders — Astana’s Lance Armstrong among them — stole a march on the dozing peloton in a crosswind through the Camargue. Armstrong, race leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) and the entire Columbia team made a split with some two-dozen kilometers to race that left defending champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam), Alberto Contador (Astana), Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) and the rest of the contenders fruitlessly chasing through ever-changing crosswinds.