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Beppu and Arashiro want to be first Japanese Tour finishers
Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu is aiming to become the first cyclist from the land of the rising sun to reach Paris and finish the race which starts on Saturday. The 26-year-old former national road race champion, who turned professional with Discovery Channel in 2005, will be competing for Skil-Shimano when the first stage begins with a time trial around the tiny Principality. And, along with Bbox Bouygues Telecom's Yukiya Arashiro, Beppu wants to be the first rider from Japan to reach Paris and finish all 21 stages.
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Boonen may struggle in Tour opener
Quick Step team officials have said that Tom Boonen, admitted to the Tour de France only a day before its scheduled start in Monaco, may have difficulty even making the time cut in the opening time trial on Saturday. "Tom does not feel very well today,” said general manager Patrick Lefevere. “He is feeling weak, due to abdominal pain and diarrhea. "Frankly, I think it’s his body’s reaction to all of the stress he’s gone through these few weeks."
A fast day at Fitchburg
Averaging 29 mph over a 75-mile circuit, Bissell Pro Cycling’s Kirk O’Bee won stage two of the Fitchburg Longsjo circuit race on Friday, sprinting away from a seven-man breakaway that stayed away for the final 50 miles.
McGrath, Sheppard blow BC Bike Race open
Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath stamped their authority on this year’s BC Bike Race, winning the sixth stage and putting nearly seven minutes into their chief rivals, the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon. The two Canadians attacked from the gun in the 65km stage, which strung together a loop around the town of Squamish, and never looked back. The course included sections of the Gear Jammer and Test of Metal cross-country races.
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Flash: Cannondale’s 16.6-pound cross-country bike
On the last day of the 2010 Cannondale release in Park City, Utah, the research and development team were excited to unveil a new high-end hardtail cross country bike. The age-old weight gap between mountain and road bikes is now becoming smaller. Of course getting weight down is always a major goal for bike manufacturers, but with the strength and specific performance depends of cross-country racing, ideal weight and actual never seem to finish together.
Fireworks and stars and stripes at Saturday’s Firecracker 50
For most Americans, the Fourth of July is associated with flags, fireworks, parades, and independence from another English speaking country. For the 750 registered racers of the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge, Colorado, the Fourth of July will represent four to seven (the time limit) hours of exhausting singletrack followed by all those things that normal Americans do on this holiday.
Inside Cycling – All eyes on Contador
The pressure is on Alberto Contador at the 96th Tour de France. By general consensus, Team Astana’s 26-year-old Spanish star is the clear favorite to wear the yellow jersey into Paris in three weeks’ time — but the 2007 winner could lose the chance of taking the Tour for a second time as early as Sunday’s opening stage: a demanding 15.5km time trial. Contador has developed into a fine time trialist, and the opening climb of the tricky Monaco course plays to his physical strengths. But whether he will have the mental fortitude to win is another story.
Sastre likes underdog role
It’s not often that the defending Tour de France champion is rated as an underdog. That unlikely position is just where Carlos Sastre finds himself on the eve of the 96th edition of the Tour de France. With all eyes on Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, not to mention the Schleck brothers, Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov, Sastre seems to be the forgotten Tour winner. Even the odds-makers seem to have written him off, putting his chances at a repeat at 18-to-1.