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Cav’s first chance
Long before he was winning Tour de France stages, Mark Cavendish was formed into a professional cyclist by British Cycling’s Rod Ellingworth. As research for the current cover story on Cavendish, VeloNews interviewed Ellingworth.
Mark Cavendish credits British Cycling coach Rod Ellingworth with kick-starting his career. Ellingworth created an innovative youth cycling program in 2004 to nurture under-23 talent into the stars of the future.
Destination: East Burke, Vermont
East Burke, Vermont, is the singletrack capital of New England. The tiny town — which is closer to Montreal than to any major American city — has a 100-mile-plus trail system that includes a wide variety of super sweet, narrow, twisty trails.
Pro coffee comparison: Taste-testing brew marketing to (and by) cyclists
Last month, the VeloNews staff (which contains several former coffee shop employees and many who set up residence in one or another of Boulder's many shops), held what’s known in the coffee world as a cupping at Saxy's Café in Boulder. The crew invited a handful of local pro racers plus two experts from the Coffee Syndicate roasting company.
Dekker positive for EPO
Silence-Lotto's Thomas Dekker will miss the Tour de France after testing positive for the banned blood-booster EPO, his team announced on Wednesday. The sample was originally taken on December 24, of 2007, when Dekker was a member of the Rabobank team. The sample was re-tested using new techniques, which resulted in a positive test for EPO. "He found out on Wednesday morning that fresh analysis, carried out in May at the behest of WADA, on urine samples from a random doping control had turned up positive for EPO," the team said in a statement.
A Day in the Life of a BC Bike Race Team
Jason Hill and Peter Butt rolled out of their tent at 6 a.m. to see the sun slowly rising over the snow speckled peaks on the western coast of British Columbia. Hill and Butt — two of the 400 or so riders competing in this year’s BC Bike Race — had endured a restless night in the tent village, situated alongside the beach in the small town of Parksville. The wind howled for most of the night, and Hill, who had forgotten his sleeping bag at his home in Anchorage, Alaska, was using a store-bought fleece liner as a blanket.
The Explainer – Signing away your rights
Dear Explainer, I just read in the local paper that a county judge hearing a lawsuit against the Tour de 'Toona ruled that a waiver, signed by a woman who was later injured and paralyzed in an accident at that race, will keep her from recovering any kind of damages. It's a sad case and it got me to thinking.
Weather looking good for Monaco, Montpellier TTs
Weather is often the unnamed enemy at the Tour de France. Heat, wind, rain and cold can turn what would otherwise be a routine stage or climb into pure hell. A quick look at short- to mid-range weather forecasts calls for seasonable but unsettled conditions the first week or so of racing in the 2009 Tour. Forecasters are predicting moderately warm temperatures into the upper-80s for Saturday’s opening time trial in Monaco, but with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers.
Eight North Americans in Tour field
Seven Americans and one Canadian are among the 189 starters from 21 teams lining up for the individual time trial Saturday in Monaco to click the 2009 Tour de France into gear. U.S.-registered Garmin-Slipstream boasts the strongest North American representation, with Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Danny Pate and Tyler Farrar starting from the United States and Ryder Hesjedal as Canada’s lone representative.
An Oakley photo gallery
In 2008, sunglass and apparel manufacturer, Oakley passed the $1 billion mark in terms of annual sales. That figure had been the goal of the company for the better part of a decade. That marked a milestone for an iconic brand whose futuristic building is perched atop a hill at the end of Icon road in Foothill Ranch, California. VeloNews visited Oakley’s Interplanetary headquarters this spring. You’ll have to pick up a copy of our August issue, on newsstands now, for the whole story, but as a supplement, we’re more than happy to take you on a photo tour, right here.
Sheppard, McGrath win Stage 3 at BC Bike Race
There’s a tight battle brewing at the front of the 2009 BC Bike Race between the Kona’s defending champions Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks, and Canadian strongmen Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath (Santa Cruz/Jamis). After three stages the Canadian duo holds a slim 1:15 advantage in the overall ahead of the defending champions. Sheppard and McGrath won the first and third stages, both by small margins, and Kona grabbed stage 2 by a handful of seconds. And both teams know that in the topsy-turvy world of multi-day endurance stage racing, the fat lady is nowhere close to singing.
Contador The Favourite…Only Just
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European racing this week
Besides that little ol’ race starting Saturday in France, there’s not a whole lot on the menu in terms of racing this week. Butting heads against the biggest race of the year isn’t ideal marketing strategy (though there is plenty of racing throughout July on European roads). Save for a race in Poland and the Giro d’Italia Feminine, everyone else is letting the Tour de France take center stage.