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Defending champion Damiano Cunego is among the favourites going into Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, the only spring classic which takes place in the Netherlands. The 258.6km road race leads from Maastricht to Valkenburg in the hilly Limburg region in the south of the country, near the borders with Belgium and Germany. It features 31 torturous climbs, culminating in a 1000m ascent of the notorious Cauberg, and makes a grim mockery of the Netherlands' reputation as a flat country.

Scott Tedro is the man who spearheaded the new US Cup, which has replaced the National Mountain Bike Series as the continent’s premier off-road racing series. VeloNews caught up with Tedro to discuss how the US Cup came together, how the series is organized and what mountain bikers can expect to see in the coming years. This is part 2 of the conversation. Part 1 was published Thursday.

Price: $200 Web site: www.thuleracks.com The Thule 515 Prologue Pack is a new all inclusive bike rack system. The Prologue pack includes two Prologue fork mounts with locks and an extended ride-on adapter bar to fit factory car racks.

Cervélo TestTeam has been the surprise of the 2009 spring classics. The new squad has been racking up impressive results, including podiums in the opening three classics with Thor Hushovd (third at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix) and the sensational Heinrich Haussler (second at Milan-San Remo and Flanders). That trend continued this week with Dominique Rollin notching his first European podium with third at the Belgian semi-classic Scheldeprijs on Wednesday.

San Luis Obispo, California, 17th April 2009 - Columbia-Highroad is heading to the Amstel Gold Race in Holland on Sunday with no clear leader but with some key riders clearly approaching top condition for the Ardennes Classics. “I wouldn’t say my form is fantastic, but my winning a stage in the Tour of the Basque Country last week is a very encouraging sign all the same,” says Italian Marco Pinotti. “Amstel isn’t a race which suits me 100 percent, but we’ve got a very well-balanced squad and hopefully I’ll be able to do something to support the team’s overall effort.”

American national road champion Tyler Hamilton announced his retirement from cycling on Friday after confirming that he tested positive for a banned substance in an herbal supplement he used to treat depression. The 38-year-old Hamilton confirmed that he had tested positive for Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) a multi-functional steroid he said was in an herbal remedy he took after he had stopped using prescription anti-depressants. Hamilton said his depression was initially diagnosed in 2003, a year that on the surface “was the best year of my life.”

Sunday’s menu calls for beer and bergs in southern Holland as the top riders in the world tackle the Amstel Gold Race, the hilly classic named for its sudsy title sponsor. This marks the 44th running of Amstel, which, along with Belgium’s Fleche-Wallonne (April 22) and Liege-Bastogne-Liege (April 26), comprises the Ardennes week of racing. But while Belgium has already enjoyed a full week of Classics, the Netherlands has not. It’s no surprise that beer swilling Dutch cycling fans arrive en masse to watch their country’s premier cycling event.

Carlos Barredo will have some big shoes to fill as Quick Step enters the Ardennes classics without the dominating presence of Paolo Bettini. Quick Step has grown accustomed to dominating the spring classics, first with Tom Boonen and Stijn Devolder on the cobbles and then with Bettini in the hilly classics such as Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. With Bettini enjoying retirement, Quick Step is looking to the 27-year-old Barredo to step up and carry the team colors across the Ardennes.

What does a prototype Ford F-150 SVT Raptor off-road truck have in common with Adam Craig’s Giant Anthem X Advanced SL? Aside from race-tuned motors, onboard navigation systems, and hydraulic brakes, they both share suspension technology from FOX Racing Shox.

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Thule’s lightest hitch-mount bike carrier is now available. The 6061-alloy rack has a convertible 1.25- to 2-inch hitch adaptor, integrated lock and fold-down design. Two- and three-bike models are available.

The Prologue differs from other trays in the Thule line via a single-wall tray and simple cam-type quick release mount. Nonetheless, it easily accommodates large tires and disc brake calipers.

Thule released its new Prologue bike tray ($89) at Sea Otter.

Specialized’s new 29er hardtails and Epics have something surprising — a narrow diameter clamp on the S-Works carbon handlebar. The 25.4-clamp bars will be found on the brand’s competition XC models for 2010 instead of 31.8mm models.

Pedro’s has a new natural wax based chain lube, the eco-friendly Ice Wax 2.0, born from sponsorship of the MIT cycling team. Katie Lovejoy, a graduate student in MIT’s chemistry department, formulated the first prototypes.

The clamp of the RockStand opens up to accommodate a 74mm seat post, and accepts aero posts like that of a Cervélo P3 time trial bike.

This prototype combines Pedro’s RockStand clamp with its Folding Workstand base.

This shot is from the opposite end of the arm and shows the third, center, channel. All three channels are drilled, not forged.

This view of the Rotor crank arm shows two side channels drilled from the bottom.

The new Rotor crank uses a simple pinch-bolt style clamp on the non-drive arm rather than the brand’s DTT Evo mounting design.

The Rotor “Swiss cheese” crank design that appeared at the Tour of California has been shelved in favor of a new version with three hollow channels. EFBe tested Rotor’s latest prototype and it passed current CEN standards; the previous proto did not.

The 386 cranks are available in MegaEXO and BB30 options. Both cranks are 9-speed compatible, with a 10-speed version undergoing testing.

FSA launched a new bolt circle diameter at Sea Otter for double mountain cranks, called 386. (Three bolts - 86mm BCD design.) Two models will be available, Afterburner and K-Force.

Tomac has a line of paintings and prints by Randy Rigg, who also creates the brand’s graphics.

Legends of Sea Otter: Johnny O’Mara, Ned Overend and John Tomac.

The man, John Tomac, with his new bike.

The size large Carbide SL on display weighs a hair over 21 pounds with DT Swiss suspension, Formula R1 brakes and Shimano XTR components and wheels.

According to Tomac president Joel Smith, the Carbide SL was three years in the making.

Structurally unchanged for 2009, Giro’s Ionis comes with four new graphics packages now. Giro’s Advantage 2 time trial helmet comes in the same graphics, so riders can match helmets to their kits.

Giro’s orange tint offers 67-percent VLT (standard for light transmission), while the yellow lens offers 56-percent.

Giro has two new Zeiss lenses for low-light conditions: light orange and yellow. These tints are available for the Havik, Filter and Semi.

Easton’s $700 EC90 crank (without bottom bracket) is now available in a compact version.

The R4SL’s sport grade 3 ceramic bearings with Easton spec’d grease and grease-fill, and feel super smooth out of the box.

The new Easton wheels come with the new ceramic-equipped R4SL hubs, which push the price up to $2,000.

The EC90SL wheelset weighs 1,230 grams and ships with branded SwissStop Yellow King brake pads.

Easton’s marketing manager Sean Coffey has the new EC90SL 38mm carbon tubulars in hand.

When you come to Sea Otter with a sharp eye, you’ll bound see all sorts of cool stuff, whether it’s new team equipment or an in-the-works prototype. We saw wheels from Easton, a new bike from legend John Tomac and some natural wax lube designed by a MIT grad student — among other things.

A Ritchey single-bolt, zero-offset in WCS trim, for riders with no need for seatpost set back.

In aero bars, Ritchey now has a bullhorn base bar with drop.

With a titanium spring, and adjustable high- and low-speed compression, the Vector HLR offers a range of tunability.

Also new from X-Fusion is the Vector HLR downhill shock.

A redesigned damper cartridge in the Vengeance fork now offers both high- and low-speed compression damping.

X-Fusion is out with a new 6-inch fork, the Vengeance.

Stoltz’s Epic 29er looks like it has a RockShox Reba 29er fork.

Final production parts on the Fury are likely to be forged and machined.

Suspension function on the Fury is essentially a modified I-drive, with machined BB shell and linkage.

The front end of GT’s Fury is similarly oversized, with a 1.5-inch headset and steerer.

The massive carbon swingarm offers tire clearance, and a huge bearing should keep it stiff.

The Fury is all-carbon, including the swingarm, with radical frame shapes.

GT downhiller Eric Carter has a prototype Fury DH bike.

The Epic 29er is still in testing but could be introduced as a 2010 bike.

No mistaking this rider’s bike, a Specialized Epic 29er.

Stoltz is using O.Symetric chainrings, which require creative front derailleur placement.

Xterra star Conrad Stoltz has a new Specialized Epic 29er full-suspension bike.

Crow’s foot lacing on the drive side of SuperLogic wheels is meant to up the stiffness level.

The new SuperLogic road carbon wheelset features Lew carbon tubular rims.

Ritchey WCS parts are now offered in white, including the Biomax saddle.

Road bars in Ritchey’s line are now offered in SuperLogic, using higher grade materials for lighter weight.