With these last few prototypes and new products, we thought we’d add a few items to those that struck our fancy at this year’s Sea Otter tech expo. We still have more new bikes, frames, parts, and accessories that were shown, so we plan to gradually get those stories, along with some pro mountain bikes, up on VeloNews.com over the course of the next few months. Niterider has a bright future
Austria’s former national Nordic ski coach Walter Mayer was released on Thursday after spending more than a month in custody, on suspicion of dealing in doping substances, court sources said. The 52-year-old Mayer was arrested on March 22, suspected of obtaining and providing illegal doping substances, including the banned blood booster EPO and its modern successor CERA, according to the prosecution. He was remanded into custody on March 25.
Julien Absalon (Orbea) seized the lead of the cross-country Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday after winning round two of the series in Offenburg, Germany.
Three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the second stage of the Tour de Romandie on Thursday after a breakaway by teammates Cadel Evans and Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) was stifled just a few kilometers before the finish line. The Silence-Lotto duo took advantage of the hilly course around northwestern Switzerland to break away on the final climb near the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. But Evans, the 2006 Romandie winner, and Gilbert were reeled in by the peloton led by late entry Alejandro Valverde just four kilometers from the finish.
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Christian Vande Velde is facing a busy schedule in coming weeks, with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France looming as his main targets of the year. For the Giro, Vande Velde wants to help his team defend their victory in the team time trial and get another crack at the pink jersey. For the Tour, the 32-year-old wants to pick up where he finished off last year in his breakthrough performance and aim for the final podium in Paris.
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By the time you are reading this, Lance Armstrong and his Astana teammates — sorry, Mellow Johnny’s teammates — Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner have completed the opening stage of the SRAM Tour of the Gila, in New Mexico. To no one’s surprise, Leipheimer won the opening stage, which ended with the 5km Mogollon climb. Things should get interesting watching those three defend the lead against several top-notch domestic teams packing eight-man rosters.
After weeks of uncertainty, organizers of the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship announced Wednesday that the annual race will be held as scheduled on Sunday, June 7.
Did they come to race or train? The "Mellow Johnny's" team — AKA Astana's Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner — just couldn't resist going for the win Wednesday at the SRAM Tour of the Gila. Leipheimer sprang from a disintegrating pack on the finish climb, taking a clear win ahead of young phenom Peter Stetina (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin) and recently-rehired Chris Baldwin (Rock Racing). Leipheimer said he had some doubts about whether the team should go for the win so early in the five-day race.
Spaniard Ricardo Serrano (Fuji) won the first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday, a shortened 91 kilometer stage between the Swiss towns of Montreux and Fribourg. Lars Bak (Saxo Bank) was second, while Swiss rider Gregory Rast (Astana) was third and took over the leader's yellow jersey. The stage was shortened because of snow fall on the Jaunpass.
Dear Explainer,
My question is a combination of a rant and query. I just read about the UCI’s decision not to allow the Astana team to ride the Tour of the Gila and it got me wondering. Who made them the boss? Under what authority are they acting and who gave them that authority? These are the bozos who allowed Graeme Obree to ride and then declared his bike wasn’t “legal.” LEGAL?!?! I don’t remember seeing anyone make a law.
For a race that came within days of being canceled two months ago, the SRAM Tour of the Gila has rebounded in spectacular fashion, now boasting its largest and most star-studded pro fields in history as it begins Wednesday. The race achieved high stature — and the perhaps inevitable resulting controversy — with the appearance of Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, three Astana teammates who, under agreement with the UCI, will race the Gila in the Mellow Johnny's kit of Armstrong's Austin, Texas, bike shop.
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) confirmed Wednesday that the athlete under investigation for a doping violation at last summer’s Olympics is cyclist Davide Rebellin. The 37-year-old, who earlier this month won the prestigious Flèche Wallonne spring classic, tested for the new generation of EPO — a Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) — in an International Olympic Committee re-test of samples from Beijing.
Christian Vande Velde relished a day at the beach with his two young daughters over the past weekend because he knew it would probably be his last quiet day for a long time. The Garmin-Slipstream captain is entering the heart of his racing season, with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France looming as his main targets of the year. For the Giro, Vande Velde wants to help his team defend their victory in the team time trial and get another crack at the pink jersey.
Dear Lennard,
In your Earth Day column there was a question about a cracked carbon frame. Since it is a save the earth day of posting I thought I would ask about the possibility of repairing a cracked carbon frame (small crack obviously). Since you can buy epoxy and carbon, would it be possible to repair a carbon frame? It would be ugly but would it be rideable?
Scott
Dear Scott,
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Czech rider Frantisek Rabon (Columbia-Highroad) on Tuesday won the Prologue of the Tour de Romandie, a 3.1km time-trial through the streets of the Swiss city of Lausanne.
French cyclist Sandy Casar (Française Des Jeux), took second place two seconds behind.
One of the favorites of the six day race in western Switzerland, late entry Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) of Spain, was third, while American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) took fourth.
Prologue, Tour de Romandie
1. Frantisek Rabon (Cz), Columbia-Highroad, 3.1km in 3:45
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced Tuesday it has learned that one of that country's athletes tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance at last summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. According to a news release issued Tuesday, CONI was informed of a positive A sample and has notified the athlete of the result. Under the provisions of the World Anti-Doping Code, he or she has the option to ask that his B sample be tested to confirm the result.
It seems Lance Armstrong will meet the Gila Monster after all. The seven-time Tour de France winner and two Astana teammates will race the SRAM Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, after USA Cycling and the UCI negotiated a compromise over the international governing body’s rules regarding UCI Pro riders’ participation in national events.
One big breakaway and a stage victory can change everything for a professional cyclist. Just ask Simon Gerrans, a fifth-year pro at Cervélo TestTeam who scored a breakthrough win in last year’s Tour de France in stage 15 to Prato Nevoso in Italy.
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