Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) was fast just enough in Sunday’s individual time trial to win the Critérium International for a record-tying fifth time. The veteran German was fifth in the 8.3km course in Charleville-Mézières and held off a challenge from Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream), who started the third and final stage in second place, just seven seconds off Voigt’s time.
American mountain bike racing begins a new chapter this weekend at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. On Sunday, the hilly park in this Los Angeles suburb hosts the opening round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country Tour (ProXCT), a seven-race collection of UCI-sanctioned events which is set to replace the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) as the premier cross-country series in North America. The Fontana race is also the second round of the Kenda Cup West, the west-coast wing of the Sho Air-Specialized U.S. Cup.
Editor's Note: Connie Carpenter is in Pruszkow, Poland, covering the Track World Championships for VeloNews.com while supporting her son, Taylor Phinney. Carpenter is a former world champion on the track and an avid fan of track cycling.
Jeff Louder (BMC) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) retained their yellow jerseys after the dust settled in bunch sprints for both the men’s and women’s Redlands Downtown Criteriums in Saturday’s stage 2 at the Redlands Cycling Classic. The top five in the men’s GC remained virtually unchanged, while Neben’s advantage over second placed Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Columbia-High Road) narrowed from 14 seconds to just 2 seconds due to time bonuses.
Denmark relieved Britain of yet another world crown when they won the men's Madison gold at the world track cycling championships in Pruszkow, Poland, Saturday. Australia took the silver with the Czech Republic claiming the bronze. Defending champions Britain, featuring the two-man team of Mark Cavendish and fellow Manxman Peter Kennaugh, finished sixth at a lap down. Kennaugh suffered a crash before the seventh of the 10 sprints where points can be picked up for the first four riders over the line during the 200-lap race.
There’s a commonly held sports adage that says the best way to get better at your chosen activity is to play with people who are better than you. I certainly don’t agree with this in all cases. Hoops with LeBron would only equal thunder dunks in face. I’d probably drown in Michael Phelps’ wake. And clearly Troy Polamalu could rip all our heads off.
Lampre’s Damiano Cunego wrapped up his second Coppi e Bartali title on Saturday despite being beaten in a sprint finish by Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) on the fifth and final stage. Evans, the reigning champion, edged out Cunego, also the 2006 winner, and Italian Giovanni Visconti at the end of a 178.5km trek from Scandiano to Sassuolo. The Australian, who finished second overall, had begun the day 28 seconds behind Cunego with Massimo Giunti a further four seconds back.
Besson Chaussures-Sojasun’s Jimmy Casper showed off his strong early season form Saturday, winning the opening stage of France’s Critérium International , a 190km ride from Monthois to Charleville-Mézières. The 30-year-old Casper had already won two stages in Etoile de Bessèges in February. Casper said he was especially pleased to be a member of a small continental squad making a mark on a prestigious race . Casper was quick to praise Christian Prudhomme, the director of cycling at ASO, for having "invited a small team to the Critérium International.”
Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) got the big win he was looking for with victory in the E3 Prijs Harelbeke on Saturday. Considered a preview for next weekend’s Tour of Flanders, the Italian out-kicked Tom Boonen (Quick Step) to win by a bike length. Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) came in third to round out the podium.
Check out CyclingTips's author page.
Youth and wisdom. Four laps pretty much flat out. The kilo is short. Painful. Taylor rode off the track with his head down, I could tell from the stands that he was disappointed. Or as coach Neal said, “he’s stunned.” The former World Champion (2003) Stefan Nimke cranked a 1.00.666 in the ride just before T took to the track. Blazing fast. A sea level world best time. Taylor rode slightly faster than he rode in Copenhagen and set a new American record – but it was a full second behind the German. Deflated, he rolled to the infield to warmdown.
Jeff Louder (BMC) and Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) emerged as the overall race leaders after a tough and windy Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the 2008 Redlands Bicycle Classic on Friday. Louder followed a daring attack by Peter Stetina (Felt-Holoweko-Slipstream) over the day’s final climb, then put enough distance between himself and GC leader Ben Day (Fly V Australia) to snatch the yellow jersey, thanks to the 10-second bonus he snatched for the stage victory.