Yuri Trofimov (Bouygues Telecom) is considered to be a top favorite heading into the 39th edition of the Etoile de Bessèges, Europe’s first stage race of the 2009 season. The Russian all-rounder dominated the 2008 edition that heralded his arrival to the pro ranks. He later went on to win a mountain stage at the Dauphiné Libéré. Trofimov looks to be entering the 2009 season with equal motivation and rode to a strong third in Sunday’s GP La Marseillaise.
While usually stuck at his keyboard, VeloNews.com senior editor Charles Pelkey did manage to get out and snap a few pictures while in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, covering the world cyclocross championships over the weekend of January 31 and February 1, 2009.
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Alberto Contador traveled to the United States on Sunday for Astana’s 10-day training camp in California where he will ride alongside teammate Lance Armstrong. It’s likely the last time the pair will be together until the Tour de France in July because they both have different racing schedules throughout the first half of the 2009 season. After his comeback to competition last month at the Tour Down Under, Armstrong’s schedule includes the Tour of California, the Tour of Flanders, Criterium International and the Giro di Trentino before his debut at the Giro d’Italia in May.
Roger Hammond (Cervélo Test Team) won the second stage of the Tour of Qatar on Monday after bringing home a solo attack late in the 134km race around Al Khor. Hammond, who takes over the race lead from fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream, leapt away from a 14-man lead group and finished just one second ahead of a chase headed by Italian Danilo Napolitano (Team Katusha) and including Belgian sprint star Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who finished fourth. Hammond’s teammate Heinrich Haussler took third.
Daniele Bennati will stay with Liquigas through 2010 after the Italian sprinter penned a two-year contract extension with the team. After struggling through an injury-plagued 2008 season that saw him sidelined during the Tour de France, a healthy Bennati should once again be at the forefront in the mass sprints. “My physical problems suffered last year are memories now and I can train now with consistency,” Bennati said in a team release. “I’m still not in my best form, but by March I want to be competitive.”
Jittery Joe’s Cycling rebuilds by joining forces with the Kudzu.com U25 Team The news of the Jittery Joe’s cycling team taking a step back from their professional status was a sure sign of tough times; in the end it is a return to their roots and a bright new beginning for the team. Jittery Joe’s and Kudzu.com are joining forces for the 2009 season to form the Jittery Joe’s presented by Kudzu.com U25 Cycling team.
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Powered by newcomer Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream roared to victory in the team time trial to open the Tour of Qatar on Sunday. Wiggins, a winner of two gold medals on the track at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, takes the leader’s jersey after crossing the line first with his new Garmin-Slipstream teammates. “It’s a big satisfaction because this first stage was a true goal for us in our winter preparation in Girona,” Wiggins said. “Now our week is saved and we can try the sprints without any pressure.”
With eight French riders in the top 10, it was no surprise that a national rider won the French opener to the 2009 European calendar in Sunday’s GP La Marseillaise. Rémi Pauriol gave his Cofidis team bragging rights for the first win of the 2009 season by staying clear of the chasing Bouygues Telecom duo of Thomas Voeckler and Yury Trofimov. Pauriol survived a series of decisive attacks in the opening hour of racing in the 136.8km route around the hills near Marseille.
After a rough year that saw him making headlines for all the wrong reasons, Tom Boonen just wants to hit the news when he wins a bike race. Last year saw Belgium’s prince of the cobblestones fall back to earth after failing an out-of-competition control for cocaine in late May and then being forced out of the Tour de France. Boonen never faced a racing sanction because cocaine is only considered a banned stimulant if detected during competition. Because he still faces possible charges in a Belgian court, Boonen doesn’t want to talk about anything except bike racing.
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Evidently the forge is still hot over at Santa Cruz bicycles. It waited less than a week after the introduction of its new carbon fiber Blur XC to release a brand new gravity-oriented model called the Driver 8, an 8-inch VPP bike with a unique blend of downhill and freeride characteristics. Santa Cruz intends the Driver 8 to be a versatile, all purpose, everyday gravity bike. In a happy surprise for both Santa Cruz and dirt riders everywhere, it’s ready for the public a month early. [nid:87103]
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Belgian Niels Albert may have some reason to thank his Dutch rival Lars Boom for his win in the elite men’s event at the world cyclocross championships in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on Sunday. The defending world champion didn’t even come close to affecting the race on his home turf in Holland, but his strong performances at worlds last year and in this year’s World Cup series may have given the usually dominant Belgians reason to set aside personal interests and work together as a team.
Having decided to bid for the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, Qatar is now hoping to host a stage of the Tour de France some time in the future. Serious talks are underway between Tour de France officials and the Qatar Cycling Federation to bring the toughest cycling race to the streets of the oil and gas rich state, the Gulf Times newspaper reported on Sunday. Transporting hundreds of cyclists with all their gear from Europe may seem a huge logistical problem but officials have a solution for that too: just arrange an Airbus A-380.
There’s an old Dutch saying that notes that when two dogs are fighting for a bone, it’s often the third dog that ends up getting it. Holland’s Marianne Vos may have remembered that old line when she sat firmly in the middle of what appeared to be a battle for the women’s world cyclocross championship between Germany’s Hanka Kupfernagel and American Katie Compton on Sunday in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands. Because of the bitter cold, the Hoogerheide course remained hard and fast for the women's race, and was likely to remain the way for the following men's event.
U.S. based Pro Continental team BMC is hoping to get wild card status again this year so it can earn invitations to ProTour events. Team director Gavin Chilcott left the team's training camp last week to fly to Swizerland to appear before the UCI License Commission. In a team statement. Chilcott said the team has applied for wild card status, which among other things, requires that the team participate in the UCI's Biological Passport anti-doping program. The team attained wild card status in 2008.