As we headed to the January 18 World Cup in Roubaix, France, I was excited to race again after 10 days of good weather and training rides in Spain. The race has a great atmosphere at one of the most special cycling venues in Europe.
The Gulf state of Qatar will launch a women's tour next month, bringing together 15 teams, including six national squads, and 90 riders. The women's Tour of Qatar will run February 8-10, following the men's tour, which runs from February 1-6. Although 90 riders from 14 countries on five continents will gather for the three-stage race, there will be no local riders competing. "We hope to gradually develop women's sport in Qatar," said Sheikh Khalid Bin Ali Abdulla al-Thani, head of the Qatari cycling federation.
Ivan Basso says he’s not worried about Spanish officials possibly re-opening the Operación Puerto blood-doping investigation because he’s “already paid his price.” Basso, making his season debut this week in the Tour de San Luís in Argentina, told the Spanish daily MARCA that he’s already turned the page after serving a racing ban.
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Following a difficult year that saw his career aspirations go off the boil, Quick Step’s Queenslander Allan Davis found his form at exactly the right time, flying up the final 500 meters in Wednesday’s finish in Stirling to capture both the second stage and race lead in the 2009 Tour Down Under.
Lucas Sebastian Haedo, an Argentinian who races for the American Colavita team, won stage 2 of his home country's Tour de San Luis on Tuesday. Haedo held off Nazaret Prado of Brazil and Alfredo Lucero of Argentina to win the 174km stage from San Luis/La Toma to Mirador Del Potrero.
Santa Cruz is unveiling its latest cross-country machine, a carbon fiber Blur XC, which looks to be the fastest endurance race bike the brand has ever built.
Editor's Note: Drew Geer is an endurance mountain bike racer who has been using a computer training log since 1998 and has hand-written training logs going back to 1972. He's been an Apple Mac user since 1984. Geer paid retail for each of the products he reviewed in this article.
Lance Armstrong may have to wait months before displaying the top-end race speed that was characteristic of his seven-year domination of the Tour de France.
Specialized Designs for Women will be the brand of choice for the ValueAct Capital Women’s Professional Cycling Team in 2009. Specialized will be the official bike, helmet, shoe and optics sponsor for the team.
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He said last year Australia was where he found himself. Facing sponsorship uncertainties, Columbia-High Road’s André Greipel went on to a stellar 12-win season that was only topped by his teammate Mark Cavendish. And Tuesday in Mawson Lakes, Germany’s ‘Gorilla’ picked up where he left off, the defending champion sailing straight down the middle of the road to capture the opening road stage of the 2009 Tour Down Under and find himself in familiar surroundings in the leader’s ochre jersey.
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Editor's Note: Tom LeCarner, VeloNews' copy editor, is an avid cyclist who has been unable to ride and train for most of 2008 because of knee pain. He is being treated at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and using Specialized Body Geometry equipment and services at Specialized's expense, and reporting on his progress in regular columns. You can read LeCarner's previous columns here.
Sizes: 23c or 25c x 700c Weight: 240 or 280 grams Price: $45.99 Web site: www.panaracer.com Panaracer now sells a tire that is intended to be ideal for heavy training and racing on less than ideal surfaces. On the scale of durability versus speed, the new Extreme Duro is aimed right in the middle.
The North American Cyclocross Trophy will expand in its second season, living up to its name by adding a new weekend in Toronto. The 2009 season will include 10 events over five weekends: • Star Crossed on September 19 (Seattle. WA) • RAD Racing Gran Prix on September 20 (Seattle, WA) • The Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester on October 3-4 (Gloucester, MA) • Toronto International Cyclocross on October 17-18 (Toronto, ON) • Blue Sky Velo Cup on October 31 (Longmont, CO)
Spanish justice is to re-open the Operación Puerto probe into blood doping in cycling, Spain's biggest doping investigation, which a judge had left on file last September, a judicial source said Monday. A provincial court in Madrid on January 12 revoked its September decision to shelve the case because it said there were indications that an offense against public health laws had taken place, the source told AFP.
Italian Mattia Gavazzi (Diquigiovanni) won Monday's opening stage of Argentina's Tour de San Luis, holding off a charge by the Haedo brothers, Sebastian and Juan Jose. Juan Jose (Saxo Bank) was second on the stage, while his younger brother Sebastian (Colavita) was third in the sprint at the end of a 168.4 km stage from San Luis to Villa Mercedes.
World downhill champion Rachel Atherton of Great Britain dislocated her shoulder after colliding with a car in Santa Cruz, California, on Sunday. Atherton, who rides for Animal-Commençal, was training on her road bike with her brothers Dan and George when the accident took place. The three had been in Santa Cruz on a training trip since January 9. Atherton reportedly hit the car head-on, with her Cervelo road bike taking the lion’s share of the damage. The 21-year-old Atherton also suffered cuts and bruises to her face.
VeloNews.tv is working with Australian journalist Benjamin Fitzmaurice to produce daily video features from the Tour Down Under. The site has been recently updated with several new videos:
Australian Michael Rogers is ready to put the pain of the past two seasons firmly behind him as he saddles up for the Tour Down Under with renewed dreams of success in 2009. A three-time world time-trial champion by the time he was 25, Rogers was hailed early in his career as a potential Tour de France winner. But in a dramatic 2007, a year after losing his coveted world crown to Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, his career came to a shuddering halt. Injury, illness and a controversial career decision tested Rogers' morale.
It’s been almost nine years since Lance Armstrong made a journey this far south. Following a second Tour de France title that surprised no one after his ’99 comeback victory a year earlier, the Texan decided to skip the world road championships, a title he’d precociously won as a second-year pro way back in 1993, in favor of claiming a scalp he’d never taken but very much desired: an Olympic gold medal.
USA Cycling has announced that the 2009 Bill Woodul Race Mechanic Clinic is scheduled for March 12-15 at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The clinic is open to all mechanics who wish to become USA Cycling-licensed mechanics. Woodul held the first USA Cycling mechanic clinic in the late 1980’s as a way to recruit mechanics for his program. Past graduates of the clinic have gone on to work for teams all over the world.
The revamped Lombardi Sports Elite Cycling team is pleased to present its 2009 roster & new sponsor group. The team is a revised bigger & stronger overall U23 Elite / Masters squad formerly under the GS Lombardi Sports title. Team Director Bill Howard, along with equipment head Mark Altamirano, Elite and U23 captain Jesse Mendonca along with Masters captain Robert Winder head up a bolstered squad of young U23 talent & seasoned Elite & Masters riders.
Khanchendzonga Mountainbike Expedition Stage Race: 2009 March 18-30th
Cycling advocates will find something in addition to beautiful bicycles in Indianapolis during the North American Handmade Bicycle Show (NAHBS), Feb 27 - Mar 1, 2009, when the Indiana Bicycle Coalition hosts a Winning Campaigns Training by the Thunderhead Alliance For Bicycling and Walking--the most prominent group for bicycling advocacy training in North America. This addition to NAHBS activities reflects a commitment by the show to promote and develop cycling opportunities for everybody, focusing not only on the high-end handmade sector.
‘CH2050’ is the latest painting by artist Lee Jones, whose striking image of Cheryl Cole as the ‘Angel of the North’ has recently achieved widespread press coverage and captured the public imagination.
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Despite earlier fears that the Rock Racing team would not meet the deadline to satisfy the requirements of its UCI Continental status, USA Cycling officials said that team has secured its license for 2009. “It went down to the wire but Rock Racing finally fulfilled all of its obligations for registering as a UCI Continental Team in 2009,” USA Cycling chief operating officer Sean Petty confirmed in an email to VeloNews.
Team Kenda is heading to Mt. Dora, FL beginning Friday, January 16 through Monday, January 19 for a team training camp. The purpose of the training camp is riding base miles and team bonding. This year we have several new NRC Team members. Building trust early on is a key ingredient for success in the upcoming NRC race schedule. Early season race plans are in the making with a focus on stage racing, as well as multi-event weekends. The team plans on opening the racing season on March 26-29, 2009 at the Redlands Bicycle Classic in Redlands, California.
The fear of “turf damage” is one of the biggest obstacles facing cyclocross promoters. Now, SpectaSport LLC, the marketing agency for well-known cyclocross series like Zipp OVCX, MAC Powered by SRAM and BikeReg.com MABRAcross, has a free resource to assist promoters with the false perceptions of turf damage when they make presentations to land owners and managers.
