Lance Armstrong will publicize the results of the drug tests he has undergone since coming out of retirement last year, he said in Adelaide Saturday. Armstrong will release his recent test results with the support and endorsement of anti-doping scientist Don Catlin, Armstrong said. Later, Armstrong and his Astana team released a press release on the subject.
Tom Boonen liked his West Coast adventure so much last year he’s heading back for a second crack at the Tour of California. The Quick Step star told VeloNews that the hard week of racing at California last year helped pave the way for his second career Paris-Roubaix victory two months later. “(Organizers) didn’t even have to ask. I want to go back to California,” Boonen said during an interview Friday. “I really liked the race last year. The quality of racing and the fans were great.”
New Russian super-team Katusha and its eye-popping 15 million euro annual budget are safe from the broiling world economy – at least for now. That’s what Katusha team president Andrei Tchmil assured VeloNews during an interview Friday. “The situation is difficult right now in the world economy, but nothing has changed,” Tchmil said. “We have the support of our sponsors. We are moving forward with confidence.”
Excluded from the '06 Tour, the “Puerto Nine” included (From top, L-R) Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Ivan Basso (CSC), Francesco Mancebo (AG2R), Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Australia's Allan Davis, Sergio Paulinho and Alberto Contador (Astana-Wurth).
After nearly three years of legal wrangling, Spanish prosecutors may be ready to reopen the Operación Puerto doping investigation, which a judge had put on hold last September, El Pais newspaper reported Saturday. A provincial court in Madrid has ruled that there were indications of "an offence against public health" that merited renewed examination and had therefore called for the investigation to be re-activated, according to El Pais.
The fourth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup is in Koksijde, Belgium.
Riders from Lithuania, New Zealand, Malaysia and China collected valuable points at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic in Beijing on Saturday. With just two months remaining before the World Championships in Poland, many leading athletes have chosen to skip a return to the 2008 Olympic venue for this fourth leg in the five-part series. The second day of competition at the Laoshan velodrome featured four men's and three women's events and the absence of star names gave an opportunity for some fresh faces to step onto the podium.
The Mercer Cup weekend in New Jersey is the penultimate weekend of the USGP series.
Despite facing charges that he missed an in-competition doping test in November, former U.S. champion Jonathan Page could still earn a spot at cyclocross worlds.
The United States is among those countries eligible to send five riders to compete in the elite men’s division of the cyclocross world championship in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, on February 1.
Earlier this week, however, USA Cycling released the names of only four riders planning to compete in the world championships, leaving one additional slot to be filled before the UCI’s roster deadline on January 23.
Up until a few weeks ago, my personal “camp” experiences had never gone very well. The one time I went to soccer camp, when I was 10, I cut my knee on a rock, got stitches, and later ended up on a flight for life helicopter when the whole mess got so infected one of my doctors said they might have to amputate. Fortunately the antibiotics kicked in and I got to keep my leg, but I never went back to soccer camp.
Alberto Contador admits that he initially had reservations about the return of Lance Armstrong, but says now he’s excited about sharing leadership duties with the seven-time Tour de France champion. Speaking to L’Equipe after receiving the Velo d’Or prize this week in Paris, Contador said having Armstrong around should only help him.
In the year of the comeback, Oscar Pereiro is also making his way back into the peloton following his harrowing crash in last year’s Tour de France. The 2006 Tour winner is set to make his season debut at the Tour Down Under, but he’s still nursing a few aches and pains from his fall off a narrow switchback over the Italian Alps.
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The image of a dozen riders trying to stay warm before a chilly training ride Thursday along Spain’s Mediterranean Coast doesn’t quite match up with the ambitious plans Katusha has laid out for 2009 and beyond. The ultimate goal of the Russian-backed Katusha team is nothing less than to deliver a Russian winner of the Tour de France, and do so from a Russian team. That’s heady stuff for any first-year team, but when the team’s backers include Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and an annual budget of 15 million euros, Katusha means business.
Katie Compton is America’s best hope to bring home hardware from this year’s UCI Cyclocross world championships, which will be held in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on January 31-February 1. Just last month Compton (Spike Shooter) had her best ever run of European racing, racking up a slew of UCI podium finishes, including a win at the World Cup in Nommay, France.
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Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Brian Matter (Gear Grinder) have joined Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s) on the U.S. men’s team that will contest the 2009 UCI Cyclocross World Championships on February 1 in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. Trebon, Powers and Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) all earned automatic nominations to the team as the top three Americans in the UCI rankings. Johnson has declined his nomination and will not compete.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 14, 2009 – Bissell Pro Cycling is proud to announce that team member Jeremy Vennell now reigns as the New Zealand National Time Trial Champion. Vennell took the top spot at the Raboplus National Championships on January 9 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand.
GT Bicycles today announced exciting new additions to the 2009 GT mountain bike team. The team will continue to be gravity-focused, adding Eric Carter, Mick Hannah and Andrew Cho to the GT roster. These three exceptional riders will help support GT’s 30-year race heritage.
Colors: Green, black, white, red, blue, grey Sizes: Small to Extra Large Price: $1999 (frame and rear shock) Web site: www.intensecycles.com Are you unsure about your mountain bike riding style? Are you a pure cross country rider or do you enjoy technical descents that are akin to a hardtailer’s hell? Perhaps you find yourself somewhere in the middle? If so, the new Spider 2 by Intense bridges the gap between trail and cross country.
It’s that time of the year. Riders in both the U.S. and in Europe are enjoying their respective training camps. Most professional road teams have had a couple already. Some teams divide it up by arranging one for media, one for the guys racing in the spring classics and one for the guys racing the tours. Well for me, it’s ten days in Alicante, Spain. After the really cold weather that was ripping through Europe the last couple weeks, I just had to get out of Dodge.
In what is one of his last appearances on the velodrome, Erik Zabel joined Leif Lampater in winning the 45th edition of the Six Days of Bremen in Germany late Tuesday. The 38-year-old Zabel competed in the penultimate track event of his career in Bremen, with plans to make his farewell appearance at the Six Days of Berlin, slated for January 22-27. Zabel and Lampater finished ahead of the German-Swiss duo Olaf Pollack and Franco Marvulle. Pollack suffered a heavy crash during the last laps of the race and was later diagnosed with a broken clavicle.
I’ve often mentioned the most cherished time of year for cyclists, the off-season. It’s what you think of in every difficult moment all season long. You’re suffering in some godforsaken Belgian gutter in mid-March and in the back of the head is already what lies six months ahead.
Dear Explainer,
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PRESS RELEASE Brent Thomson, Godfather and Trail Master of Bootleg Canyon, suffered a heart attack last Saturday while riding the trails that he has famously cut into the mountains surrounding Boulder City, a stone's throw from Las Vegas, Nevada. While he is currently resting under doctors care in the hospital, Brent is scheduled for the second Quadruple bi-pass in his life. Sixteen years ago he had the same surgery performed due to an unusually high hereditary cholesterol build-up.
Back row l to r: Taylor Phinney, Guy East, Ben King, Bjorn Selander, Axel Merckx. Front row l to r: Ryohei Komori, Cody Campbell, Taylor Kuphaldt and Ryan Baumann
Bjorn Selander getting a Retul fit by Kevin Livingston, who operates the Pedal Hard training center out of the basement of Mellow Johnny's, Armstrong's bike shop.
Imagine you're 18, 19, or 20-some-odd years old. You’re one of the your nation’s best young cycling talents at a time when top professionals are scrambling to find teams, taking major pay cuts, or simply calling it quits. Then, one day, late in the season, you get a call from the son of the world’s greatest cyclist, ever. It’s Axel Merckx, a year post-retirement from his own formidable pro career. He wants to know if you’ll be on his new team.
The Sea Otter Classic, a four-day celebration of sport, will host one of the most important races on the U.S. mountain biking calendar this year. With the highest cash purse, and as one of very few UCI-sanctioned races in the U.S., the Sea Otter cross-country race will be essential to elite athletes looking for points to earn them participation at the Olympics.
Alberto Contador will follow a familiar path to the Tour de France and it won’t go through Italy. The 2008 Giro d’Italia champ reconfirmed that the Tour will be his top priority this season and that he will not defend his Giro crown. With Astana assured of a place in this year’s Tour, Contador said weeks ago he would not defend his Giro victory and instead focus on July.
Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage) has been suspended from racing for three months for his involvement in a mid-race tussle with Adam Myserson at the cyclocross national championships in Kansas City last month. Baker, who is in Belgium, will serve the suspension starting Jan. 17, meaning he will miss any remaining 'cross races he had planned for this season. "It is with some disappointment that I will be ending my 'cross season early, but I will take this as a good opportunity to spend some quality time with my family," Baker told VeloNews.
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Baden Cooke found himself between a Rock and a hard place last fall when a deal he thought he had struck with Rock Racing turned out to be no deal at all. The Australian sprinter says the American squad initially offered him a two-year contract and an opportunity to race in one-day classics and grand tours in Europe. But that contract somehow got lost in the shuffle, and Cooke says the deal that team owner Michael Ball eventually offered was considerably less lucrative — a six-month agreement for a much more modest domestic race schedule.
Statement from Michael Ball regarding Rock Racing: Rumors of Rock Racing’s untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated. The team is proceeding with a full racing schedule of domestic racing in 2009 and is actively pursuing any and all opportunities related to racing outside the United States. I am committed to my team and my riders are committed to making Rock Racing one of the most exciting teams in the pro peloton. Our key riders will all be returning and will be ready to compete against the world’s best. We thank our fans for their continued support of Rock Racing. ?
According to word around town, every hotel, motel, bed & breakfast and backpackers’ inn is booked out in Adelaide, under normal circumstances the fifth-largest city in Australia with a population just over the million mark and apart from its award-winning vineyards, no real world-quality to speak of. But in the few hours we've seen so far and for the next two weeks, Adelaide will be anything but normal. Because Lance is here.