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American Rachel Lloyd (California Giant) was second at the Tervuren, Belgium, cyclocross on Sunday, finishing just behind former world champion Daphny Van den Brand. American Sue Butler was eight, Followed by Canadians Natasha Elliot and Wendy Simms in ninth and tenth. Lloyd and Van de Brand were battling for most of the race after gapping the rest of the group on the first lap when Van den Brand attacked into a sandpit and Lloyd jumped on her wheel. The two worked together for a few laps. Van den Brand crashed in the sand at one point and Lloyd rode solo for about a lap.

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History has a way of repeating itself. The Jayco Bay Cycling Classic proved that with Will Walker of Fuji Servetto taking out day 3 of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic. Six years ago Walker as a 17-year-old won a stage of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic with a courageous and powerful breakaway from the main bunch. Walker repeated that performance by breaking away in the last third of the race in an explosive attack and consolidated the gains made until the end.[nid:86289]

The list of riders who have suited up for the Trek-Volkswagen professional mountain bike team over the years reads like a who’s who of North American off-road racing: Travis Brown, Alison Sydor, Roland Green, Susan Haywood and Jeremiah Bishop, just to name a few. But after 13 years, the Trek-Volkswagen program is calling it quits. The news comes after Volkswagen declined to renew its contract with the Wisconsin-based bicycle manufacturer.

The second day of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic was all about thrills and spills. Graeme Brown of Rabobank took out his first win of the season in impressive style leading a bunch finish which saw Robbie McEwen (Team Katyusha), Baden Cooke (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team), Simon Gerrans (Cervelo Test Team) and Nic Sanderson (Rock Racing) finish third, seventh, eighth and tenth respectively.

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The rock and roll cycling style of Rock Racing has had its first ride on Australian soil competing at the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in Victoria. The self styled ‘Venom’ cycling kit and painted De Rosa frames stood out in the blur of color. The team — consisting of new signing Aaron Kemps (formerly of Astana), Rahsaan Bahati, Justin Williams and Nic Sanderson — came to Australia for some of the fastest critierium racing in the world. Notable absentee from the start line for Rock was new team member Caleb Manion. Manion signed with Rock Racing after racing with Toyota United.

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For I have always lived violently, drunk hugely, eaten too much or not at all, slept around the clock or missed two nights of sleeping, worked too hard and too long in glory, or slobbed for a time in utter laziness.— John Steinbeck, “Travels With Charley”

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Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Tour de France stage winner, Simon Gerrans, a new recruit of the new Cervélo Test Team, won the first stage of the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic in Australia, riding for the local O2 Networks squad on Friday. The race was delayed, in strange circumstances, by more than 90 minutes because Australian sprint ace, Katyusha's Robbie McEwen, had his flight cancelled and was late arriving for the event.

Do you want to contribute to Mailbag, a regular feature of VeloNews.com? Here's how:

• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
• Include your full name, hometown and state or nation.
• Send it to webletters@insideinc.com.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Can you recommend a tall stem for a tall rider?

Why does my new bike tick?

How will Q-factor affect IB Band Syndrome?

Do you have any advice for correcting leg-length discrepancies?

USA Cycling published its 2009 National Racing Calendar over the weekend, with several surprises, including the Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling, held April 26, the new Oregon Pro Cycling Race, the June 21 Tour of Winghaven in St. Louis, the July 26 Chicago Criterium and August 8 Tour of Elk Grove, and the San Francisco Twilight Criterium, held September 5. Gone from this year’s NRC schedule are the Sequoia Cycling Classic, the Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix, the Sea Otter Classic, the AT&T Austin Downtown Crit and the Cox Charities Cycling Classic.

American junior Zach McDonald finished second to Dutch rider Corné Van Kessel on Thursday in the GP Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium. McDonald crossed 14 seconds behind Van Kessel to take the runner-up spot with Belgian Sean De Bie (Kon. Balen B.C. V.Z.W.) third at 0:21. In the elite men’s race, Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) won in 57:51, nine seconds up on Czech Zdenek Stybar (Fidea) with Belgian Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus) third at 0:25.

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Dear Explainer,
A good friend of mine recently got a contract offer from a bike team. While I am happy for her, I was floored when I learned that she would only get about $5000 a year for her efforts. Five thousand dollars a year? How can they sign someone up for what has to be less than the minimum wage? Even though she’s just happy for the chance to ride, how can that even be legal?
Marianne J
Westchester, New York

Editor's Note: At the serious risk of self-indulgence, VeloNews' web editor Steve Frothingham has decided to share some memories of his first year with the Web site.

I’ve been in Europe since nationals, a little over two weeks actually and usually by this point in my trip I’m tired and ready to a break and relax for a couple days. A year wiser and happier makes such a difference. This year I made a tough decision to skip the Nommay World Cup in France when I got to Europe, let myself recover, get settled in my new home away from home and then give it the stick in the hardest races of the year.

Twenty teams have committed to racing in the 2009 Tour de Langkawi, the Malaysian stage race scheduled to run from February 9 to 15. The Tour de Langkawi is slated to start in Putrajaya, the home of Malaysian government, and finishing in the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur with the traditional criterium at Dataran Merdeka.

What if there was something you could do to improve your health and fitness, save money, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, improve air quality, and reduce your carbon footprint, all at the same time—would you do it?

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It's not always easy to be VeloNews' editorial cartoonist. I've been on the job for nearly 20 years — my first contribution, starring the Old Guy Who Gets Fat in Winter, appeared in the March 1989 issue — and it often seems as though the same old problems keep popping up issue after issue, year after year, immortal pests in an eternal "Groundhog Day" game of Whac-A-Mole. How many different ways can a guy say, "Doping sucks?"