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VeloNews.com publishes a diary from Kona pro cyclocross racer Barry Wicks every other Wednesday. Wicks' column alternates with one by Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale's Jeremy Powers

With three weeks to go until its November 5 kickoff date, the Baja Epic — a four-day cross-country race in northern Mexico — has finalized its route. The race will cover approximately 250 miles and include 24,000 feet of climbing. The race runs November 5-8. The opening stage starts on the beach at the resort city of Rosarito and runs 65 miles to Santa Veronica, and includes 7800 feet of elevation gain. Stage 2 is the longest day, and includes 81 miles as riders journey from Santa Veronica to Ojos Negros.

Tour de France king of the mountain Bernhard Kohl admitted on Wednesday that he had doped in preparation for this year’s race. In a Wednesday evening press conference in Vienna, Austria, Kohl took full responsibility for a “bad decision,” driven at least in part by the fear that he wouldn't land a new contract when his Gerolsteiner team announced plans to fold at the end of 2008. Kohl denied that there was a systematic doping program at Gerolsteiner, despite the fact that his teammate, Stefan Schumacher, was also found to be positive for the new variant of EPO, known as CERA.

After playing second fiddle on two occasions in sprint finishes, former Tour de France sprint champion Baden Cooke finally took the honors on stage 3 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Cooke, riding for Barloworld, had been edged out by early Tour leader Matt Goss (CSC - Saxo Bank) on the opening two days, but atoned in a desperate scramble to the line in Marysville. Canadian Dominque Rollin (Toyota-United) was second on the stage and was among the riders who protested Cooke's finish. Officials, however, upheld the win.

Lance Armstrong’s comeback might not include the 2009 Tour de France, at least that’s what the seven-time Tour winner is hinting at this week. Armstrong confirmed Monday that the Giro d’Italia will be part of his 2009 racing schedule and told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport that the May grand tour could be his major goal for next season.

Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli, the 2007 women's road race world champion, has been handed a one-year ban by the anti-doping tribunal of the Italian Olympic Committee for failing a drugs test. Bastianelli, 21, missed the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for flenfluramine, a stimulant, at the European under-23 championships in Verbania, northeast Italy, in July. The year ban was backdated to August 7 and will run until August 6, 2009. Bastianelli's lawyer Giuseppe Napoleone said she will appeal the decision to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Alessandria, Italy ? The peloton, stretched thin into a long single line, stuck to the white line marking the edge of the road with the riders on the front pushing the cool yet fresh autumn air as they rode a hard tempo to control the race and bring back the breakaway. Leaves blew on to the course, acorns and chestnuts spotting the road, and the odor of fermenting grapes was pungent as we passed the vineyards known for producing the best wines in Italy.

Dear VeloNews,
So now that Ricardo Riccò, Stefan Schumacher, Leonardo Piepoli and Bernhard Kohl have all tested positive for CERA, what happens to the results they achieved during the Tour de France? Riccò, Schumacher and Piepoli “won” five stages among them and Kohl finished third in Paris and “earned” the climber’s jersey.

Do they get to keep those honors? How does the Tour de France decide if they get taken away? What will the record books show?
Suzette Byrnes
Vancouver, Washington

Bans for failing doping tests could be doubled to four years as soon as next year, UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Wednesday. The news comes after Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl, who placed third at this year's Tour de France, tested positive for a strain of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA. Sanctions will be made on a case-by-case basis, said McQuaid, and cyclists will be judged on the gravity of the infringement and in particular the nature of the substance.

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“So, what do you guys do in the off-season?” Most of the time this gets asked by someone wondering about a “job.” From those a bit more knowledgeable about the sport, it’s referring to something we do to fill our time, figuring that the bike goes in the garage and gets to collect cobwebs ‘til the first camp gets things going again in a few months’ time. Not quite.

The 2009 Tour of Stuttgart was canceled on Tuesday, with organizers of the six-day event saying recent failed doping tests have tarnished the sport's image in Germany. "We have held intense discussions over the last few days and decided at the conclusion not to organize the 26th edition of the competition given the current situation in cycling," organizer Andreas Kroll told the German agency SID on Tuesday. "Professional cycling has an enormous image problem at the moment which we can't currently change," added Kroll.

Stuart O'Grady continued the CSC-Saxo Bank domination of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, winning the second stage, after his 21-year-old teammate, Matt Goss, of Tasmania, won the prologue and stage 1. The American teams Toyota-United, Team Type 1 and Jelly Belly are participating in the week-long race. The best placed rider from an American team is Toyota-United's Australian Ben Day, who is in fourth, 20 seconds behind race leader O'Grady.

American Donny Robinson won the 2008 UCI Supercross World Cup of BMX racing after finishing second to countryman David Herman in the final round, held October 11 in Frejus, France. Robinson, the bronze medalist in BMX’s Olympic debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing, topped a stellar year for the United States, which took the top four spots in the final rankings, with Herman, Kyle Bennett and Olympic silver medalist Mike Day finishing second through fourth. Olympic gold medalist Maris Strombergs of Latvia finished fifth.

Jesse Lalonde and Jenna Zander won the final race of the Wisconsin Off Road Series on Sunday. In its eighth year, the Sunday’s Wigwam MTB Challenge in Sheboygan has become the traditional season finale for WORS. With a large cash purse provided by WORS and local organizers Wigwam Mills, the Sheboygan race draws regional and national stars to line up against series regulars.

The German cycling team Gerolsteiner has withdrawn from racing after Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl failed a drugs test. Kohl, winner of the mountains jersey at this year's Tour de France and third overall, tested positive for the latest generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA. Teammate Stefan Schumacher of Germany also tested positive for CERA.

More than 1,200 riders turned out for the second race in the River City Bicycles Cyclocross Crusade 2008 series October 12. The Wilsonville, Oregon, course resembled a plowed field surrounded by a rock quarry. The lumpy loose dirt, steep dirt piles, gravelly corners and rocky pits favored racers with strong technical skills. Most were thankful not to have mud added to the mountain bike-like course. [nid:84338]

Austria's Bernhard Kohl will be the "seventh and last" positive doping case from this year's Tour de France, according to sports daily L'Equipe on Tuesday. Kohl, the best climber at this year's race where he finished third overall, has become the fourth rider to test positive for CERA, a new generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). In all seven riders tested positive at this year's race, which was won by Spaniard Carlos Sastre of the CSC team.

Austrian cycling star Bernhard Kohl awoke to widespread criticism in his country's press Tuesday after he became the latest rider to be snared for doping at this year's Tour de France. A surprising third place finisher, who surprised climbing specialists by winning the King of the Mountains' polka dot jersey, Kohl on Monday was confirmed as the fourth rider - after Italians Ricardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli, and fellow Gerolsteiner teammate Stefan Schumacher - to test positive for CERA, a new generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).

9. A solid green indicator light shows when the battery is fully charged. Flashing green indicates half charge, flashing red indicates low charge, and solid red indicates battery near empty. You can ride 1000-2000 miles on a charge, the battery can be charged 300 times without losing any capacity, and when its charge drops too low, it first shifts slower in the front, then shuts down front shifting, and, finally it shuts down rear shifting.

8. The shift buttons on the aero-bar brake levers provide the option that time trial and triathlon bikes are missing. And since you can shift under load, you don’t have to anticipate in advance what gears you’ll need on a climb; just shift as your legs feel the need.

7. No bar-extension shifters are more aerodynamic than these shift buttons; it takes only a tiny finger movement to shift. The top button on each side shifts to a larger chainring or cog, and the lower button shifts to a smaller chainring or cog. But you have another choice of where to shift from, so you don’t have to reach out here to shift while grabbing the base bars for a turn or a climb.

6. Shimano’s long-awaited introduction of electronic Dura-Ace shifters for aero bars arrived at Ironman. Quick, accurate shifting under load from either the ends of the aero bars or the brake levers should appeal to any time trialist or triathlete.

5. Sixth-place Virginia Berasategui’s front Xentis wheel is down to 15 spokes; a 16th should be adjacent the valve stem, but it broke on the gradual uphill to Hawi (on smooth asphalt under a 90-pound rider)! Berasategui was with eventual winner Chrissie Wellington at Hawi, but her front wheel banging her fork for 100 kilometers took its toll, and she dropped far behind, but a 3:03 marathon brought her within seconds of 5th place.

You’ve got to fuel up for the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. But you might be one of the many with overactive bowels out on the course. And Kuota shored up its second place in the bike count from last year – further ahead of Scott and Trek (who reversed positions from 2007) but even further behind a dominant Cervelo.

3. The handlebar count sheet; that’s Profile with the most ticks. Some brands are incredibly dominant at this most important of triathlons; Cervelo frames, Zipp wheels, and of course Shimano components are without peer. Who knew there were so many Cervelo P3s in the world? A quarter of the athletes were on them, and among those at the front, it seemed as though half were! It’s bound to continue next year with the P4.

2. The only category in the 2008 count with a change in leadership from the prior year was saddles. Here, Fizik’s Suzette Ayotte celebrates her brand finally surpassing Selle Italia in total saddles among the 1,700+ in the race. Shimano is the only brand to have led its category in every year of the race’s 30 years. Kestrel and Quintana Roo bikes had each been leaders here in the past; now they are rare.

1. As Ironman competitors deposit their bikes in the transition area, a phalanx of industry people count brands of bikes, components, aero bars, saddles, pedals, and wheels. Always in friendly competition, SRAM counters sit on either side of the lone Shimano counter, Devin Walton. The ticks filling the majority of the sheet of SRAM counter Michael Zellman (in green shirt) are for Shimano, but SRAM surpassed Campagnolo in groups for the first time this year.

14. The front derailleur small-chainring limit screw is on the outside of the main, outer link. The large-chainring limit screw is the little black one on the link behind the cage. Just shift to the chainring you want and turn the limit screw to avoid chain rub on the big-small and small-big combinations.

13. The rear derailleur limit screws stop its travel like on a cable-actuated derailleur. The high-gear limit screw, the more outboard of the two, is to be tightened against the stop when the derailleur is on the smallest cog and then backed out a turn to allow the derailleur to overshift to get to the cog. The low-gear limit screw is just set as a stop when lined up on the large cog.

11. Unplug the port on one of the drop-bar dual-control levers, and you can plug in additional shift button to have on, say, the bar tops for climbing or the bar drops for sprinting.

12. Shimano includes a tool with a fork for unplugging wires and removing port plugs. It also has a long groove for holding wires or port plugs as you push them down into the port in the lever.

While most cyclists (well, except for the cyclocrossers) are winding down their seasons, it's the most important time of the year for the triathlon crowd. Australia's Craig Alexander and Great Britain's Chrissie Wellington celebrated first-place titles at the 30th anniversary of the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, this past weekend.

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Three-time Vuelta a España winner Roberto Heras will toe the line at next month’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores mountain bike race in Costa Rica. The four-day race covers 250 miles from Jaco Beach on the Pacific coast to the finishing city of Limon, on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. The race will mark a return to top-level racing for Heras, who retired from competitive cycling in 2005 following his record-breaking fourth Vuelta win. That victory, however, was negated after Heras’ urine sample tested positive for the blood booster EPO.

For the second day in a row Matt Goss, of the CSC Saxo Bank team, relegated Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke to the minor placings by winning the opening stage. And just like Sunday, Goss attributed a large portion of his win in the 130km trek from Traralgon to Inverloch to the work of his teammates, particularly Stuart O’Grady, who broke away from the peloton with 65km remaining only to be caught 15km from the finish.

Austrian climbing sensation Bernhard Kohl is the latest rider to test positive for CERA during this year’s Tour de France, according to France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD). Kohl, who rode away with the best climber’s jersey and finished third overall, is the fourth rider to be caught up in the net cast by the French anti-doping authorities. French officials, who ran an unprecedented number of anti-doping controls at this year’s Tour, are vigorously back-testing blood samples taken during July’s Tour with a new testing method to detect the third-generation blood booster.

Lance Armstrong never rode la corsa rosa during his professional career, but he confirmed Monday he will race the 2009 Giro d’Italia as part of his comeback season. Armstrong, 37, announced in a video posted on the webpage of the Italian sports daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, he will be at the start of the centenary celebration of the Italian grand tour beginning May 9.

Shadd Smith took another win in the De Stad Series as he won the Elite Men's race in Sunday's Chris Cross Cyclocross race and extended his points lead in the series.[nid:84346] Smith's teammate Joseph Schmalz put in a great ride for second place with Thomas Price and Brian Jenson taking third and fourth. Jeff Winkler continues to improve in 'cross and came back from a first lap crash to take the final podium spot.

Atypical cyclocross weather once again was around for the Chicago Cyclocross Cup #3 that had enthusiasts travel to Hawthorn Woods, a Chicago suburb. Sun and temperatures in the high 70s greeted the racers in this installment.

Second place overall at the 2008 Tour de France with Cadel Evans was good enough for Silence-Lotto brass, who still believe their Aussie pupil has the goods to win cycling’s biggest race. Evans was the pre-race favorite, but his hopes were upended when he crashed in the Pyrénées and then undone by Carlos Sastre’s attack on Alpe d’Huez in the final week. Silence-Lotto sport director Hendrick Redant said the Belgian team was content with Evans’ second Tour podium and believe a reloaded Silence-Lotto team will bode good things for 2009.

Kona's Ryan Trebon and Velo Bella-Kona's Amy Dombroski took over the lead of the North American Cyclocross Trophy Series after their dominant weekend at the Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester race in Massachusetts. Trebon and Dombroski each won their respective races both days. Dombroski also holds the lead in the Verge New England Cyclo-cross series, which also awarded points at Gloucester. Jamey Driscoll (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale), who was fourth and third at Gloucester, holds the men's lead in the Verge series. North American Cyclocross Trophy series standings, men:

Belgian one-day specialist Philippe Gilbert handed his Francaise des Jeux team the ideal farewell gift by winning the Paris-Tours one-day classic on Sunday. Gilbert's first victory in the 102nd edition of the race, held over 252km, comes only weeks before he ends his five-year stay with the French outfit by moving to Silence-Lotto. The Belgian had been among a four-strong group of frontrunners that was being hunted down by the peloton inside the closing kilometer. However the four worked together to keep the pack at bay.

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It shook out a bit differently, but the second day of the Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester ended up with the same men and women atop the podium: Kona's Ryan Trebon and Velo Bella-Kona's Amy Dombroski. Trebon and national champ Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) separated themselves from the field on the first lap and dueled for most of the one hour race on another Indian Summer day on the Massachusetts coast. Just like Saturday, however, Trebon ramped up the pace in the last two laps and Johnson was simply unable to keep up.