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Spain's Alberto Contador says he has been given assurances from Astana that he will remain team leader even if Lance Armstrong rides with the squad. Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, announced his plans to return to competition earlier this month and the Kazakh team has confirmed that he will join it for several races. Contador, who won the Tour de France in 2007, is the current team leader at Astana and he has given conflicting reactions to Armstrong's decision.

These Dominators have 96,537 miles in them, they’re from 1998 and were part of a contest the Italian shoe manufacturer organized to find just how long its shoes last.

Sidi’s new Vernice finish adds a new element of over the top style to the brands Dragon 2 mountain and Ergo 2 road shoes. The new models cost $540 and $560 respectively.

Vittoria has a new cyclocross tire called the XM. It’s made for the mud and comes with a 220- or 290-tpi casing, but won’t be available until early December.

Despite its modest price the Rainer Cross has details like stainless inserts in its horizontal dropouts.

The alloy frame and Easton EC90X costs just $725.

Raleigh’s limited edition Rainer Cross drew plenty of people into the booth.

The Speedvagen’s paint job is inspired by Evel Knievel

Sacha White’s Speedvagen project continues to draw eyes. This single-speed ’crosser sports his extraordinary attention to detail.

Parlee’s Z2 CX uses the same molding and construction process as the brand’s Z2 and Z3 road bikes but with a tubeset that offers a slightly softer ride. The frame along with Edge Composites fork goes for a whopping $5950. U.S. national cyclocross champ Katie Compton is currently doing R&D testing to refine Parlee's cyclocross design.

The target weight for the carbon Hakkalugi frame is sub-1000 grams, but Ibis is still working out the final details. It doesn’t have a price yet, but it does have the Lion of Flanders on the seat tube; the color is Phlegmish yellow.

Ibis’ new ’cross bike comes complete with the once retired hand-job cable hanger.

Ibis brings back its Hakkalugi cyclocross bike for 2009.

Ciamillo Tech the machinists behind Zero Gravity brakes have a new low-profile ’cross brake. The new brake has a target weight of 198 grams for a bike’s worth including pads, mounting hardware and straddle cable.

Avid’s new Shorty Ultimate cantilever ’cross brake offers a wide and narrow profile brake in one design. The brake can go from a wide setup to a low-profile setup in about 10 minutes without having to change the pad positioning.

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Inside Ride’s eMotion rollers feature 8 inches of fore/aft movement. The roller mechanism slides back and forth with the rider for a natural road feel. The 30-pound system features four magnetic resistance setting and retails for $850.

Edge will have road bars ($350) next year that feature a continuous curve in the drops, double cable grooves and rounded tips. Sizes range from 36-44cm center to center.

An Edge customer modified these Edge mountain bars to swallow the cable housing and run it through the integrated stem and down the steerer tube of the Lefty fork.

Edge has a wide range of carbon hoops, from 26- and 29-inch mountain wheels in two widths (24mm, 32mm) to road rims in tubublar and clincher options. They’re all made in Ogden, Utah.

Nick Crumpton built this ultra light frame with tube-to-tube construction with unidirectional carbon. The things that look like lugs are just the carbon wraps around the mitered joints. Without the outer cosmetic layer of his standard super light frame, this frame weighs in at 880 grams with hardware.

Chrome’s Champ features reflective strips on the cuffs and around the lower back hem that are quickly hidden for around town use.

For those riding straight from the trails to the bar, Chrome’s Champ jacket ($165) has technical features with urban style.

This jersey is green. Really. Capo constructs the $120 jersey from 100 percent recycled materials.

Capo sells full high-end, head to toe kits, including matchings hats, gloves and socks. This Atlas combo is the top of the line.

You don’t have to win the Belgian national championship to get the Ronde kit ($99 jersey, $150 bibs).

Subtle and inexpensive, the Modino comes in at $80 for the top and $150 for the bibs.

It’s back, baby. Purple anodized, that is. Coming to you in a variety of widths and stack heights from Cane Creek.

The front hub on Cane Creek’s Sprint 85.

Cane Creek employee Josh Reddoch had his bike from masters nationals on hand to show off the company’s new Sprint 85 wheels.

Bianchi’s Dolomiti gets a suede saddle, naturally.

Another nod to the past, Bianchi’s Dolomiti features chrome lugs.

Bianchi’s Cross Concept Carbon is the first all carbon bike from the Italian manufacturer (last year’s was scandium and carbon). Built up with Shimano Dura-Ace and Ultegra, it sells for $3,500.

Bianchi’s Coast 2 Coast is a performance comfort bike with a slightly relaxed head angle. It retails for $4,200 with Campagnolo Centaur or $2,400 with Shimano 105.

Alan (we say ah-lan, but the owner says “Allen”; he’s probably right) was arguably the first company to mass produce cross frames. The Roland 5, featuring traditional geometry instead of this year’s compact style, is a tip of the hat to cyclocross great Roland Liboton.

Alan uses a candy clear coat finish, which adds the rust color but allows the scuffed texture of the aluminum to show through as well.

Las Vegas is a good place to put on a show. Jen McRae and Hilton Clarke — each of whom are looking for new teams next year — produced brilliant late season performances with wins at the USA CRITS Finals, held during the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas Thursday night. Clarke said the win under the lights at the Mandalay Bay Resort on the Vegas Strip will not be the end of his season. His Toyota-United team is expected to fold at the end of this season, or perhaps return with a much more modest program next year.

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After an exciting season of outstanding heated competition, the stage is set for today’s finale of the USA CRITS 2008 Championship Series. Expect extremely aggressive fields of professional and elite male and female cyclists to speed along the one-of-a-kind course at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Firmly in their sights will be the prospect of a prestigious victory, lap-leader cash awards, team bragging rights, and a healthy prize purse to motivate racers to step up their performances.

When the world road championships last came to Varese, Italy, in 1951, an estimated 1.5 million fans thronged the hilly course north of the city and Swiss rider Ferdi Kubler pulled off a stunning victory. The tifosi came to see their national heroes Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, but a fever prevented Coppi from starting and Bartali had to play the team game when three of his teammates got into the winning eight-man break.

Lance Armstrong announced at Interbike that he will race the Amgen Tour of California in February with Astana. The news comes on the heels of Wednesday that he was in fact racing with Astana next season. Wednesday night Armstrong raced CrossVegas, where he finished 22nd, right before former teammate Tony Cruz.

A scheduled Lance Armstrong press conference at the Interbike cycling trade show in Las Vegas turned tense Thursday morning when three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond questioned his plan to disclose his blood and urine values during Armstrong’s 2009 comeback season. Armstrong announced Wednesday in New York City that he is working closely with Don Catlin, who formerly ran UCLA’s World Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory. In an attempt at full transparency, Catlin will post Armstrong’s biomarkers online for the sports community to see.

Campagnolo Celebrates Its 75th Anniversary with a Lavish History Book, Campagnolo: 75 Years of Cycling Passion Campagnolo Book to be Launched at Interbike Alongside the Reborn 11-Speed Super Record Gruppo

Belgian Beer and Bike Racing in Belgium: Come to Joe Parkin's Book Launch Party at Interbike! Boulder, CO, USA - September 22, 2008 - Joe Parkin, one of the first Americans to race in Europe, will autograph copies of his just published memoir, A Dog in a Hat: An American Bike Racer's Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium at Interbike. Meet Joe, get an autographed copy of the book, and enjoy a Belgian beer. A Dog in a Hat is available now in bookstores, bike shops, and online. Joe Parkin Book Signing: A Dog in a Hat Thursday, September 25th, 5-6 p.m.

Universal Sports Presents Live Coverage of UCI Road World Championships Tune in September 24 - 28 on Universal Sports Network and UniversalSports.com Universal Sports will present live coverage of the UCI Road World Championships September 24 - 28 from Varese, Italy. Fans can tune in via UniversalSports.com and Universal Sports TV to watch a total of 827 cyclists from 58 countries competing at the highly anticipated Championships.