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Corruption, scandal, missing prize money, beauty, bravery, tragedy and of course, triumph have all been elements of past Tours de Langkawi, still one of the biggest races outside Europe. Though without doubt, “survival” has been a constant theme in each of those 12 editions, and survival is what brings us to Lucky #13 in the Chinese Year of the Rat.

A Spanish appeals court is set to consider the fate of the Operación Puerto doping scandal Friday in a decision that will have major implications for cycling’s fight to clean up the sport. Three judges in Madrid’s Audiencia Province are expected to consider whether to reopen the investigation or take no action and leave the case permanently closed. With the slow hands of Spanish justice, it’s unclear how soon a decision will be released.

Slipstream-Chipotle’s Magnus Bäckstedt has gotten back on his indoor trainer after suffering a broken collarbone at the Tour of Qatar. Meanwhile, BMC rider Steve Bovay had surgery Wednesday to repair damage from the same injury at the same race. Bäckstedt crashed on stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar, and flew home to the United Kingdom for surgery immediately thereafter. After having his collarbone bolted back together, Bäckstedt got back on the trainer Monday.

World four-cross champion Brian Lopes won the Men’s Open category at the January 20 Championship race of the 2007-08 Fresno Cyclocross Series at Woodward Park sponsored by Sportsmobile. It was the first time the 36-year-old Lopes had entered a cyclocross race.

Plans afoot for TransWales

President George W. Bush has asked the U.S. Senate to ratify an international treaty that would add further muscle to anti-doping efforts in sport. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Bush called on the Senate to quickly approve the International Convention Against Doping in Sport, an international treaty adopted by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2005.

Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) makes his season debut this weekend at the 13th GP Costa degli Etruschi as he faces an appeal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport next month over elevated levels of Salbutamol dating back to last year’s Giro d’Italia.

Reston, VA (February 1, 2008) - Following three successful years racing at the regional level, Hefler Performance Coaching (HPC) has expanded its team to compete in a full National racing calendar (NRC) for 2008. HPC is proud to introduce Altarum Institute as a new title sponsor for the NRC team. Formerly known as the HPC/LIST Women’s Cycling Team, HPC has been successful at the regional level producing the Mid Atlantic Best All Around Rider for two of the past three seasons. “We are extremely grateful to Altarum for their belief in our team” said Susan Hefler, Team Director.

Nine ProTour teams have demanded immediate talks with the organizers of cycling's three grand tours after the Giro d’Italia denied entry to four of their number. Though the 18 ProTour teams are supposed to be included in the season's major races, Astana, Team High Road, Bouygues Telecom and Crédit Agricole all were denied invitations to the Giro in the wake of a dispute between major race organizers and the UCI.

Coming off a stellar season that culminated in the prestigious 2007 USA CRITS Individual and Team Championship, the Toshiba-Santo Professional Cycling Team presented by Herbalife returns in 2008 with an enhanced program featuring new riders and a host of dynamic new partnerships. New to this year’s edition of this UCI Continental squad are: • Carlos Eduardo Alzate, Pan Am Pursuit Champion • Claudio Arone, 2007 winner of Uruguay’s 500 Miles of the North • John Durango, former Pan Am Games Madison and Team Pursuit Champion

Budding Belgian classics star Nick Nuyens says he’ll miss the steady presence of American Tyler Farrar as he enters the 2008 season. Farrar was one of Nuyens’ right-hand men at Cofidis last year as the Belgian moved into the role as team captain for the French team’s classics push. With Farrar donning argyle this season at Slipstream-Chipotle, Nuyens said the team will notice his absence.

Australia’s Anna Meares, Olympic champion in the 500-meter sprint at the 2004 games in Athens, miss her chance to defend her title after suffering a crash at the Los Angeles round of the 2007-08 UCI World Cup.

When you’re on top, there’s only one thing to do — do your best to stay there. It’s something the riders and staff of Health Net-Maxxis, the number one team in USA Cycling’s National Calendar Rankings for four years running, know all too well. Entering the 2008 season with a scaled-down roster means the team will be facing its biggest challenge yet as it tries to maintain a hold on that No. 1 position.

The injury report keeps growing for Slipstream-Chipotle early in the 2008 season. First it was Magnus Backstedt cracking his right clavicle in the Tour of Qatar last week. On Wednesday, Blake Caldwell went down in a crash in the opening stage of the Étoile de Bessèges in France to fracture his hip. The team is reporting he should be sidelined for about three weeks. Despite Caldwell’s bad luck, Slipstream-Chipotle snuck two riders into the top 10, with Mike Friedman taking ninth and Jason Donald slotting in for 10th.

The Trek Bicycle Store of Brooklyn will be hosting a visit by Gary Fisher in New York City on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The visit will take place at 7 to 10 pm at the store’s location, 1755 McDonald Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11230. Gary Fisher is considered by the cycling industry to be a pioneer in mountain biking and he will be premiering the Billy Savage documentary “Klunkerz” at the grand opening of the first Trek Concept Store in New York State.

Santa Barbara, California’s Adam Duvendeck turned heads with his eighth-place finish in the men’s sprint at the Los Angeles round of the World Cup, held January 17-20 in Carson City, California. The result stood as the top finish by an American male sprinter throughout the entire meet, and set the 26-year-old Duvendeck up as a strong candidate to represent the United States at the Beijing Games.

With speculation running high that the Tour de France will follow the lead taken by the Giro d’Italia and leave Astana sidelined for the 2008 edition, defending Tour champ Alberto Contador says he’s already making alternative plans. Contador, set to make his season debut Sunday at the Mallorca Challenge in Spain, said he would look toward other goals if Tour organizers overlook Astana when it issues invitations in the coming weeks.

The European stage-race calendar kicks off this week with the Étoile de Bessèges in France on Wednesday and the Mallorca Challenge in Spain on Sunday. Both races are attracting top fields as cycling rolls into a new season keen to push the doping scandals and controversies that have plagued the sport the past two years into the rear-view mirror. Scores of top French riders headline Besseges, which starts Wednedsay with a 154km circuit course in Le Grau-du-Roi, just east of Montpellier.

Reigning Olympic champion Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå, the most dominant woman on a mountain-bike from 2002-2006, has started on the long road back to her sport’s pinnacle after missing much of 2007 to a serious stomach infection. The Norwegian and her husband/trainer Kenneth spent much of January in Boulder, Colorado, visiting friends, meeting with doctors at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine attempting the first serious training sessions since June 2007.

The UCI has approved Team High Road's request to change its country of registration from Germany to the U.S. "The team is now registered as a U.S. team," team spokeswoman Kristy Scrymgeor told VeloNews. "So in effect, it is currently the only U.S. ProTour team." The team has officially moved its headquarters to San Luis Obispo, California, after Tuesday's UCI approval of a request by team director and owner Bob Stapleton.

Bike-tech wizard Sheldon Brown died of a heart attack on Sunday. He was 63. The longtime webmaster and tech guru for Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts, had suffered for some years with a mystery ailment that was finally diagnosed as primary progressive multiple sclerosis, which eventually took him off his two-wheelers and into the saddle of a recumbent trike. In typical fashion, Brown took the upbeat view of his illness, writing on one of his many websites that MS was “not so much a "tragedy" as a Really Major Inconvenience.”

Track cyclist Stephen Alfred has been handed a life-time ban from sport after refusing to submit to an out-of-competition doping test last November. The violation was Alfred’s third breach of anti-doping rules. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced the penalty on Tuesday, noting that the sanction will be enforced by USA Cycling and became effective on Monday.

After sweeping through the Tour of Qatar, “Tornado” Tom Boonen is setting his sights on the Tour of California. The 27-year-old said he’d be happy with a stage victory or two in his California adventure, because from here to April, it’s all about the spring classics.

Not surprisingly, Astana team brass have reacted with disappointment after being left out of 2008 Giro d’Italia. Astana was among four ProTour squads not issued invitations last week by Giro organizer RCS in a controversial decision that continues to ripple through the peloton. In a team communiqué, Astana general manager Johan Bruyneel said the team will not make a formal complaint over the snub.

Eight Active Spokes on a wheel with the coil springs that pull them back to the center. Notice that one weight is made up of three modular masses while the other seven are all made up of just two of the screw-together modular masses.

Before moving on to less important matters, I’d like to acknowledge the passing on Monday of Sheldon Brown, one of the giants of bicycle maintenance, technology and general bicycle mechanical understanding. He will be sorely missed, particularly for those seeking simple, straightforward answers to a vast array of bicycle-related questions. His white bearded visage with eagle-adorned helmet has long been the online face of Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Massachusetts.

If you look closely at the disc wheels on Astana’s time trial bikes, you may notice striations running from the hub to rim; much like those on a Lightweight Disc wheel. Well, there’s a reason for that. Despite the Bontrager branding, Astana is riding on Lightweight Disc wheels. Even though the wheel sports a large Bontrager logo, the wheel is actually the 850-gram DT Swiss equipped disc is made by Carbon Sports who sells the wheels under the name Lightweight.

Dorel Industries has bought Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, the corporation announced Monday. Dorel, headquartered in Montréal, owns Pacific Cycle, the parent company of Schwinn, GT and Mongoose. The purchase is reported as an all-cash transaction valued between $190 million and $200 million.

Heath Blackgrove (Toyota-United) and Janel Holcomb (Webcor Builders) won Saturday’s Boulevard Road Race in Crestwood, California. The eighth annual race was run by the University of California San Diego cycling team. The 90-mile men’s race was a sweep for the Toyota-United squad, which put Blackgrove on the top step of the podium followed by teammates Ben Day second and Jonnie Clarke third. Holcomb took the 67-mile women’s race ahead of Leah Guloien (CA Pools Racing) and Cara Gillis (Team Vegan).

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