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Magnus Bäckstedt (Slipstream-Chipotle) promises he will be racing the northern classics despite snapping his right collarbone in a high-speed crash late in Thursday’s fifth stage at the 7th Tour of Qatar. Bäckstedt , who celebrated his 33rd birthday on Wednesday, hit the deck hard after a QuickStep rider swept into his front wheel with 500m to go. Despite the setback, Bäckstedt vows to lead the Slipstream-Chipotle team into Paris-Roubaix and other spring classics.

The Astana team camp isn’t Johan Bruyneel’s only project going on this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The recently retitled Johan Bruyneel Cycling Academy is also hosting 16 young riders in the same hotel as the ProTour squad. Bernard Moerman has run the operation for years under the banner of the Cycling Center with headquarters in his home of Oostkamp, Belgium, and more recently with the Albuquerque satellite program.

When Amgen Tour of California organizer AEG announced a series of strict anti-doping measures for the 2008 event last week, the initiative was hailed as a collaborative effort of riders, teams, sponsors, drug-testing agencies and national and international governing bodies. The move came after a tough year for cycling and the revelation that controls at the 2007 edition of the race had been relatively narrow, not even involving tests for EPO. Organizers insisted 2008 would be different.

Twice up this hill, James Watson, just a little farther to, to complete the 36 mile Wichita Cyclefest RR.

Kansas State Crit 04 10-12 age

Before your thoughts turn to experimentation with new sports nutrition products and carbo-loading strategies that support your training and racing efforts, let’s take a look at some predicted food and nutrition trends for 2008. In the coming months you can expect to see in a somewhat contradictory fashion both the promotion of simple unprocessed whole foods and nutrient touting functional foods, both valued for their roles in maintaining good health, as well as a few other nutrition twists. Earth friendly and ethical eating

Electromuscle Stimulation Specialist Contour Technology Joins Sponsor Lineup of Health and Wellness Leaders Minneapolis, Minn., January 29, 2008 – Jonas Carney's sophomore squad, Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast adds a major new partner this week, continuing to build what is perhaps the most impressive roster of leading health and wellness sponsors on the North American Circuit. Minneapolis based electromuscle stimulation (eStim) leader Contour Technology joins the line up effective immediately.

Maybe Tom Boonen is mortal after all. After winning the opening two stages of the 7th edition of the Tour of Qatar (three if you count Sunday’s opening’s time trial), Boonen was relegated to second in Wednesday’s 131.5km fourth stage when a brisk wind and a surprisingly strong Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) took him down a notch.

Astana for 2008 is a stage racing squad. The team’s three headlining riders who have finished on the Tour podium — each of whom are confident they can win in Paris in 2008 — met to ride together in Astana colors for the first time this week at training camp in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The three men of course are Spain’s 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador, the United States’ Levi Leipheimer (3rd in 2007) and Germany’s Andreas Klöden (2nd in 2006 after Landis’ exclusion, 2nd overall in 2004). Although orchestrated by eight-time Tour de France winning directeur sportif

Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball named the upstart squad’s long team for the Amgen Tour of California and listed Kayle Leogrande, the rider said to be suing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, VeloNews learned Monday.

Eddy Merckx is a living legend, but don’t ask many Qataris to point him out in a crowd. The 62-year-old Belgian can’t walk unnoticed down any street in Europe, but put the Cannibal in front of a crowd during the Tour of Qatar, and most locals couldn’t tell you who won the most men’s races in cycling’s history. Merckx is in Qatar this week acting as a consultant and advisor for the seventh edition of a race that he was instrumental in creating.

(BOULDER, CO)— CU Cycling will host a filmmaker Scott Coady for the world premier of his new film Tour Baby Deux!, a behind the scenes look at the 2005 Tour de France and Lance Armstrong’s final victory. The evening will also feature a silent auction and raffle in what is sure to be a fun filled evening to benefit the Davis Phinney Foundation, whose mission is to improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease, and Collegiate Cycling. This event will take place on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at Macky Auditorium, University of Colorado at University Ave. at 17th Street.

Despite spills and splits in the bunch, Tom Boonen (QuickStep) just keeps stacking up victories at the Tour of Qatar. The Belgian bomber won for the second day in a row despite getting caught up behind a late-stage crash that pushed the race leader into a second group with about 40km to go in Wednesday’s jittery 147.5 third stage. When the group came back together, QuickStep drove it home to deliver Boonen to the line in winning fashion in what’s his 13th career Tour of Qatar stage win

Dirk Friel holding the disc wheel with three Active Spokes on which he set one of the only four sub-22-minute times in the local Boulder time trial series

The first day of the second annual Serotta Science of Cycling Symposium offered participants some welcome opportunities to take on a few sacred cows of the sport.

Having a group to head out with each morning at our team training camp in Mallorca last week was a change after having spent six winter weeks either riding alone or with just one other rider.

SAN CARLOS, Calif. - Jan. 28, 2008 - Ritchey Design today announced a voluntary recall of a limited number of WCS and PRO model non-drive side crank arms (left arm) and the WCS carbon one-bolt seatposts due to potential safety issues. Left Arm WCS and Pro Model Cranksets

A storm blew across the Qatari desert Monday, but it wasn’t one of the sirocco winds that can scour this flat desert wasteland. Instead, it came in the form of a super-motivated Quick Step team that left the Tour of Qatar peloton flayed like a lonely flag tattered in the wind. Coming a day after its team time trial victory, QuickStep didn’t miss a step and hammered through stiff crosswinds in Monday’s 137.5km second stage from Al Zubarah to the Doha Golf Club to shatter the race into pieces.

Doping scandals aside, the Tour de France is doing very well, merci beaucoup. Earlier this month, the French stage race signed a contract extension through 2013 with French public television worth a reported 23 million euros per year (about $34 million). Despite back-to-back editions wracked by doping scandals, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme told VeloNews would-be host cities are clamoring to be a part of cycling’s marquee race.

High Road's Andre Greipel takes another stage and the overall lead of the 2008 Tour Down Under

Slipstream-Chipotle came within two seconds of a Hollywood ending in Sunday’s opening team time trial at the seventh Tour of Qatar in the first race of what will be an ambitious 2008 campaign. Anchored by big engines Magnus Backstedt and David Millar, Australia’s Chris Sutton crossed the line first for the argyle gang in 6 minutes, 37 seconds, and looked to have the win in the bag with only defending champion Quick Step still on the short but fast 6km out-and-back course along Doha’s palm-lined corniche.

The likelihood of a Tour de France bid for Slipstream-Chipotle was already looking good before Sunday’s impressive second-place showing in the opening team time trial at the Tour of Qatar. With Tour de France boss Christian Prudhomme quietly looking on, the team missed victory by just two seconds to powerhouse Quick Step to show Tour brass and everyone else that the team has the on-bike brawn to back up its mantra of clean racing.

Never did the man who came to the 2008 Tour Down Under with aspirations of winning a sprint or two believe it was possible to win the race overall. But on a picture-perfect Sunday in Adelaide, that's exactly what happened to Andre Greipel.