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• 1. Thomas De Gendt, Vacansoleil-Dcm, 154.5km in 4:05:06t
• 2. Jérémy Roy, Fdj, same time
• 3. Heinrich Haussler, Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.
• 4. Peter Sagan, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 5. Gregory Henderson, Sky, s.t.

Stage 3

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp), Saxobank-Sungard, 14:10
• 2. Jerome Coppel (Fra), Saur-Sojasun, at 0:08
• 3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Geox-TMC, at 0:12
• 4. Alex Dowsett (Gbr), Team Sky, at 0:19
• 5. Vasili Kiryienka (Blr), Movistar, at 0:26

Final overall

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp), Saxobank-Sungard, 9:27:18
• 2. Jerome Coppel (Fra), Saur-Sojasun, at 0:11
• 3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Geox-TMC, at 0:17
• 4. Wouter Poels (Ned), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 1:46
• 5. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col), at 1:47

Alberto Contador calls the Giro d’Italia his first major goal of the season as he waits to learn whether he'll be able to try for a fourth Tour de France title July 2-24.

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Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (HTC-Highroad) wins stage three of the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic as Alison Starnes (Peanut Butter & Co.) holds the overall lead.

Stage 3

• 1. Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, Team HTC-Highroad, 1:15:51
• 2. Coryn Rivera, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, same time
• 3. Maria Schnider Pascale, Red Racing, at 0:01
• 4. Liza Rachetto, Primal-Map My Ride, s.t.
• 5. Lauren Tamayo, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, s.t.

Overall standings

• 1. Alison Starnes, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, 4.28:04
• 2. Maria Schnider Pascale, Red Racing, at 1:36
• 3. Kristin McGrath, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, at 1:38
• 4. Molly Van Houweling, Metromint Cycling, at 2:18
• 5. Amanda Miller, Team HTC-Highroad, at 2:19

Rocky Mountain Bicycles is recalling about 325 'cross bikes because the steerer tube can fail.

HTC-Highroad's John Degenkolb sprints to victory in stage one of the Three Days of West Flanders as Jesse Sergent and two RadioShack teammates top the overall standings.

Stage 1

• 1. John Degenkolb (Ger), HTC-Highroad, 3:53:24
• 2. Robert Wagner (Ger), Leopard-Trek, s.t.
• 3. Jens Keukeleire (Bel), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, s.t.
• 4. Maxime Vantomme (Bel), Team Katusha, s.t.
• 5. Alexander Porsev (Rus), Team Katusha, s.t.

Overall standings

• 1. Jesse Sergent (Nzl), Team RadioShack, 4:01:38
• 2. Sébastien Rosseler (Bel), Team RadioShack, at 0:10
• 3. Sam Bewley (Nzl), Team RadioShack, at 0:10
• 4. Svein Tuft (Can), Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 0:10
• 5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), Team RadioShack, at 0:11

The UCI and the French anti-doping agency are working together on this year's Paris-Nice after two years of squabbling.

Saxo Bank-Sungard boss Bjarne Riis blasts UCI leadership over what he called an arbitrary ban on race radio, saying the cycling governing body is out of touch with the elite level of the sport.

• 1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, 4:44:26
• 2. Alessandro Ballan (Ita), BMC Racing Team, s.t.
• 3. Damiano Cunego (Ita), Lampre-ISD, s.t.
• 4. Jure Kocjan (Slo), Team Type 1, s.t.
• 5. Fabian Cancellara (Sui), Leopard-Trek, s.t.

Stage 2:

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp) Saxobank-Sungard, in 4:46:57
• 2. Denis Menchov (Rus), Geoxat 0:05
• 3. Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun, at 0:05
• 4. Fabio Andres Duarte Arevalo (Col), Geox at 0:25
• 5. Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 0:27

Alberto Contador wins stage 2 in Murcia and pulls on a leader's jersey for the first time since the 2010 Tour de France.

Philippe Gilbert (Omega-Lotto) delivered a thrilling victory at the Monte Paschi-Strade Bianche race in Italy on Saturday.

Tony Martin and Peter Sagan will be among the in-form riders looking to capitalize on the relative lack of Spanish talent when Paris-Nice kicks off on Sunday.

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The UCI will decide later this month whether to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over Spanish authorities' decision not to press charges against Alberto Contador.

Early Friday amidst frigid temperatures, cyclocross star Tim Johnson and company departed from Boston’s City Hall for a 5-day marathon ride to Washington D.C. leading up to the 2011 National Bike Summit.

PARIS (AFP) — Britain's Mark Cavendish has been given a potential boost by organisers of the Tour de France after they announced changes Friday to the rules concerning the race's points competition.

Prologue

• 1. Jesse Sergent (Nzl), Team RadioShack, 8:14
• 2. Sébastien Rosseler (Bel), Team RadioShack, at 0:10
• 3. Sam Bewley (Nzl), Team RadioShack, at 0:10
• 4. Svein Tuft (Can), Spidertech-Planet Energy, at 0:10
• 5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), Team RadioShack, at 0:11

RadioShack sweeps the podium in Friday’s prologue opener at the Three Days of West Flanders.

AIGCP press release on radio ban, March 4, 2011

• 1. Michael Matthews (Aus), Rabobank
• 2. Russell Downing (Gbr), Sky, at 0:00
• 3. Davide Appollonio (Ita), Sky, at 0:00
• 4. Aitor Galdos Alonso (Esp), Caja Rural, at 0:00
• 5. Martin Reimer (Ger), Skil-Shimano, at 0:00

SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR, Spain (VN) – Carlos Sastre stepped off the Geox-TMC bus Friday morning to be welcomed by a phalanx of cameras and fans for the 2008 Tour de France champion’s first race of the season.

SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR, Spain (VN) – Alberto Contador started Friday’s first stage at the Vuelta a Murcia with modest hopes of winning on the bike while his legal team is expanding for the looming battle off the bike.

Ina Yoko-Teutenberg turned pro with Red Bull Frankfurt in 2000, 16 years after Alexi Grewal won his stunning gold medal in the Olympic road race in Los Angeles and left the amateur ranks. Both are in Merced, California, this week for the Merco Cycling Classic.

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Women's stage 1

• 1. Amanda Miller, Team HTC-Highroad, at 02:45:31.00
• 2. Flavia Oliveira, Wells Fargo Racing, at 02:45:33.00
• 3. Alison Starnes, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, at 02:45:33.00
• 4. Megan Guarnier, Team Tibco/to The Top, at 02:45:33.00
• 5. Tayler Wiles, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty12, at 02:45:38.00

Amanda Miller is on a hot streak. The new HTC-Highroad rider scored her second win in a week Thursday in stage 1 of the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic near Merced, California. A half hour later, Robert Britton led a Bissell podium sweep in the men’s race.

March 6, stage 1 Houdan - Houdan 154.5 km March 7, stage 2 Montfort-l'Amaury - Amilly 198.5 km March 8, stage 3 Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire - Nuits-Saint-Georges 202.5 km March 9, stage 4 Crêches-sur-Saône - Belleville 191.0 km March 10, stage 5 Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise - Vernoux-en-Vivarais 194.0 km March 11, stage 6 Rognes - Aix-en-Provence 27.0 km (ITT) March 12, stage 7 Brignoles - Biot 215.5 km March 13, stage 8 Nice - Nice 124.0 km

Team RadioShack on Thursday announced its teams for the Three Days of West Flanders (March 4-6) and Paris-Nice (March 6-13).

Get some winter time inspiration in the Follow Me DVD. And check out the trailer...

• 2010 Alberto Contador
• 2009 Luis Leon Sanchez
• 2008 Davide Rebellin
• 2007 Alberto Contador
• 2006 Floyd Landis
• 2005 Bobby Julich
• ...

• 1. Jose Rodolfo SERPA PEREZ, (COL) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, in 4:47:20
• 2. Pavel BRUTT, (RUS) Team Katusha, at 0
• 3. Nicki SÖRENSEN, (DEN) SaxoBank-Sungard, at 5
• 4. Maciej PATERSKI, (POL) Liquigas-Doimo, at 8
• 5. Simon SPILAK, (SLO) Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 8

Must Reads: Phil Anderson says Evans' plan is risky, Versus and Universal update schedules

Brent Bookwalter will enter Paris-Nice Sunday as a potential leader for his BMC Racing squad. American teammate Taylor Phinney will miss his planned start after crashing in training a week ago.

Ever heard of Shimano Capreo? If not, read on to learn more…

Press Release: UCI President meets with AIGCP delegation

UCI president Pat McQuaid met with a delegation from the cycling teams association (AIGCP) on Thursday in Switzerland to discuss the race radio ban.

With his first road race for almost two decades behind him, Alexi Grewal can truthfully say that life begins at 50 — well, life as a racing cyclist aiming to return to the top.

The varying roles for race follow cars, pros changing their own tubies, and Nick's favorite workstand, revealed.

MURCIA, Spain (VN) – Alberto Contador headlines the field at the three-day Vuelta a Murcia in what will be his second race since he was cleared by the Spanish cycling federation to return to racing.

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• 1. Dominic Klemme (Ger), Leopard-Trek, In 4:43:44
• 2. Kevin Ista (Bel), Cofidis, at 8
• 3. Robert Wagner (Ger), Leopard-Trek, at 9
• 4. Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel), Quick Step, at 9
• 5. Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr), Française Des Jeux, at 9

Team RadioShack on Wednesday announced its teams for the Three Days of West Flanders (March 4-6) and Paris-Nice (March 6-13)

The organizer of the Quebec and Montreal one-day ProTour races is considering a stage race for the Boston area in 2012, AFP has learned.

Kenda-Geargrinder is set to become Kenda-5-hour Energy presented by Geargrinder with the announcement of the energy drink as a co-title sponsor Wednesday. General manager Chad Thompson said that the non-industry backing is a boon to his squad and its existing sponsors and that, yes, riders will be drinking from those tiny bottles on the road.

A few years from now, the team bus will be old news, and I’ll be calling shots in races. For now, allow me to share the new, the exciting, the hard, and behind the scene curiosities of this sport’s top level.

Hesjedal racing ‘white roads,’ then catching flight to start Paris-Nice next day

MADRID, Spain (AFP) - Tour de France winner Alberto Contador in an interview published Wednesday vowed to fight any attempt to re-impose doping sanctions.

Cav on hometown fame, Brazilian driver charged

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Cadel Evans and George Hincapie get their seasons started this week in Italy. The BMC Racing veterans each delayed the starts to their 2011 campaigns to take advantage of warm weather training and remain fresh for midseason objectives.

UCI president Pat McQuaid will meet with representatives from the professional teams association Thursday to discuss the race radio ban, the association announced Tuesday.

Though Mark Cavendish has been relatively quiet so far this season, HTC-Highroad brass is confident that their ace sprinter is poised for a brilliant season.

New cyclocross and road gear from the component giant

Hutchinson explains why Lance's tires were probably UCI-compliant and Lennard answers more questions about stack-and-reach, Di2 brakes and more

Arriagada tested positive during the Tour of Chile, a race he has won three times, in February. According to press reports the 35-year-old's sample tested positive for anabolic steroids. "The federation told me the news and now I have to discuss it with my lawyers," Arriagada told the website of Chilean daily El Mercurio from the Dominican Republic. He will be returning immediately "to undergo the necessary tests and prove my innocence," he added. Arriagada won three of the 10 stages on the last edition of the Tour of Chile and is a four-time national time trial champion.

Coach Neal Henderson answers a reader who wonders if, in the age of wattage meters, training by heart rate still makes sense.

No fewer than nine defending champions will line up for Australia at the world track cycling championships later this month in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Cycling Australia announced Tuesday.

Engin's green 29er features gorgeous paint, a pressfit BB30 with a Specialized crank, chainstay mounted rear caliper and matching seat post and stem.

Alberto Contador has reconfirmed he will make a run at the Giro d'Italia and is leaving the Tour de France in a wait-and-see posture for the time being.

Test pilot Zach White was chuckling while on a muddy ride? Were his tires that funny?