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Australia's Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor) saw his bid for glory falter as a fast-finishing Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Monday. Lapthorne was part of a four-man breakaway that dominated the 153km Scottish border stage between Peebles and Gretna Green but was caught with 15km from the finish.

Race leader Alejandro Valverde and his Caisse d’Epargne team declared an unofficial rest day as Lars Boom (Rabobank) won stage 15 out of a 13-rider break. Boom attacked a large breakaway on the second of two trips up the Category 2 Alto de San Jeronimo and soloed in for the victory more than 90 seconds ahead of David Herrero (Xacobeo Galicia) with Dominik Roels (Milram) third. "This is something special and important because it is a major tour," Boom said.

Cycling's world governing body on Monday suspended Italian Maurizio Biondo (Ceramica Flaminia) after a Swiss lab reported that he had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). Biondo won the time trial at last month's Tour of Denmark, where he finished second overall.

Will there be a Tour of Missouri in 2010 and beyond? State funding for the 3-year-old race is in jeopardy as Missouri struggles with shrinking tax revenues, making it increasingly likely that a private title sponsor will have to step in to augment the state tourism board’s support. "We'd love to get the title sponsor who comes in with the big bucks ... " Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told VeloNews in front of the state Capitol in Jefferson City.

Those who know just call it the "Eastside." For those who need a hint, well, do Mammoth Lakes or the Sierra Nevada ring a bell?

Three Ukrainian riders, who participated in the Tour de l'Avenir, have been indicted for possession and use of doping products a court official in Besan reported on Monday. The three were arrested Saturday and later acknowledged having used seized equipment for blood transfusions, said deputy prosecutor Margaret Parietti. The three were indicted on Sunday evening and have been released on bail. The riders were competing in the Tour de l'Avenir, a French stage race that features young riders and is contested by national teams.

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David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) won the 2009 Tour of Missouri on Sunday as Canadian Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) sprinted to victory in the final stage, a hilly 72.3-mile circuit race in Kansas City. It was the first stage race title in Zabriskie's nine years as a pro. And it didn't come easily for him or his team. Garmin was already a man down (due to Christian Vande Velde's broken hand from a stage 1 crash) when Zabriskie donned the yellow jersey after the stage 5 time trial.

Yuri Metlushenko never stuck his nose in the breeze on Sunday — until the 200 meters when it mattered the most. The powerful Ukrainian sprinter capped a perfect weekend for his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates team, winning his second consecutive Univest Criterium in a field sprint. With the victory, Amore and Vita completed a sweep of the Univest Grand Prix’s three events.

Victory follows his U-23 World Championship win in Australia. Austria's Osl takes top spot in women's cross-country.

Damiano Cunego’s second stage victory at this year’s Vuelta a España shows he’ll be one of the riders to beat at the world championships later this month at Mendrisio. His dramatic win up the steep La Pandera climb ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) only fuels his ambitions ahead of the worlds. “The worlds is the top goal for me and the Vuelta is ideal preparation,” Cunego said. “These victories at the Vuelta confirm that I am enjoying good form right now and I will carry that into the worlds.”

American Tejay van Garderen wrapped up an excellent Tour de l’Avenir with second place overall in the nine-stage U23 race across northern France. Despite a challenging circuit in Besançon in Sunday’s final stage, there was no shaking race winner Romain Sicard (France A). Dutch rider Van Winden won the stage. Van Garderen’s second overall was the best U.S. result at the prestigious Avenir race since Kevin Livingston was second to Frenchman Laurent Roux in 1997.

Dutch rider Marianne Vos clinched the overall title in the women’s World Cup after finishing sixth in the season finale at the Tour de Nuremberg. Compatriot Kirsten Wild won the sprint and Vos only needed to finish with the favorites to lock up her second World Cup crown of her career. The 26-year-old Wild won the 129km race ahead of Rochelle Gilmore, with Germany’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg crossing the line third. Emma Johannson was the only threatening rider to Vos, but couldn’t get ahead of Vos and crossed the line 13th to finish second overall in World Cup points.

Australia's Chris Sutton surrendered the yellow jersey at the end of the second stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday but still insisted his weekend could not have gone any better. The Garmin-Slipstream rider followed-up his first stage win with ninth place on day two from Darlington to Gateshead as Dutchman Kai Reus (Rabobank), a former junior world champion, won his first stage since a 2007 crash that left him in a coma. Reus' comfortable nine-second margin of victory was enough to earn him yellow and Sydney's Sutton admitted his opening exploits in York had taken their toll.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre) collected his second win of the 2009 Vuelta a España on Sunday atop the Alto Sierra de la Pandera. Cunego jumped away from a crumbling nine-man break to climb the Pandera alone to victory as the battle for the overall was fought behind him. Fellow breakaway Jacob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) hung on for second at 2:23, with a resurgent Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) third at 3:08.

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A teammate might have been wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, but Volodymyr Starchyk knew he was the strongest at the Univest Grand Prix on Saturday. The Ukrainian attacked a leading group of six — including his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates teammate, German Philipp Mamos — on the last of 10 three-mile finishing circuits, then hung on to take the race victory and the overall title in the two-day UCI event.