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Nino Schurter and Swiss teammate Florian Vogel work together to keep Julien Absalon in second place at the mountain bike World Championships in Canberra, Australia. Canada's Geoff Kabush and the USA's Todd Wells finish in top 10. Complete Results

Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) proved he’s on track to add another gold medal to his growing collection with another superb time trial victory Saturday in the rain in Valencia. With the world championships on home roads less than three weeks away, the big Swiss time machine slogged through a rain-slickened course to claim his second win in a week at the Vuelta a España and regain the golden race leader’s jersey.

Editor's note: For detailed reports on the cross-country events, including exclusive interviews with the Americans and other racers, check out singletrack.com. Swiss Nino Schurter upstaged four-time world and reigning Olympic champion Julien Absalon of France to win the world cross-country championship. American Willow Koerber finished third in the women's event, behind Russian winner Irina Kalentieva and Lene Byberg of Norway.

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This week the Danish newspaper / Web site Ekstra Bladetran published an article in which physiologist Jakob Mørkeberg examined Lance Armstrong's Tour de France blood samples and said they might indicate a blood doping program.

29er frames, wheel and tire technology has evolved significantly over the last few years and are key in allowing top racers win big races on big wheels. There is now very little disadvantage — in terms of weight and tire technology — associated with 29ers.

Tyler Hamilton's attorney, Chris Manderson, issued the following statement on Friday, in response to a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency to withdraw its appeal of the eight-year suspension of the former Rock Racing rider. - Editor

Using equipment readily available on the market — Garmin's 705 GPS unit and a PowerTap Disc hub — testers are able to compare what it takes to propel big- and small-wheeled mountain bikes.

Although his team didn’t walk away with a stars-and-stripes jersey for its efforts, Kelly Benefit Strategies director Jonas Carney feels his squad was collectively the strongest across August’s national criterium, time trial and road championships. It’s an biased opinion, to be sure, but results sheets don’t lie.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has withdrawn its appeal of the eight-year suspension of former Rock Racing rider Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton tested positive for testosterone or its precursors in February. He later acknowledged the positive test, declined to ask for further confirmation of the result and announced publicly that he had taken DHEA as self-medication for depression.

Astana’s Levi Leipheimer broke his wrist during this year’s Tour de France, and returned to his home in California to recover. He was soon back on the bike training — although it was often the time trial bike so he wouldn’t stress his wrist. Now, the man who took third at the 2007 Tour de France prepares to return to racing at the Tour of Missouri, which he last raced in 2007. VeloNews caught up with him to get his thoughts on the 2009 edition. VeloNews: 2008 Tour of Missouri winner Christian Vande Velde says you are the big favorite.

Without a doubt, the cycling industry brings its “A” game to Eurobike in Freidrichshafen, Germany, each year. While the week-long Interbike show represents the American trade show scene, Eurobike elevates the entire game with larger booths, larger halls, and larger crowds that have no problem filling vast aisles. It's a bonanza for bike tech hounds sniffing out new and exotic stuff.

Beloki plots his own comeback

The strongest field to line up on American soil since February’s Amgen Tour of California will roll off Monday afternoon in St. Louis on stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri. Tour de France stars Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Christian Vande Velde, Thor Hushovd, George Hincapie, Jens Voigt and many others will be among those shooting for stage wins or the overall in the seven-day race.

They wanted the win on home roads, but Dutch-backed Vacansoleil are still tickled pink to have a stage victory at the Vuelta a España from Slovenian ace Borut Bozic in Friday’s 175.8km wild ride into Xátiva in the sixth stage. With temperatures pushing 100F, the 28-year-old unleashed a long sprint to upset the favorites and give his underdog team a huge boost in its quest to earn an at-large bid to next year’s Tour de France, which, like this year’s Vuelta, also starts in Holland.

Australians Jared Graves and Caroline Buchanan claimed a golden double in the four-cross events at the UCI world mountain bike championships in Canberra, Australia Friday. Americans Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl took silver and bronze, respectively, in the women's four-cross behind Buchanan. Graves and Buchanan won Australia's first medals of the championships after each went through the night session undefeated before holding firm in the medal round to claim gold at Stromlo Forest Park.

Aussies grab gold in men's and women's 4X. Americans Jill Kinter and Melissa Buhl pick up silver and bronze. U23 cross-country favorite Burry Sanders takes home rainbow jersey.

The Americans bring a highly competitive team to the 46th Tour de l’Avenir, which clicks into gear Saturday in northern France in one of the most important U-23 races of the season. The preliminary start list reveals an impressive lineup of emerging American talent, with Tejay van Garderen, Peter Stetina, Alex Howes, Daniel Holloway, Kirk Carlsen and Chris Barton leading for the Stars ‘n’ Stripes as 18 national teams line up for the race. Chris Butler and Bjorn Selander are listed as replacements.

Eurobike 2009 is as big as ever. Occupying more than ten huge halls, the show dwarfs almost anything in the industry for size, scope, and attendance. Many European brands produce goods not even distributed in the United States, so for now we’ll focus on what looks good, what’s new, and what could be hot for 2010.

Fuji

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Singletrack.com's Zack Vestal made the long journey to Friedrichshafen, Germany to report from Eurobike. This is his first dispatch from Euro-Land. Take a look at what's hot. And keep coming back, because Zack is working overtime over there.

Mavic's parent company is exploring selling off the bike component brand as it struggles with manufacturing capacity and a 15 percent sales decline in the first half of this year. Amer Sports, which also owns the sports brands Salomon, Wilson, Precor, Atomic, Suunto, and Arc'teryx, said this week it is looking at ways to refocus its attention, and that may include selling off the wheel and component maker.

Last year's women's criterium held prior to the start of the Tour of Missouri has expanded this year to a four-race women's criterium series in the days leading up the men's stage race. The final event in the series, in fact, finishes on the start line of the Tour of Missouri's first stage.