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BILBAO, Spain (AFP) — When the Vuelta a España reaches Bilbao on Friday, the cycling-mad Basques will finally get to see the Vuelta in their own land after 33 years' absence.

"It's not over yet," said Sky sport director Servais Knaven. "We still have three stages to try to take it to Cobo. It won't be easy, but we're motivated to keep fighting. It's a grand tour. We are going to fight right to the end."

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PENA CABARGA, Spain (VN) — Only two HTC-Highroad riders remain without contracts as the team enters the final days of its last grand tour.

PENA CABARGA, Spain (VN) — Movistar lost three riders Wednesday as a stomach flu wiped out the team; meanwhile injury derailed Purito Rodrîguez in the final week of the Vuelta a España.

PENA CABARGA, Spain (VN) — There was a very tense moment about 500 meters from the finish line in Wednesday's 17th stage when it appeared Juanjo Cobo's dream Vuelta a España was turning into a nightmare.

Stage

• 1. Christopher FROOME, (GBR) Team Sky, in 4:52:38
• 2. Juan Jose COBO ACEBO, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 1
• 3. Bauke MOLLEMA, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 21
• 4. Daniel MARTIN, (IRL) Garmin-Cervelo, at 24

GC

• 1. Juan Jose COBO ACEBO, (Spain) Geox-Tmc, in 69:31:41
• 2. Christopher FROOME, (Great Britain) Team Sky, at 13
• 3. Bradley WIGGINS, (Great Britain) Team Sky, at 1:41
• 4. Bauke MOLLEMA, (Netherlands) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 2:05
• 5. Denis MENCHOV, (Russia) Geox-Tmc, at 3:48

ROME (AFP) - Former Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso has called for calm after he was slapped and insulted by separatists during the Giro di Padania (Tour of the Po Valley).

A round-up of recent transfer news

2011 Sunbrella Labor Day Omnium results

AUSTIN, Texas (VN) — With support staff sporting neon orange tank tops and muscle T’s, a race packet containing an assortment of costume mustaches, and a queen stage on the historic grounds of the Austin State Hospital (formally named the Texas Lunatic Asylum), the Tour of Austin, a three-day criterium series over Labor Day weekend, fully embraced the town’s official motto: Keep Austin Weird.

2011 Tour of Austin results

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HARO, Spain (VN) — Bjarne Riis says he's not worried about the fusion of RadioShack and Leopard-Trek for one simple reason: Alberto Contador.

The Green Mountain Stage Race beat the rain. Mostly.

Men's GC

• 1. Tom Zirbel, Jamis/sutter Home, in 5:15:40
• 2. Anders Newbury, Chipotle Development Team, at 0:00:54
• 3. Jamey Driscoll, Jamis/sutter Home, at 0:01:01
• 4. Derrick St John, Ride With Rendall, at 0:01:14
• 5. Josh Dillon, Bikereg.com / Cannondale, at 0:01:17

• 1. Véronique Fortin, Rocky Moutain-Desjardins Valeurs Mobilieres, in 6:42:00
• 2. Susan Palmer-Komar, P-K Express/hnz Strategic.com, at 0:00:46
• 3. Kacy Wander,, at 0:01:30
• 4. Rachel Warner, Missing Link Coaching/specialized, at 0:02:00
• 5. Fabienne Gerard, Crca/fuoriclasse Racing-Discover Chiropractic, at 0:02:11

Stage 16

• 1. Juan José HAEDO, (ARG) Saxobank-Sungard, in 4:41:56
• 2. Alessandro PETACCHI, (ITA) Lampre-Isd, at 0
• 3. Daniele BENNATI, (ITA) Leopard-Trek, at 0
• 4. Vicente REYNES MIMO, (ESP) Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 0
• 5. Leigh HOWARD, (AUS) HTC-Highroad, at 2

GC

• 1. Juan Jose COBO ACEBO, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, in 64:39:14
• 2. Christopher FROOME, (GBR) Team Sky, at 22
• 3. Bradley WIGGINS, (GBR) Team Sky, at 51
• 4. Bauke MOLLEMA, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:41
• 5. Maxime MONFORT, (BEL) Leopard-Trek, at 2:40

HARO, Spain (AFP) - Argentina's Juan Jose Haedo of the Saxo Bank team won the 16th stage of the Tour of Spain Tuesday while Spain's Juan Jose Cobo of Geox retained the leader's red jersey.

Lennard Zinn takes questions on headset wear, tall-bike headtube angles, 10-speed derailleurs, nitrogen in tires and more

Wilier takes an unusual approach to time trial bike design

Easton comes out with an affordable aluminum-rim tubeless road wheel. Plus some more new goodies.

LEON, Spain (VN) — Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins says Vuelta a España race leader Juanjo Cobo deserves a benefit of the doubt against insinuations that the Geox-TMC rider's Angliru performance might appear too good to believe.

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A look at the low, low gears riders used on the Vuelta's 15th stage

The French sports daily L'Equipe reported Monday that the team's financial backer, Luxembourg investor Flavio Becca, will announce later this month that the team will close at the end of this season.

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ROME (AFP) - An investigation into banned Italian cyclist Riccardo Riccò concluded that he did perform a blood transfusion on himself, the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper reported on Monday.

LEON, Spain (VN) — You'd think that one of the best young, emerging climbers in the peloton might love the 20-percent-plus grades of the Angliru, but Garmin-Cervélo climber Daniel Martin rode away unimpressed with Spain's hardest mountain.

Veteran climber Charlie Wegelius, 33, announced his final race as a pro will be at the Giro di Padania this week in Itlay.

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If you ask me who won the stage two days ago I cannot tell you. I remember who won yesterday, and I know what stage we are on, but that is about as far as my memory will serve me.

Tom Boonen's rough ride in the Vuelta a España got even rougher during Sunday's 15th stage to the notorious Angliru.

Graham Watson captures the action on the Angliru.

Dreams of overall victory at the Vuelta a España came crashing down for Team Sky under a lethal onslaught from Juanjo Cobo (Geox-TMC), who tore away from the tandem of Wiggins and Froome with 5km to go on the Angliru and turned a 55-second deficit into a 20-second lead.

Stage 15

• 1. Juan José Cobo, Geox-TMC, at 4:01:56
• 2. Wouter Poels, Vacansoleil-DCM, at 0:48
• 3. Denis Menchov, Geox-TMC, same time
• 4. Christopher Froome, Team Sky, s.t.
• 5. Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky, at 1:21

GC

• 1. Juan José Cobo, Geox-TMC, at 59:57:16
• 2. Christopher Froome, Team Sky, at 20
• 3. Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky, at 46
• 4. Bauke Mollema, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:36
• 5. Maxime Monfort, Leopard-Trek, at 2:37

Leopard-Trek’s Andy Schleck announced Sunday morning that he would not be able to contest next week’s Grands Prix Cyclistes of Québec and Montréal, due to complications from an infected wisdom tooth.

Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) climbed to the overall lead in the Vuelta a España on Sunday, conquering the decisive Angliru stage and leaving red jersey Bradley Wiggins (Sky) struggling on the steeps.

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On paper, Angliru favors Christopher Froome over Bradley Wiggins. It will be interesting to see how Sky plays it out once the race is under way. Will Team Sky put the brakes on Froome if he's flying again and Wiggins is just barely hanging on?

For Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervélo) and Matthew Busche (RadioShack), making it to the finish line in Spain's capital on September 11 would mean more than a personal milestone; it would prove that both have the grit to not only finish their grand-tour debuts, but do so against a brutal course in harsh conditions.

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Karsten Kroon (BMC) and Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Cervélo) were both involved in a heavy crash on the descent off the Cat. 2 Puerto de Ventana in Saturday's 14th stage at the Vuelta a España.

Graham Watson shoots stage 14 of the 2011 Vuelta a España.

Rein Taaramae, who's been close to big wins since turning pro in 2008, proved Saturday that youthful exuberance sometimes pays off. He bravely fought all the way to the line, losing David de la Fuente (Geox-TMC) in the final kilometers to solo home for the biggest win of his young, but promising career.

For Quick Step's Tom Boonen, who only returned to racing at the Tour of Poland after crashing out of the 2011 Tour with a concussion, getting through the Vuelta is essential for him to have any chance of winning the rainbow jersey a second time.

Stage 14

• 1. Rein Taaramae, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, 4:39:01
• 2. Juan José Cobo, Geox-TMC, at 0:25
• 3. Fuente David De La, Geox-TMC, at 0:29
• 4. Wouter Poels, Vacansoleil-DCM, at 0:40
• 5. Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky, at 0:45

GC

• 1. Bradley Wiggins, Team Sky, 55:54:45
• 2. Christopher Froome, Team Sky, at 0:07
• 3. Bauke Mollema, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 0:36
• 4. Juan José Cobo, Geox-TMC, at 0:55
• 5. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard-Trek, at 0:58

World cycling chiefs confirmed Saturday that the 18 WorldTour leading teams will compete at the inaugural Tour of Beijing in October after a "truce" had been called amid threat of a boycott.

Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) rode alone to victory in stage 14 of the Vuelta a España as race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and teammate Christopher Froome pummeled the other GC favorites on the final climb.

Laura Van Gilder and newly minted USPRO criterium champion Eric Young opened their accounts in the THF Realty Gateway Cup on a steamy Friday night in St. Louis, winning the Tour de Lafayette criterium.

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PONFERRADA, Spain (VN) - Taylor Phinney's grand tour debut ended Friday on the steep, punishing roads of western Spain in the 13th stage of the Vuelta a España.

Fulgsang said Leopard-Trek riders have heard nothing from team staff about an alleged merger

Stage

• 1. Michael ALBASINI, (SUI) HTC-Highroad, in 4:19:39
• 2. Eros CAPECCHI, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0
• 3. Daniel MORENO FERNANDEZ, (ESP) Team Katusha, at 0
• 4. David DE LA FUENTE RASILLA, (ESP) Geox-Tmc, at 0
• 5. Nicolas ROCHE, (IRL) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 0

• 1. Bradley Wiggins, (GBR) Team Sky, in 51:14:59
• 2. Vincenzo NIBALI, (ITA) Liquigas-Cannondale, at 4
• 3. Christopher FROOME, (GBR) Team Sky, at 7
• 4. Fredrik KESSIAKOFF, (SWE) Astana, at 9
• 5. Jakob FUGLSANG, (DEN) Leopard-Trek, at 19

A look at three unusual new clothing items from Castelli

Nick Legan takes a look at Michelin's long-awaited Pro4 clincher

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It’s not often that a non-NRC event gets top billing in this column, but with Hurricane Irene ravaging the Northeast, the Green Mountain Stage Race is going on, albeit with changes this weekend. Further south, the National Racing Calendar rolls toward its October conclusion with the Labor Day Omnium in Anderson, South Carolina.

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