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Team Sky will keep three of its most promising riders in-house, announcing Thursday that it has extended the contracts of Ian Stannard, Ben Swift and Peter Kennaugh going into the 2012 season.

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The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) announced Wednesday that cyclist Arnaud Papillon has received a two-year sanction for the use of erythropoietin (EPO) during the Canadian Road Championships.

Cadel Evans says his race schedule will remain largely unchanged, with a focus on one-week stage races and the Ardennes classics for early season goals before reloading with a likely start at the Dauphiné ahead of the Tour.

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The Nature Valley Grand Prix is hoping to shake up the men’s stage race in 2012 by reducing team sizes to just six riders. Organizers announced the change Tuesday.

Returning to a formal evening presentation format it has used in years past, the Garmin-Cervélo WorldTour team will unveil its 2012 squad next month in Boulder, Colorado, the city where the team started in 2003.

Lennard answers some less frequently asked questions on fixie chain tension and spoke-thread myths

PARIS (VN) — Alberto Contador was doubly optimistic Tuesday after getting a glimpse of what's waiting for the peloton in next year's Tour de France.

" ... Like mystical mirages in a city congested with towers, the mountains appeared through the thick smog as we reached the outer limits of Beijing. The landscape was completely foreign to most of us. But we swiftly settled into a routine we know: the race."

Another prominent U.S. masters racer has tested positive for a banned substance and accepted a sanction from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Nicholas Brandt-Sorensen (Sho-air-Rock ‘n Road), the 2011 national road champion for men 30-34, has informed VeloNews in a fax that he tested positive at nationals in September.

PARIS (AFP) - Defending champion Cadel Evans was cautiously optimistic over his chances of defending the Tour de France yellow jersey in 2012 after the race route was unveiled here on Tuesday.

PARIS, Oct 18, 2011 (AFP) - Route for the 2012 Tour de France confirmed by organizers on Tuesday.

MELBOURNE, Australia (VN) — He may not have raced as much as he’d like to this season, but Cameron Meyer says he’s parting ways with his incumbent employer, Garmin-Cervélo team manager Jonathan Vaughters, sans acrimony.

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The 2012 Giro d'Italia course "is good for me and if it was just what my heart said, I'd be there," Alberto Contador said Sunday. "Next year I am going to think about different objectives, above all the Tour de France. Although you can never say never, next year I will not be back."

HTC-Highroad teammates Tony Martin and Amber Neben powered to victory in the 30th edition of the Chrono des Nations time trial on Sunday.

Chrono des Nations

• 1. Tony Martin (Ger), HTC-Highroad, 56:20
• 2. Gustav Larsson (Swe), Saxo Bank-Sungard, at 2:03
• 3. Alex Dowsett (Gbr), Team Sky, at 2:50
• 4. Stef Clement (Ned), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 3:20
• 5. David Millar (Gbr), Garmin-Cervélo, at 3:51

• 1. Amber NEBEN, Usa, in 27:58
• 2. Kristin ARMSTRONG, Usa, at 9
• 3. Olga ZABELINSKAYA, Rus, at 1:03
• 4. Tatiana ANTOSHINA, Rus, at 1:07
• 5. Pia SUNDSTEDT, Fin, at 1:15

A gallery from the final stage of the 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

ROME — The 95th Giro d'Italia will start with three days' worth of racing in Denmark, race organizers announced Sunday in Milan.

A crafty Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) outfoxed world champion Zdenek Stybar (Quick Step) and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Revor) to win the first race of the 2011-12 UCI World Cup in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Nathan Haas began the year as a member of the supporting cast in the Jayco Bay Cycling Classic criteriums and ends as the winner of the 59th edition of the Sun Tour.

Stage 5

• 1. Marcel Kittel (Ger), Skil-Shimano, 1:28:19
• 2. Anthony Giacoppo (Aus), Genesys Wealth Advisers, same time
• 3. Jens Debusschere (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, s.t.
• 4. Thomas Palmer (Aus), Drapac Porsche Cycling, s.t.
• 5. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA), Mtn Cycling, s.t.

Final GC

• 1. Nathan Haas (Aus), Genesys Wealth Advisers, 16:39:39
• 2. Jack Bobridge (Aus), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:17
• 3. Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den), Saxo Bank-Sungard, at 0:26
• 4. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA), Mtn Cycling, at 0:27
• 5. Jens Debusschere (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 0:29

Caroline Mani (CC Etupes) and Ryan Trebon (LTS-Felt) won the Spooky Cross on Saturday in Irvine, California.

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Jake Keough says UnitedHealthcare hopes to "make more of a push to Europe" in 2012, along with tackling the top-shelf domestic races.

Graham Watson shoots the Race of the Falling Leaves.

Tour of Lombardy

• 1. Oliver Zaugg (Sui), Leopard-Trek, 6:20:02
• 2. Daniel Martin (Irl), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:08
• 3. Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Esp), Team Katusha, at 0:08
• 4. Ivan Basso (Ita), Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:08
• 5. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol), Lampre-ISD, at 0:08

Oliver Zaugg (Leopard-Trek) stunned a host of favorites to claim the biggest win of his career at the Tour of Lombardy Saturday.

Photos from stage four of the 2011 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Stage 4

• 1. Egor Silin (Rus), Team Katusha, 3:20:54
• 2. Nathan Haas (Aus), Genesys Wealth Advisers, at 0:16
• 3. Jack Bobridge (Aus), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:16
• 4. Artem Ovechkin (Rus), Team Katusha, at 0:19
• 5. Lachlan Norris (Aus), Drapac Porsche Cycling, at 0:23

GC

• 1. Nathan Haas (Aus), Genesys Wealth Advisers, 15:11:20
• 2. Jack Bobridge (Aus), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:10
• 3. Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den), Saxo Bank-Sungard, at 0:29
• 4. Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA), Mtn Cycling, at 0:33
• 5. Jens Debusschere (Bel), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 0:34

Nathan Haas wears the race leader’s jersey with 10 seconds’ insurance over Garmin-Cervélo’s Australian road champion, Jack Bobridge, heading into Sunday’s final stage.

USA Cycling announced two of the three national road calendars this week and they are full of changes. The new National Criterium Calendar spins off from the National Racing Calendar and includes more than a month of southeast crits in the spring.

Mauricio Soler, the Colombian climber who suffered horrible head injuries in a crash during this summer's Tour de Suisse, finally left a Spanish hospital.

3T's new cyclocross offerings: a disc-compatible fork and handlebars

DRYSDALE, Australia (VN) — Along with Tony Martin and John Degenkolb, Marcel Kittel is one of a handful of riders leading a renaissance in German cycling, following the ignominious exit of Jan Ullrich.

World No. 1 Gilbert will line up as the two-time defending champion against a field of challengers who hope to knock him off balance.

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• 1. Marcel KITTEL, (GER) Skil-Shimano, in 4:16:16
• 2. Steele VON HOFF, (AUS) Genesys Wealth Advisers, at 0
• 3. Thomas PALMER, (AUS) Drapac Porsche Cycling, at 0
• 4. Wesley SULZBERGER, (AUS), at 0
• 5. Jacobe KEOUGH, (USA) Unitedhealthcare, at 0

DRYSDALE, Australia (VN) — The Great Ocean Road produced one of its most stunning days on stage 3 of the 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour, and in the best traditions of a tourist icon, it inspired a visitor to victory.

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In Italy, Lennard unearths many brands never seen in U.S. bike shops, some for good reasons.

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GEELONG, Australia (VN) — Heinrich Haussler admits his past two seasons have been left wanting but is already relishing the prospect of being back to his 2009 best, where he finished second at that year’s Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen).

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) used clever tactics to claim victory in Thursday's Giro di Piemonte in northern Italy.

Gustav Larsson, the Olympic time trial silver medalist, has penned a deal with Vacansoleil-DCM for the 2012 season while Italian veteran Stefano Garzelli has decided to race one more season.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has dropped another clenbuterol case just weeks ahead of Alberto Contador's hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

• 1. Reinardt JANSE VAN RENSBURG, (RSA) Mtn Cycling, at
• 2. Baden COOKE, (AUS) Saxobank-Sungard, at 0
• 3. Steele VON HOFF, (AUS) Genesys Wealth Advisers, at 0
• 4. Thomas PALMER, (AUS) Drapac Porsche Cycling, at 0
• 5. Jonathan CANTWELL, (AUS) Fly V Australia, at 0

GEELONG, Australia (VN) — A barely-known 22-year-old from Pretoria, South Africa, upstaged his more experienced rivals to win stage two of the 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Geelong Thursday.

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" ... Someone should invent an “emergency brake.” I’m not sure how it should work (I’m just the idea man), but when there is a crash in the field, there’d be nothing worse than watching it come and having no way to avoid it. Maybe if you could just pull a parachute ..."

Mexican beef can be a legitimate excuse for clenbuterol in an athlete's blood sample, the World Anti-Doping Agency said Wednesday. Whether a similar excuse will stand up for the Spanish beef that Alberto Contador claims caused his positive test for the banned substance remains to be seen.

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