Road

Britain's track team may have dominated the boards of the Olympic velodrome in China, but for the man who helped orchestrate those remarkable achievements it's back to business. Dave Brailsford, the Performance Director of British track cycling, returned from Beijing a happy man after seeing his riders claim seven of the 10 gold medals on offer at the Laoshan velodrome in August. But he won't let his squad of deserved medal winners rest on their laurels.

The quaint town of Gruene (pronounced 'green'), Texas, will host Lance Armstrong for the 25th anniversary of the Tour de Gruene. The silver anniversary event will not be the first time Armstrong has participated: he also jumped into the event's team time trial in 1996, teaming with Eddy Merckx just weeks after Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Sizes: 48 to 62 cm. Colors: Steel: Cobalt Blue, Onyx or Competition Red (shown) with Serotta solid white decals. Titanium: matte finish with solid white Serotta decals. Retail price: Framesets: $1,795 steel, $2,295 titanium. Complete bikes start at under $3,000. Web site: www.serotta.com/heritage The Serotta Classique is part of the bike company's three-model Heritage Collection, which includes a cyclocross, fixed gear and road frames (and complete bikes) in either steel or titanium.

The wheel in front of me twitches and pulses with enormous energy as it tries desperately to pull away from my gasping breaths. My legs ache, the pain beginning deep, unbelievably deep, slowly creeping up through the layers of my consciousness, finally reaching the threshold where my struggle to ignore it is overcome and it comes gushing out in great spasms.

Top German cyclist Linus Gerdemann, known for his staunch anti-doping stance, has criticized the return of Lance Armstrong to professional cycling, citing the doping suspicions — all of them unproven — that have dogged the seven-time Tour de France winner. "This is not positive for the credibility of cycling," said Gerdemann, winner of the Tour of Germany. "But there's nothing anyone can do about it."

Levi Leipheimer couldn’t be in Paris last week to watch the official unveiling of the route of the 2009 Tour de France, but he was certainly following the news. Like just about everyone, the Astana captain was keenly waiting for details of the 96th Tour. VeloNews caught up with Leipheimer while he was in Utah this week to gauge his reaction to the route. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews: What was your first impression after seeing the route?

Victoria Pendleton has told 2012 Olympic Games chiefs it will be an embarrassment if women are not allowed to compete in the same number of races as male cyclists. Pendleton triumphed in the women's sprint in Beijing, one of eight golds won in an impressive total haul of 13 medals secured by the British track team at the Laoshan Velodrome. However, in China there were only three women's events on the track compared to seven for men. And that has left Pendleton feeling her achievement was "insignificant" compared to the three golds won in Beijing by British team-mate Chris Hoy.

Oscar Sevilla, fresh off becoming the first non-Colombian to win the Clásico RCN in that event's 48-year history, will ride for at least two more seasons with Rock Racing. Sevilla confirmed he’ll stay with the California-based team through 2010 and is keen to return to European racing. The Spanish climber says his Rock Racing team is hopeful of receiving some invitations to compete in an expanded European calendar for 2009, perhaps including the Vuelta a España.

Linus Gerdemann, the promising German hopeful who wore the yellow jersey in the 2007 Tour de France, has signed a two-year deal to join Milram. The 26-year-old, who raced three seasons with T-Mobile/Team Columbia, will give the last remaining big German squad a marquee national rider for the 2009 season. “We are very happy about the signing of Linus Gerdemann,” said team manager Gerry Van Gerwen. “After long negotiations, we can finally confirm the transfer. In Linus, we have a rider we most wanted, who will lead Team Milram in the coming years.”

There were some interesting numbers released by the professional cycling group (CPA) this week that revealed the biological passport is being implemented on a wide scale. Over the course of the 2008 season, some 6501 blood and urine samples were collected from 749 racers as part of the UCI’s effort to create a biological profile for each rider. The so-called biological passport is an ambitious anti-doping effort initiated by UCI officials, who insist that creating a biological profile of individual riders is one of the most effective tools in catching cheats.

Czech cyclist Ondrej Fojtik achieved a life’s dream Wednesday, winning the Crocodile Trophy in the most emphatic fashion possible, with a victory in the penultimate stage from Cooktown to Daintree. The General Classification of the Crocodile Trophy – as per race tradition – was decided on Wednesday. Thursday’s final stage to Cape Tribulation will not be timed.

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Team Type 1 has signed young Belgian all-arounder Willem Van den Eynde and re-signed Australian Fabio Calabria.  Both racers have Type 1 diabete. Calabria and Van den Eynde must constantly monitor their blood sugar and food intake while using insulin that is permitted by a the UCI's Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).  Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said Calabria’s success in his first professional season provided the team with the confidence it can meet its stated goal to put a racer with Type 1 diabetes in the Tour de France by 2012.

Kristi Berg (Redline Bicycles) and Nick Weighall (Rad Racing-Hagens-Berman) won the sun-splashed Ft. Steilacoom cyclocross on Sunday in Lakewood, Washington. The track was dry and fast, the weather warm, and the elite women’s race a battle from the gun. Berg, Kari Studley (Velo Bela­Kona), Ingrid Spies (Recycled Cycles) and Ann Knapp (Kona) pushed and pulled each other? for four laps, with no one gaining a clear advantage.

Rock Racing’s Oscar Sevilla became the first non-Colombian in 48 years to win the RCN Classic when the Spaniard finished second in Sunday’s final stage individual time trial to secure a 40-second overall victory. Competing for the “Mayor of Tunja” composite team, Sevilla scored his fifth win of the season and his first in an international stage race since the 2006 Vuelta Ciclista Asturias in Spain. “I am particularly happy with this win because Colombia is my second home,” Sevilla said. “The people here make me feel very much at home.”

The 2009 Giro d’Italia looks to be shaping up into a battle of cycling’s titans, as still more big names have announced plans to race in Italy in May . With Lance Armstrong, Damiano Cunego and Ivan Basso already confirmed, 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and longtime Armstrong sidekick José Luís Rubiera are both expected to start the centennial edition of the corsa rosa. Sastre said last week that he’ll likely skip the Vuelta a España and race the Giro instead as preparation for his Tour defense.

Polishing scratched aluminum cranks, tubeless road tires and Scotch-brite pads

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Retail Price: $199.99 Web site: www.northwave.com/usa Available: March 2009 The Northwave Aerlite SBS was first shown to the public by Gunn-Rita Dahl, who raced in it at the Beijing Olympics this summer. The sole contains carbon powder, and the shoe features a natural rubber tread, an "Ultra Y Heel Cup" and “cats tongue” material lining the heel.

Retail Price: $11.99 for a 17 ounce aerosol Web site: www.finishlineusa.com Finish Line Speed Clean is a surface cleaner that now comes in a high pressure can that allows the user to blast the dirt out of parts like derailleur cages, bearing retainers, and cleat spring housings. It also is an effective surface cleaner for rims, disc brake rotors, cogs, rings, and chains. The Speed Clean combines the effectiveness of a degreaser with the reach and drying power of a compressed air gun into one step.

Team Milram has signed Robert Förster and Ronny Scholz for the coming season. The two German riders are the seventh and eighth riders that Milram has hired from the Gerolsteiner team, which is shutting down at the end of the season. Mlram has a total of 12 new riders coming for next season. "We have won two experienced riders in Ronny Scholz and Robert Förster, who will strengthen our team," said Gerry van Gerwen, Milram's general manage. "Ronny Scholz is very experienced and a good helper. Robert Förster will surely bring us a few wins."

It may have come by way of a gift from the Czech Republic, but whatever the case, consistent effort was rewarded again today at the Crocodile Trophy as Belgium’s Nic Vermeulen claimed victory in the race’s signature stage from Mount Mulgrave to Laura. Vermeulen, who has toiled long and hard against the Czech powerhouse VIG+ Racing over the past seven days,was in an impossible position once again, outnumberd 4-1 by the Czechs in the final kilometers of Monday’s stage.

Alberto Contador’s road to the Tour de France won’t pass through the Giro d’Italia next year. The Spanish winner confirmed this weekend he wouldn’t defend his Giro title next May and instead focus his season on trying to win a second Tour crown in three years.

In part 1 of a two-part interview with Jonathan Vaughters, the Garmin-Chipotle team manager discussed new rider acquisitions and the team’s reason for going ProTour in 2009. Here, in part 2, Vaughters discusses Tom Danielson's status with the team, his disappointment at losing Taylor Phinney and his perspective on the AFLD’s testing at this year’s Tour de France.

Fort Lewis College narrowly edged host Lees-McRae College to win the Division I team omnium competition at the 2008 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships. Even fewer points separated Division II champions Appalachian State University and second-place Colorado School of Mines. The top individual scorers in both endurance and gravity events were also awarded individual omnium crowns following Sunday's dual slalom contests.

Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) slapped high-fives and jubilantly raised his arms skyward as he coasted alone across the finish line to win Sunday’s Derby City Cup No. 2, the second round of the 2008 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross. The Massachusetts native was all grins and hugs at the awards ceremony following the elite men’s race — and for good reason. Johnson’s victory came just one day after he was a non-factor in Saturday’s race, won in dominating fashion by rival Ryan Trebon (Kona).

The Czech Republic made it a six-pack of stage victories at Australia’s Crocodile Trophy Sunday as VIG+ Racing’s Kejval Lubos delivered on the promise he showed during Saturday’s stage at Chillagoe. This time there was no blowing up at the death as Lubos and breakaway partner Tomas Kozak made it another “Czech-one-two” when the race reached its annual stop-over at Mount Mulgrave Station, a cattle grazing property almost as large as some European principalities.

The Athens, Georgia, based Jittery Joe’s professional cycling team will be moving to amateur status for the 2009 season according to the team’s management company Spin Sports. Unable to secure a secondary sponsor for the coming year, the team will now focus on racing regionally while rebuilding its program for 2010.

Lampre’s Damiano Cunego won the Japan Cup on Sunday, edging out Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) and Liquigas’s Ivan Basso who was competing in his first race since being swept up in the Opera?ion Puerto doping scandal. The 30-year-old, now riding for the Liquigas team, finished behind compatriots Damiano Cunego — winner of the Tour of Lombardy — and former national champion Giovanni Visconti in the 151 kilometers Japan Cup.

Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Katerina Nash (Luna) took impressive solo victories at the opening day of the 2008 Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross, at Champion’s Park in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday.

The Czech VIG+ Racing team made it five straight stage victories from five attempts Saturday as Ivan Rybarik scored his second stage win at the Crocodile Trophy of 2008. With the leaders in the general classification taking it easy during today’s 99 kilometer “out and back” stage from Chillagoe, VIG+ Racing showed its incredible depth at this year’s outback classic by stealing a stage victory with two of its domestiques.

The cross country competition kicked off the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships on Friday as nearly 200 collegians raced through the campus of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina, for the second year in a row. The first day of competition set the stage for an old-fashioned shootout between host Lees-McRae College and last year's overall team winner Fort Lewis College in Division I, while riders from nearby Brevard College and Appalachian State earned the Division II men's and women's crowns respectively.

Shimano found that the spoke plugs shipped in lieu of rim strips with its Dura-Ace WH-7850-C24-CL wheels have a greater likelihood of producing a puncture due to the surface texture of the rim and the spoke holes coming in contact with the tube. Therefore, Shimano has issued a voluntary recall of the spoke hole plugs. The wheelset will not be recalled. The fix is to remove the spoke hole plugs and replace them with a 18mm high-pressure rim strip.

The Czech VIG+ Racing team continued its complete dominance Friday at the 2008 Crocodile Trophy with Martin Horak scoring his first stage win and fourth consecutive stage win for his team as the off-road classic reached the Australian outback town of Chillagoe. The victory will be remembered for all the right reasons, with Horak, in the most sporting of gestures, rendering assistance when his breakaway partner, Kristof Hertsens of Belgium (Team Lingier) crashed.

Dimensions: 12x12 inches Retail Price: $13.95 Web site:www.velogear.com Also available: Inside Triathlon and IMBA calendars The 2009 VeloNews Road Racing calendar is now available at bike shops and online at VeloGear.com. The 12-by-12-inch full color calendar features images from road racing around the world. The 2009 Inside Triathlon and International Mountain Bicycling Association calendars also are now available from VeloGear.

Tour de France stage winner Simon Gerrans will join up with this year's yellow jersey champion Carlos Sastre at the Cervélo team, it was announced on Friday. The Canadian outfit, which is due to join bike racing's elite in 2009, will not however be managed by Gerrans' fellow Australian, Scott Sunderland. After leaving the highly successful CSC team, which he helped to victories in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France, Sunderland was all set to take over at Cervélo.

It’s been an interesting end of season for American pro team Garmin-Chipotle and its team manager Jonathan Vaughters. The Garmin squad saw some impressive late-season performances by Dave Zabriskie, who finished third at the world time trial championship, and young riders Tyler Farrar and Steven Cozza.

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Mont Ventoux could play judge, jury and executioner in the 96th Tour de France in what some are already calling a climber’s course. For the 2009 Tour, officials saved the best and hardest for last, with the mighty Ventoux poised in the penultimate day of the 21-stage, 3445km route from Monaco to Paris. Tour officials, who unveiled the course to rave reviews in a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday, are hoping the race will be so tightly packed that almost anything could happen on the storied steeps of the géant de Provence.

Tomas Trunschka took a hard-fought stage win on Thursday — his second in three days — to keep the Czech team VIG+ Racing atop the leaderboard in the 2008 Crocodile Trophy. The Czechs attacked early in the 122km stage from the rainforest of Koombooloomba Dam to the outback cattle station at Gunnawarra Lagoon. Martin Horak got the ball rolling when the lead bunch entered the mountainous, technical powerline track, which has claimed many victims in this race. [nid:84540]

The Italian professional cyclists association is calling for a lifetime ban for pro riders caught doping. In a letter sent to UCI President Pat McQuaid, the ACCPI said "lifetime bans should be introduced as an extreme solution to give cycling back its credibility." The letter said cyclists who cooperate with authorities should be offered the chance to race again after shorter bans. The letter was signed by ACCPI President Amedeo Colombo and the association's secretary, former world champion Gianni Bugno. The letter:

Dear Mr. McQuaid,

What’s most clear from Wednesday’s announcement of the 2009 Tour de France is that the winner will have to maintain top form from the very first day in Monaco on July 4 to the finish in Paris on July 26.

Lance Armstrong says the 2009 Tour de France route, unveiled Wednesday, is "innovative and very interesting" and he said he looks forward to negotiating with Tour officials about "a mutually beneficial future together." In the statement released Wednesday afternoon, Armstrong appeared to be a bit ambivalent about whether he would ride the Tour next year.

A lot of similar questions come along when you’re out at the races. One question I hear frequently is some variation of the famous “How do you know when you’ve made it big?” I usually give a good P.C. answer and move along, because who really knows the answer to that question!? It’s something I’m too humble to try answering. But two weeks ago, it stunned me, even jolted me. It was right there in front of me. I came up over the horizon to the parking lot on a nice Sunday in Ohio and I had my own big orange parking cone with my last name on it! [nid:84490]

Czech cyclist Ondrej Fojtik is one step closer to achieving his dream of winning the Crocodile Trophy after snatching the leaders jersey from the shoulders of teammate Tomas Trunschka during the second stage from Irvinebank to Koombooloomba Dam in tropical North Queensland.

Lance Armstrong wasn’t at Wednesday’s presentation of the route of the 2009 Tour de France, but he was on everyone’s tongue. Whether or not the Tour is part of Armstrong’s future is very much up in the air. Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said the only thing certain about Armstrong’s schedule is that he’ll race at the Tour Down Under, the Tour of California and the Giro d’Italia.

Call the 2009 Tour de France a race of innovation and originality. Unwinding like a corkscrew from Monaco on July 4 to the finale into Paris three weeks later, the 21-stage race will be one hard to control and full of room for riders who dare to defy traditional tactics. Mont Ventoux is back, and so is the team time trial, but what makes the 2009 Tour route so interesting is that organizers were not afraid to throw convention to the wind.

Former Saunier Duval climber Leonardo Piepoli failed to turn up for his Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) doping hearing on Wednesday, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. Piepoli was due to face charges that he had taken the new generation of the blood booster EPO during the Tour de France in July.

The men favored to contest for the yellow jersey in the 2009 Tour de France applauded the route revealed in Paris on Wednesday, calling it “difficult, but interesting.” The 96th edition of the Tour de France will begin on July 4 in the Mediterranean Principality of Monaco, race director Christian Prudhomme announced at the Palais des Congrès of Paris on Wednesday.

Former Lampre rider Paolo Bossoni was handed a two-year suspension by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal on Wednesday. The 32-year-old tested positive for blood-booster EPO on June 29 during the Settimana Tricolore race in Bergamo in a control conducted by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). He was subsequently fired by Lampre. CONI's Antidoping Commission also revealed that Italian under-23 champion Giovanni Carini's B sample from a positive test given on June 28, during the Italian under-23 championships, has also come up as positive for EPO.

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At this time of year, many of us will be moving our training indoors to better deal with the elements and engage in some active recovery.

Temperatures finally hit the “crispy side” of things in Chicago and it actually felt like 'cross weather had finally arrived. Cyclocrossers came out fresh and ready to tackle the newly redesigned Carpenter Park course. Jeff Provisor, owner of Main Street Bicycles and race director added two fast paved sections with a u-turn and multiple twisty areas that kept racers with their thinking helmets on alert.

VeloNews.com will live stream Wednesday's presentation of the 2009 Tour de France route. The presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. Paris time (5:30 a.m. EST). You can watch the stream here.

Tour de France organizers will finally end months of waiting on Wednesday by unveiling the route that they hope will provide another exciting, albeit cleaner, race for the famous yellow jersey. In the months since Spaniard Carlos Sastre claimed overall victory, seven riders - including KOM winner Bernhard Kohl and stage winners Ricardo Riccò, Leonardo Piepoli and Stefan Schumacher - have been exposed as drugs cheats. However a bigger question on the minds of some fans will be whether seven-time champion Lance Armstrong will take part.

VIG+ Racing dominated Tuesday’s opening stage of the 2008 Crocodile Trophy, sweeping the men’s podium. The Czech team attacked immediately following the start of the 80km leg from Mareeba to Irvinebank, using all six team members to build a stage-winning lead before the race hit the first serious off-road section.

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Jason Sager secured his third win in as many weeks in the River City 'Cross Crusade series in Oregon. A pack of four emerged from the frenzied start at the third installment of the series held at Ranier High School October 19. Sager (SagerSports.com), Kona/Team S&M's Erik Tonkin, Sean Babcock (Team S&M), and Ryan Iddings of (Lapiexe) jockeyed for position through five laps before dropping Iddings.

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The winners of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Cyclocross, round four of the Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross (MAC) Series, served up an exhibition of different ways to win a ‘cross race on Sunday. Laura Van Gilder (C3-Sollay.com) won the women’s race in the last minute of competition, while Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) won the men’s race in the first minute of action.

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Belgian Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) won the first round of the UCI’s World Cup cyclocross series in Kalmthout, Belgium, on Sunday. The Belgian national champion outsprinted compatriot Niels Albert (Palman Cras) in a head-to-head charge to the line. Fidea’s Kevin Pauwels took the third spot, ahead of Czech rider Radomir Simunek and Belgian Bart Aernout. World champion, Lars Boom, was the 10th, while American Jonathan Page pulled out after seven laps.

Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez will remain with the Euskaltel-Euskadi team through 2010 despite testing the waters elsewhere to cash in on his gold medal. Team manager Miguel Madariaga traveled to Italy this weekend and finalized a new accord to rework an existing contract with Sánchez to keep the all-rounder in the team’s distinctive orange jersey for two more seasons.

The Vuelta a España already has a new director. Victor Cordero, who is stepping down at the end of this season as the head of the Spanish tour, is making way for Javier Guillén. Guillén has been the secretary general at the Vuelta for the past five years and will help steer the season’s third grand tour into the future. Earlier this year, the Amaury Sport Organization (owners of the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and other major races) bought 49 percent of the race.

In a classic edition of the Cyclocross at Granogue saw a double dip of Kona as Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Dee Dee Winfield (Velo Bella – Kona) scored wins in the Autumn classic. Both wins came down to last lap moves in the UCI C1 event.

Garmin-Chipotle continues to bolster its roster for 2009 and has signed Dutchman Hans Dekkers to a deal to round out its sprinter arsenal. The news comes just as the 27-year-old Dutchman pipped Tom Boonen on Tuesday to win the final race of the 2008 Belgian calendar at the 75th Putte-Kapellen. “I think he’s a talented sprinter who hasn’t found a home yet in a team, and has battled a lot of injuries,” Vaughters told VeloNews. “We needed a guy who could help a bit with Tyler, Julian and Sutton, along with being able to play his own chances.”

Damiano Cunego won the 102nd Giro di Lombardia, the season’s final one-day classic, for the third time in his career on Saturday. Cunego – winner in 2004 and 2007 – scored the win after taking a gamble and attacking 15 kilometers from the finish at lake front of Lake Como in northern Italy. Cunego won the famed “race of the falling leaves” ahead of a hard chasing Janez Brajkovic (Astana), who reached the line 20 seconds later. [nid:84391]Cunego earned the victor’s laurels at the end of the 242-kilometer race that had been largely controlled by his Lampre team.

Spaniard Alberto Contador, reigning champion of the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, on Saturday confirmed he will remain at Astana next season despite the potential problems posed by Lance Armstrong's plans to join the team. "Next year I will continue with the Astana team," said Contador. "I've studied the situation and the alternatives." The 2007 Tour de France winner said his concerns about Armstrong’s return have been addressed.

Stuart O'Grady locked up the overall title of Australia’s Herald Sun Tour on Saturday, fending off a mid-race challenge from his most serious competitor, Ben Day (Toyota United) missed a chance to score bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint in a 66-kilometer, 33-lap race through the streets of Melbourne.

This coming weekend, October 24-25, Adam Craig is strapping on the full-face helmet and body armor, climbing on his big-hit bike and competing in the Jeep 48Straight, formerly Jeep King of the Mountains competition. The competition features dual slalom racing against Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat and Brian Lopes, among others. Why would America’s top cross-country man want to go toe-to-toe with the big dogs of international gravity racing? “It’s a good excuse to ride my bike and have fun,” Craig told VeloNews when we phoned him up last week.

LAMPRE (ITA)
1. Damiano Cunego (ITA)
2. Alessandro Ballan (ITA)
3. Francesco Gavazzi (ITA)
4. Paolo Tiralongo (ITA)
5. Sylvester Szmyd (POL)
6. Matteo Bono (ITA)
7. Marco Marzano (ITA)
8. Mauro Santambrogio (ITA)
Director: Maurizio Piovani

ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFE' MOKAMBO (ITA)
11. Massimo Codol (ITA)
12. Francesco Failli (ITA)
13. Stefano Garzelli (ITA)
14. Andrea Masciarelli (ITA)
15. Francesco Masciarelli (ITA)
16. Simone Masciarelli (ITA)
17. Giuseppe Palumbo (ITA)
18.