Road

Italian cyclist Emanuele Sella, who won three stages at this year's Tour of Italy, has failed an International Cycling Union (UCI) drugs test, according to reports on Tuesday. Sella, who rides for the CSF team, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) in an out-of-competition test on July 23. The 27-year-old would not be drawn into commenting on the control, telling the ANSA news agency: "I know nothing of this story. Nothing has been said to me. Nothing is true."

Four of us climbed into the back of the borrowed team Saturn truck, picking good spots for our lawn chairs. Once we were settled, the door was pulled shut and locked. We sat in darkness while our team captain, Steve Bauer climbed into the passenger’s seat beside Fernando, our mechanic and the driver, up in the cab. The southern air was hot and muggy and the back of the truck, filled with bikes and wheels was at first refreshingly cool in contrast to the outside air.

Racing in hot, humid conditions, worsened by pollution levels, is not the only thing worrying Spain's big favorite for the Olympic cycling road race this Saturday. Alejandro Valverde comes into the 248.5km race, said to be one of the toughest ever at an Olympics, fresh from the Tour de France where he finished ninth overall and won the opening stage. As one of the most feared all-rounders in the business, Valverde could be the man to succeed formidable Italian Paolo Bettini, the world champion for the past two years.

Australian cyclist Michael Rogers is looking forward to putting his skills back on the international stage after what has proved to be a trying year for the Columbia Team pro. Rogers crashed out of the Tour de France last year while in the virtual yellow jersey, and took months to get over his injuries. He then battled the effects of glandular fever, setting his career back further and effectively costing him a place on his team's squad for this year's Tour where his teammates won an impressive five stages.

Dear Readers,
I have received so much mail about the " tubulars vs. clinchers rolling resistance debate that I could not resist running some of the better ones. The debate may never end, but your letter sure have raised a lot of issues that I’d never considered.
Lennard

Price: $285 Weight: 535 grams Web site:www.crankbrothers.com No need to stop, to drop and roll: You can bust some serious moves on a 5-inch travel bike these days; both up and down hills. Crankbrothers’ Joplin post, a Maverick American-licensed design, offers three inches of adjustment via a handlebar-mounted remote, which allows you to get down some serious terrain. It’s intended for trail riding and Super D racing. Crankbrothers offers a two-year warranty with the Joplin.

Trek/VW rider Chris Eatough came from behind to win the 24 Hours of 9-Mile solo national championships in Wausau, Wisconsin, Saturday. Pua Sawicki defended her 2007 title with 18 laps, which she completed in 24 hours and 3 minutes. [nid:81316] In the men’s race, Josh Tostada led the race early on, riding 15-mile laps in under an hour. “[Tostada] really put me into difficulty, he and I were very evenly matched,” Eatough said. “But my pit crew has our routine dialed, and the new bike let me race even faster.”

Next month's Tour of Missouri will feature that kind of lineup rarely seen in the U.S., with all the top U.S.-based squads taking on European-based teams including Liquigas and Rabobank. While the teams have yet to release their complete rosters for the Sept. 9-14 event, the race organizers on Monday announced the final list of teams:

Brooke Miller (Tibco) and Bissell’s Ted King won the Hanes Park Classic in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Sunday. Action Images’ Kurt Jambretz was there to photograph the action on the 1.3 mile circuit around a park in Winston-Salem’s Historic West End neighborhood.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans has recovered sufficiently from a knee injury and will compete at the Beijing Olympics this week, Australian Olympic officials said Monday. The 31-year-old Australian slipped on a wet floor last week at a post-Tour party and had been receiving intense treatment on a knee injury in Italy. Evans originally withdrew from the August 13 Olympic time trial, 13 but the Australian Olympic Committee has received confirmation that he will arrive in Beijing on Wednesday to compete in the road race on Saturday.

Joining a winning break on the final stage of the Tour of Elk Grove, David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit) won the overall title of the Illinois stage race. It was a big weekend, with appearances by several top American riders, including Astana's Chris Horner, who suffered a broken collarbone in Saturday's second stage. Action Images’ Ben Ross was there to photograph the action.

Price: $180 Weight: 340 grams Web site: www.louisgarneau.com Air Sticks to It: Louis Garneau launched its new Supperleggera helmet at the Tour de France on the heads of Bouygues-Telecom’s riders. The golf ball-like dimples on the front of the helmet are said to capture a small layer of air, thus promoting better laminar air flow, making it faster aerodynamically. Besides better flow, the helmet is lighter and comes with a five-color sticker set so that you can match it to your team kit.

Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) and Julien Absalon (Orbea) virtually assured themselves of overall victories in the season-long cross-country World Cup series by turning in strong rides at the seventh round in Bromont, Quebec, on Sunday. Absalon took his second consecutive win in the series, while Premont finished second to Canadian Olympic team mate Catharine Pendrel (Luna), who won her first ever World Cup.

It’s impossible to talk about bicycle racing in China without mentioning the name Todd McKean. McKean, 40, is a longtime bike enthusiast who has lived in China for the past two decades. He is the third generation of his family to spend the majority of his adult life in the world’s most populated nation.

Astana’s Chris Horner will miss the Vuelta a España later this month after suffering a broken collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Elk Grove on Saturday. Horner broke his left clavicle in a crash in the final sprint of the second stage of the Illinois stage race and, after crossing the finish line, was transported to a nearby hospital where the break was diagnosed.

Colavita-Sutter Home’s Alejandro Borrajo and Katherine Carroll (Aaron’s) claimed victory at the fifth annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the eighth event in the 2008 USA CRITS Series. With the help of teammate Kyle Wamsley, Borrajo beat a small, select group of elite criterium riders that escaped the main field just over an hour into the race. The Argentine sprinter added another win to his already successful season by outracing last year's winner, Frank Pipp (Health Net), and Emile Abraham (Team Type 1).

Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Iron Horse) regained the lead in the men's downhill World Cup on Saturday over Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), after beating his South African rival by 2.7 seconds. In the women's race, Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal) extended her lead over Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis) with her second consecutive win.

Cofidis' Rik Verbrugghe broke his clavicle in a fall Saturday in the Clasica San Sebastian. The Belgian, 34, fell in the first part of the race. A former stage winner in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, Verbrugghe has suffered numerous health problems in recent seasons, notably a fall in the 2006 Tour that left him with a broken leg. This year Verbrugghe left the Giro in the first week with a wrist injury.

Italy's Damiano Cunego, still feeling the effects of a fall in the Tour de France, on Saturday pulled out of the Olympic road race event in Beijing, his Lampre team announced. He finished 36th in Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián, more than nine minutes behind winner Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), as he returned to competition after pulling out of the Grand Boucle three days before the end. "I was having bad sensations when going uphill," the reigning Amstel Gold race champion said. "I had problems breathing and a persistent headache."

The International Cycling Union (UCI) on Saturday confirmed it has granted Australia a second starting place in the men's Olympic road time trial with Cycling Australia saying it had gratefully accepted following discussions with the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC). Cadel Evans was originally down as the sole Aussie rider but then withdrew last Tuesday because of a knee injury, ceding his berth to three-time world champion, Michael Rogers.

Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde won Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián by outsprinting a group of about ten riders including Davide Rebellin, Paolo Bettini, Franco Pellizotti, Denis Menchov and Samuel Sánchez. The group formed after Bettini's Quick Step team put the hammer down in the final kilometers, leading into the Cat. 3 Alto de Arkale climb 16km from the finish. Bettini attacked twice on the climb and whittled the peloton down to about a dozen riders.

Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián is Spain's major one-day classic, the first major race since the end of the Tour de France, and an important Olympic road race tune up. As such, the 225-kilometer race features a stellar line-up, with starters including Carlos Sastre, Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Paulo Bettini and Davide Rebellin, among others. (full rosters below). The course is famous for its Jaizkebel climb, a Cat. 1 toughy that comes about 40km from the finish and the Cat. 3 Alto de Arkale, just 16km from the end.

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. "Votre hard-drive ne marche pas ... c'est morte" is something that I didn't want to hear today.

Frenchman Sandy Casar confirmed Saturday that he has extended his Francaise des Jeux team contract by two years. The 29-year-old, who turned professional in 2000, was the top French finisher in this year's Tour de France where he placed 14th. Casar won the 18th stage of last year's Tour de France, and was second in the 16th stage this year at Jausiers behind compatriot Cyril Dessel of Ag2r.

A combination of timing, tactics and sheer leg power on a climb that will be raced seven times during the men's Olympic road race is a must for any cyclist aiming for gold in Beijing. But the climbers in the peloton will do better if they can also close out the day with a formidable sprint. The men's Olympic road race will finish near the Great Wall on August 9 and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde will be hoping to live up to his childhood nickname of El Imbatido (the unbeaten one) when he challenges Italy's formidable reigning champion Paolo Bettini.

The Crédit Agricole team has not found a new sponsor and team director Roger Legeay has given team riders free rein to pursue contracts for next season. The bank that has supported the team since 1998 is ending its sponsorship after this season. Legeay has been trying to line up a replacement, but recent negotiations with potential sponsors were not successful. Legeay told AFP that his top riders have told him they will hold off signing with another team until after August 15.

Charlotte and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, welcome the NRC crowd this weekend with a pair of crits. Charlotte

Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, a stage winner in last month's Tour de France, on Friday pulled out of the Beijing Olympics, citing health problems. "It's stupid and very bitter but I have to think of my health. I struggled on the Tour de France and I was sick," the 30-year-old Hushovd, who races for Crédit Agricole, told Norwegian agency NTB. "I wanted to compete, but like I explained to the team doctor, I need rest."

Shortly after the official result sheet of last Saturday’s Tour de France time trial was dropped on my table at the pressroom in St. Amand-Montrond, I made an interesting discovery. All but one of the riders who had just taken the top 15 places in the challenging 53km test either represent teams that have a strong internal anti-doping program (CSC-Saxo Bank, Garmin-Chipotle and Team Columbia) and/or are members of the Movement for Credible Cycling (Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, Garmin and Columbia).

Shimano has formally announced plans to release Dura-Ace Di2, a new electronic shifting option for the all-new 7900 series Dura-Ace, in January. Composed of dual control shift/brake levers, front derailleur, rear derailleur, a wiring harness and battery pack, the new Dura-Ace Di2 7970 components integrate with components from the upcoming 7900 series Dura-Ace group, while adding only 68 grams.

When Trek’s new top-of-the-line Top Fuel 9.9 SSL was unveiled earlier this month at the company's mountain bike product launch, arguably one of the most attention-grabbing components was a Bontrager-branded carbon wheelset. As it turned out, this was not the only new set of wheels Trek will unveil for 2009. Bontrager will offer updated versions of its Race Lite wheelset for the cross-country crowd as well as its all-mountain Rhythm line. Both models will be offered in 26-inch and 29-inch versions. Carbon upgrade

Fort Lewis College, a small college with a bike cycling program in Durango, Colorado, dethroned Lees-McRae College to win the 2007-2008 USA Cycling Collegiate National Team Rankings Division I competition by a single point. In Division II, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology defeated Western Washington University in another tight race. Lees-McRae, a private North Carolina school with an enrollment of less than 800, had to settle for second in its sophomore season in Division I.

Italian cyclist Leonardo Piepoli said he had "denied everything" following his doping hearing with the Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) on Thursday. Piepoli was heard just a day after his former Saunier-Duval teammate Ricardo Riccò, who admitted to using EPO. Riccò was kicked out of the Tour de France earlier this month after failing a dope test following the fourth stage time trial. He was fired by Saunier-Duval, who also dismissed Piepoli, claiming he had violated their code of ethics.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) suspended Riccardo Riccò on Thursday after the former Saunier Duval rider admitted to using a new version of the banned red-blood-cell-booster EPO.

Following the withdrawal of his team’s title sponsor, Barloworld’s Enrico Gasparotto has signed with the Lampre team for 2009, a decision criticized by his current team manager. Gasparotto reached the agreement this week, following a decision by Barloworld to pull its sponsorship of the team after one of its riders tested positive for a new version of EPO during the Tour de France.

The Astana team has announced that it has reached contract agreements for the 2009 season with nine of its current riders, including American Chris Horner and German Andreas Klöden. The team’s general manager Johan Bruyneel said that in addition to Horner and Klöden, Astana has re-signed Assan Bazayev, Maxim Iglinskiy, Steve Morabito, Dmitriy Muravyev, Daniel Navarro, Gregory Rast and Michael Schär. The nine will be part of a team that already includes 2008 Giro d’Italia Champion Alberto Contador and two-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer.

American Kori Seehafer of the Menikini-Selle Italia Master team won Wednesday UCI Women's World Cup event in Vargarda, Sweden. Seehafer, a Wisconsin native who lives in Colorado, won the 132-kilometer event in a sprint against fellow American Kim Anderson (High Road). The two finished 1:10 ahead of third placed Charlotte Becker. (Results) The win moved Seehafer, who did not have any prior women's World Cup points, into 9th place in the rankings: Women's World Cup road rankings and points following Vargarda road race: 1. Judith Arndt, 260

A video clip showing Australian Cadel Evans snap at a broadcast journalist following the Tour de France’s stage 10 finish at Hautacam has become a minor YouTube sensation, with the clip garnering near 100,000 views and hundreds of comments by race’s end. After taking the yellow jersey, Evans was walked through customary post-stage TV interviews when a microphone windscreen tapped his injured left shoulder, wounded in his race threatening stage 9 crash.

With concern growing over a knee injury sustained at a post-Tour de France party, Cadel Evans has withdrawn from the Olympic time trial in Beijing. In a news release issued Wednesday, the Australian Cycling Federation said Evans will be replaced in the event by three-time world time trial champion, Michael Rogers.

Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen has confirmed that he plans to leave Silence-Lotto for a new team next season. McEwen has reportedly signed with Tinkoff Credit Systems squad, but in an interview with The Australian newspaper, the Aussie sprinter declined to confirm that. “I've signed with a new team for next year but I'll wait until later in the year to make any announcements about what I'm doing and let the new team announce it,” McEwen told the paper. “Whatever team it is, I'll let them announce it.”

Before we get to storytime I’ve got a bit of homework for everyone … click on this link. Read about my motoring habits. And maybe prove that I’m more popular than last week’s “Celebrity Drive” subject, Sammy Hagar … Not bloody likely.

The Italian ANSA news agency has reported that cyclist Ricardo Riccò, who tested positive for a new form of EPO, following the 4th stage of the Tour de France, has admitted to having doped in preparation for the French tour. According to ANSA, the former Saunier Duval rider made the admission at a hearing before the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Riccò, who won two stages at the Tour before exiting the race for testing positive for a new product known as Continuous Erythropoietin Receptor Activator (CERA), was called before a CONI panel on Wednesday.

World champion cyclist Marta Bastianelli has been ordered to before an Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) hearing on August 5 after failing a dope test this month. The 21-year-old has been kicked off the Italian Olympic team but protested her innocence, claiming she had inadvertently consumed the banned stimulant flenfluramina. Bastianelli blamed her pharmacist for preparing an herbal mixture aimed at weight loss but containing the stimulant.

Zogics Citra Wipes Retail price: $10 for eight wipes Website: www.zogics.com Zogics Citra Wipes are handy little single-use packs for cleaning the grime from your hands after road and trailside repairs. They're easily stuffed into a seat bag or hydration pack, and the solvent in the wipe is citrus-based and therefore nontoxic; in fact, Zogics claims the whole thing to be biodegradable (the wipe, not the packaging.)

Now that the champagne has lost its fizz and the podium girls are back to their day jobs, the cycling world now waits with bated breath until that last anti-doping control winds through the labyrinth of syringes, gyroscopes, laser prisms and other weapons in the arsenal at the labs. Until the final sample comes back clean, no one can afford to breathe easy. Anyone who loves the Tour is desperate to avoid that final-hour “worst-case scenario” that could once again send cycling to its knees.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans pulled out of the one day criterium held in Flanders on Tuesday with a reported injured knee. According to organizer Denis Bolle the Australian cyclist sustained the problem at a party put on by his team Silence Lotto in a Parisian cafe on Sunday night to celebrate the end of the Tour. "It shows a flagrant lack of respect," said Bolle, adding he had only been told of Evans' absence "a few hours before the criterium."

Tubes, tubulars or NoTubes?
Dear Lennard,
I'm currently running Campy 10-speed and am interested in running Hutchinson Tubeless Tires. It appears that the only officially approved system is the Shimano Dura-Ace wheelset, which is obviously not an option for me. My question is will a wheelset with rims that do not have pierced spoke holes on the interior (like the Mavic Ksyrium SL, Campy Shamal Ultra or Fulcrum Racing Zero) suffice and is there anything special that has to be done to make them work?
Phil

World women's road champion Marta Bastianelli has tested positive for a banned stimulant in a test conducted by the International Cycling Union (UCI), Italian news agency Ansa reported on Monday. Bastianelli tested positive for the stimulant in a control run by the International Cycling Union (UCI) during the Under-23 World Championships at Verbania on July 5, the competition at which she qualified for next month's Olympic Games in Beijing.

Carlos Sastre's triumph in the Tour de France over the weekend has capped a "magical" year for Spanish sports, Spanish media said Monday just two weeks before the Olympic Games get underway. "Sastre's triumph in the Tour marks the end of the two most fruitful months in Spanish football," the daily newspaper El Mundo wrote with photographs of the cyclist on the Champs Elysees after his win on Sunday. "Sastre conquers Paris in a magical year for Spanish sports," wrote rival daily El Pais.

Increased suspense, a boom in television ratings and happy sponsors left Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme in a buoyant mood two days prior to the end of this year's race. But with the ever-present threat of cheats lingering, the Frenchman knows it is far too early to talk of a definitive turnaround for the sport. After years of controversy the reputation of the race was tarnished by a minority of drugs cheats. But compared to recent scandals, this year's Tour got off comparatively lightly.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans (Silence-Lott) dismissed as “unfounded rumor” speculation he has suffered a knee injury that could threaten his participation in next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Evans, 31, finished second in Tour de France for the second straight year and on Sunday night joined his Silence Lotto team mates for the traditional post-Tour dinner in Paris. Evans said he did slip on a wet floor but it was no more than that.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has been put under the spotlight by a report that claims the world cycling body was paid to help get track cycling's keirin event on the Olympic program in 1996. The BBC reported on its Web site that it possesses documents which "reveal a series of substantial payments to the UCI, which began just two months after the keirin was accepted into the Olympics in December 1996.” The report, which was denied by a top Japanese official, claims that $3 million was "paid by organizers of a Japanese cycling event to the UCI — the world cycling body.”

For Australia's Cadel Evans, the Olympic road race in Beijing is already too far on the horizon. For the immediate future, the 31-year-old wants to concentrate on winding down at the one-day criteriums which follow the end of the Tour de France — and then put his bike to rest. Evans' overriding feeling was one of "relief" on Sunday after he finished his fourth Tour campaign with an impressive fourth top ten finish. Yet his second consecutive runner-up spot, a year on from losing the yellow jersey by 23 seconds to Spaniard Alberto Contador, must have hurt.

Here's a picture that reflects the amazing day now behind me. It was amazing. The feeling riding onto the Champs was unlike anything I've ever felt on a bicycle before in my life. Tired legs turned into a feeling of nothing but excitement. And now we're in the middle of a celebratory dinner and I've already consumed far too much bubbly. Thanks everybody for following the past few weeks!

Stage 21 stats

Stage 21, Étamps to Paris, 143km

Carlos Sastre has a reputation of being a cool customer under pressure. After 11 seasons as a pro, nothing rankles the 33-year-old veteran too much. From doping scandals that nearly toppled his CSC team after captain Ivan Basso was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal to the death of his brother-in-law, José María “El Chaba” Jiménez in 2003 at just 32, he’d seen it all.

Anyone can attest it’s hard to sleep when you’re hot. It's a fact that Garmin-Chipotle physiologist Allen Lim knows well. It’s why, among other things, regulating his riders’ temperatures on and off the bike is key to keeping them as fresh and fast as possible. This concept plays into both short-term and long-term performances; the former being a stage performance and the latter being the whole of the three-week race like the Tour de France.

Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant, his Credit Agricole team said on the final day of the Tour de France. Fofonov finished the race in 19th overall, 28:31 behind race winner Carlos Sastre. Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay said Fofonov told the team he bought a product over the Internet to fight cramps. He has been suspended and may be fired, Legeay said.

Carlos Sastre became the seventh Spaniard to win the Tour de France yellow jersey when he wrapped up overall victory on Sunday, taking his country's total to 11 wins.

Drew Geer and Mark Gouge are racing the Jeantex Bike Transalp 2008 powered by Nissan, an eight-stage epic mountain bike stage race, from Füssen, Germany, to Riva del Garda, Italy, passing through Austria and Switzerland. The two are racing for the Chipotle-Titus-VeloNews team.

Naturns to Andalo Italy

Defending champions Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of Team Bulls won the final stage of the TransAlpe 2008 and wrapped up their second consecutive win of the 665-kilometer stage race. On the last stage from Andalo to Riva del Garda, Platt and Sahm underlined why they kept hold on their title with good reason. The team mastered the 61-kilometer stage in 2:30:03, putting their total riding time in the 8-stages at just under 30 hours at 29:59:25.

Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo Bank) won the 95th Tour de France on Sunday as Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) took the 21st and final stage on the Champs-Élysées.[nid:80935] "I've dreamt of this since I was a child," said an emotional Sastre, who was surrounded by his wife and two children, Claudia and Yeday. "I'm beyond words — to be here with my family is really special." Steegmans, too, was delighted, having finally snapped his team's winless streak at this year's Tour.

Just days ago Mont-Ste-Anne’s tricky four-cross course was reduced to an impassable mud bog after heavy mid-week thunderstorms dumped buckets of rain on the region. Organizers contemplated canceling the event outright, as the thick mud refused to dry in the wake of additional showers. [nid:80882] But eventually the track did dry out, and maintenance crews armed with shovels and earth moving equipment turned the tide. As the World Cup race kicked off under darkening skies on Saturday evening, only a handful of patches sported mud. [nid:80879]

Drenched with sweat after riding at maximum effort for four and a half minutes, Greg Minnaar couldn’t contain his smile after winning the Mont-Ste-Anne round of the 2008 UCI World Cup. “Winner winner, chicken dinner,” Minnaar said.

Stage 20: Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53km Weather: Hot and humid with partly cloudy skies and moderate wind, temperatures in the mid 80s. Stage winner: Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher proved he was the strongest time trialist at this Tour, winning both the 29km stage 4 TT and Saturday’s 53km effort. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara finished second, 21 seconds back.

Stage winner Stefan Schumacher was more surprised than anyone to be back on the Tour de France podium after claiming victory in Saturday’s time trial. Schumacher’s win in the first time trial at a distance of 29.5km wasn’t a complete surprise because he’s done well in shorter distances, but his 21-second victory ahead of Olympic favorite and two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara wasn’t expected by many.

Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher surprised a few observers when he won the stage-four time trial in this year’s Tour de France. Then, he stunned them on Saturday by winning the Tour’s second race against the clock, beating two-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (CSc-Saxo Bank) by 21 seconds on the 53km course. "I did a perfect race,” said the 27-year-old German. “The course was a little bit rolling, which is perfectly suited to me. I got into a good rhythm straight away. There was a tailwind at the start, and afterwards I just kept my head down and focused on the job."

Carlos Sastre is poised to become the seventh Spanish rider in history to win the Tour de France. Barring catastrophe, the Team CSC-Saxo Bank rider will ride into Paris on Sunday as the third consecutive Spanish Tour winner. The 33-year-old surprised many after he fended off the time trial threats of Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov to retain the leader’s jersey. Sastre spoke with reporters after Saturday’s stage. Here’s a sampling of what he had to say. Question: What are you feeling now with the yellow jersey?

It’s been three weeks since we left Brest for the start of this thing and after today’s TT stage we find ourselves back in a Campanile, a hotel that takes the cookie-cutter room model to the max. The feeling of déjà vu is out of control, at least until you step outside. It’s strangely fitting however, in an odd sort of way. Tomorrow we head to Paris for one of the grandest sporting spectacles in the world, a slick hotel, huge dinner and evening out to follow, but tonight we’re off in the middle of nowhere, relaxed as can be, and feeling like it’s any another day.

CSC-Saxo Bank's Carlos Sastre withstood the challenge from Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans on Saturday, defending his yellow jersey going into the final stage of the 2008 Tour de France. A surprising Sastre ceded just 29 seconds to Evans over Saturday's 53km time trial and will enter the Tour's finale Sunday with a 1:05 lead over the Aussie, who is on track for his second consecutive runner-up finish in the Tour.

Saturday dawned cool and cloudy in Cérilly, central France, where the podium of the 95th Tour de France is being decided in a 53km time trial. Favorite to come out on top is Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), who rode the course a few months ago. He says the hills on the zigzagging course are power climbs suited to a strong time trialist like himself rather than the more lightly built Carlos Sastre, the race leader, who starts the day with a 1:34 advantage on the Australian.

On the eve of this race’s final test, the 53-kilometer time trial from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, CSC-Saxo Bank’s Carlos Sastre leads Frank Schleck by 1:24, with another 9 seconds to Bernard Kohl and — perhaps most ominously — 1:34 to Cadel Evans, who sits fourth. In this Tour's first time trial, a super-flat 29.5-kilometer race circumventing Cholet, Sastre finished 1:16 behind Evans and four seconds in front of Kohl.

Astana has sacked Russian rider Vladimir Gusev for reportedly showing “abnormal values” during the team’s internal doping checks. "Vladimir Gusev has been officially informed that he is no longer part of the team Astana," said general manager Johan Bruyneel in a news release. The three-time Russian time-trial champion showed "abnormal values" during an internal doping check, according to the release.

The former Saunier Duval-Scott team will continue as Scott-American Beef after the squad’s title sponsor announced Wednesday that it would leave professional cycling in the wake of a drug scandal at the Tour de France. Italian rider Riccardo Riccò tested positive for a new version of the banned blood booster EPO after the stage-four time trial, prompting the team to pull out of the race last week. Both Riccò and his compatriot Leonardo Piepoli, who had won the prestigious Bastille Day stage but had not failed a dope test, were sacked last Friday.

When I said yesterday that you could tell which directors weren't pleased with their teams' races, today you could tell who was f-ing pissed. If it weren't for the fact that they made the day one of the most painful I've ever raced I'd actually feel bad for the guys on Liquigas, and a couple of others to a lesser degree. As is the only sympathy is the fact that there were a lot of really, really hurting guys out there today and we all shared in it together. [nid:80807]