Road

Mix-and-match
Dear Lennard,
At one time I read in your column that you can change Campy 9-speed ergo shifters to 10-speed. Is this true and what are the details?
Guido Dear Guido,

With the introduction of its top-level Red group last fall, upstart road component manufacturer SRAM took a shot directly across the bow of the industry leader. Shimano’s soon-to-be-released 7900 series Dura-Ace group is clearly a direct response to Red and it adds considerable firepower to the full-on techno' wars raging among the three big component manufacturers.

The wet cobbles were icy slick from street cleaners that rinse off the grime from the morning delivery trucks, the sticky ice creams from the after school snacking kids and the alcohol from the late night revelers. I rode through the old town of Girona cautiously, my bike slipping and skidding in the corners, to meet the “boys” for a training ride; the shopkeepers who were sweeping their steps in daily routine, waved a friendly hello and smiled.

Sunday’s final time trial gave Slipstream-Chipotle and High Road the perfect way to celebrate what’s been a very successful Giro d’Italia for both teams. Five riders from the two U.S.-registered teams filled out the top-six in the final stage of the 91st Giro, with Marco Pinotti scoring High Road’s fourth stage victory of the race while Christian Vande Velde and Danny Pate capped a successful Giro with fifth and sixth, respectively.

Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel celebrated his 11th grand tour victory from behind the steering wheel of a team car with Alberto Contador’s unlikely Giro d’Italia win Sunday. Bruyneel answered questions about the team’s anti-doping program and Contador’s unexpected rise; here are excerpts from the press conference: Question: Can you talk about the team’s work with Damsgaard?

Taylor Phinney and Danny Summerhill, VeloNews magazine’s joint selection as the 2007 North American juniors of the year, each had impressive rides on European soil over the past weekend.

Magura’s Marta three-model brake line-up is new for 2009. This is the first time the brake has been redesigned since its introduction at Interbike in 2001. While Hayes may have been the first to popularize disc brakes for mountain bikes, Magura’s Marta is responsible for making a high performance hydraulic disc brake light enough for even gram-counting cross-country racers to accept. The fact that it has had a seven-year run, without change, in such a competitive market is a testament to the strength of the original design.

For many domestic teams, the next eight days in Pennsylvania can define a successful or disappointing season. No disrespect to the emerging tours of California, Missouri and Georgia, but the trio of races commonly referred to as Philly Week historically boast some of the deepest fields in all of North American bike racing and a podium spot in Lehigh Valley, Reading or Philadelphia will undoubtedly be placed near the top of any riders palmares.

On Sunday, two-time Italian national time trial champion Marco Pinotti proved yet again that he is one of the world’s best in that specialty, particularly when it comes to the grand tours.

If you were to think of the upcoming Commerce Bank series as a stage race rather than a series of three one-day races, then Arlington, Virginia’s CSC Invitational criterium would be the prologue. Like those brief preambles to the big tours, the CSC race certainly doesn’t hold all the answers to what will unfold in the coming days, but it can provide a bit of a peek at what’s to come.

Alberto Contador is so happy with his pink jersey that he says he wouldn’t want to swap it for a yellow jersey even if the Tour de France organizers change their minds about his team’s exclusion. The defending Tour champ secured overall victory at the Giro d’Italia in Sunday’s final-day time trial and said the unexpected victory makes up for the controversial exclusion his Astana team from the 2008 Tour.

Now Alberto Contador can go back to the beach. After interrupting a vacation a month ago to pack his bags to head to Italy, the defending Tour de France champion secured one of the most unlikely victories in cycling history to claim the 91st Giro d’Italia on Sunday. “It’s never been so worth it to leave a vacation early,” Contador said. “I didn’t know I was coming to the Giro until eight days before the race. This Giro has a special flavor and perhaps means more to me than last year’s Tour.”

Julien Absalon (Orbea) can be beaten. After three rounds of the World Cup, when the world champion looked untouchable, he faltered on Saturday in the high altitude conditions in Andorra, while Christoph Sauser gave Specialized their first World Cup victory of the season.

The second round of the 4X World Cup in Andorra was a bit of a slow speed affair, after rain in the morning undid some of the work the organizers had done to repair the ruts and soft spots from earlier in the week. Despite that, there was some exciting racing on a course that allowed riders to pass multiple times, and saw more than one come from behind win in the qualifying heats.

High Road's Judith Arndt won the Montreal World Cup road race Saturday, the second time in three years she has won the race. Her win pads her lead in the World Cup standings. Arndt attacked on the final climb of the 11-lap circuit with year's winner Fabiana Luperini. Arndt won the two-up sprint to take her second World Cup win this season. “I love coming to Montreal,” Arndt said before the race, “even though I’m always really tired when I get here [after coming straight from Tour de l‘Aude]. It’s a really great race and a great atmosphere.”

Alberto Contador (Astana) is 28.5km from winning a Giro d’Italia he never expected to start. The Spanish climber deflected a flurry of last-gasp attacks from arch-rival Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) over the Gavia and Mortirolo in Saturday’s 232km mountain shootout to retain the maglia rosa and roll into Sunday’s final-day time trial with the narrowest of margins.

Marga Fullana (Massi) became the fourth World Cup winner in four races this season, with a completely dominating performance Saturday at VallNord in Andorra. Another breakthrough for Pendrel Canada's Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) finished third behind Eva Lechner (Colnago), but added to her lead in the overall standings. Catharine Pendrel (Luna) put a second Canadian rider on the podium with her best ever World Cup result in fourth place.

Steven Cisar led the United States Cycling Team on Saturday with a silver medal in the elite men's contest at the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships in China. As one of two Americans to qualify for the final eight-man main, the Californian finished 0.384 seconds off the pace of winner Maris Strombergs (LAT), while Stifiso Nhlapo (RUS) took the bronze and American Donny Robinson (Napa, California) placed fourth.

This year's Tour de Georgia brought almost $40 million in economic impact to the state, a university study has found. The estimated total is about 40 percent more than last year. North Georgia College and University determined economic impact using data collected by crowd intercept surveys at all race starts and finishes.

Alberto Contador (Astana) might be wishing he was back at the beach after fending off relentless attacks from Danilo Di Luca (LPR) and Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) in Friday’s wild 19th stage that saw him save his maglia rosa by the narrowest of margins. Contador saw his grip on the pink jersey trimmed to four seconds to Riccò and 21 seconds to Di Luca and looks vulnerable going into Saturday’s epic stage over the Gavia and the Mortirolo.

Andy Hampsten and his 7-Eleven-Hoonved team appeared to have everything under control before the 1988 Giro d’Italia’s final stage, a long time trial on a rolling circuit at Vittorio Veneto. The American climber, 26, enjoyed a spaghetti lunch after a short morning stage and then rested in his room prior to the Giro’s ultimate challenge.

Balance is a concept that most everyone believes in principle. If you have it, things go along nicely. If you don’t before long things start to unravel. Balance applies to almost everything. As it pertains to cycling, it’s easy to take balance for granted until the unraveling starts. At first, we just happily pedal. Then after lots of happy pedaling, a knee will begin to hurt, or an Achilles will flare up. It’s never both knees, it’s always just one. It’s one side or the other. What went wrong? We just want to pedal. What’s the harm in that?

This Sunday’s 11th edition of the CSC Invitational marks the start of a week of international racing along the East Coast. Many teams will be using the flat 1km course in downtown Arlington, Virginia, as a primer for the upcoming Philly race week (comprised this year of three of the biggest races on the US PRO calendar including the Lehigh Valley (June 3) and Reading (June 5) Classics and culminating in the 24th edition of the Philadelphia International Championship on June 8th.

It was 20 years ago Saturday that Andy Hampsten rode through a blizzard over the Passo di Gavia to claim the pink jersey and become the first and only American to win the Giro d’Italia. Most people seem to remember that it was Hampsten who also won the stage, but it was another young, up-and-coming rider who was first across the line into Bormio on June 5, 1988.

Toyota-United's Dominique Rollin won this week's Ricola Twilight Grand Prix in Basking Ridge, New Jersey Jeff Hopkins (Team Inferno) was a close second to Rollin at the Wednesday night race, now in its third year, held in downtown Basking Ridge. Photographer Kurt Jambretz of Action Images was there to capture the action.

A composite team of top collegiate women cyclists will compete in next month's Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota. The Ryan Collegiate All-Stars Team was selected at the collegiate road national championships earlier this month in Fort Collins, Colorado. Selection was based on the final individual overall standings for riders who were not already on teams that were attending Nature Valley.

It really comes as no surprise, but now it’s official: Alberto Contador (Astana) says he won’t be racing next month’s Dauphiné Libéré. Leading the Giro d’Italia with just three days to go, Contador will likely head back to the beach once the Giro ends Sunday to resume his vacation that was interrupted when the team received its unexpected Giro invite a week before the race started.

Former world champion Igor Astarloa, who pulled out of the Giro d'Italia after just one stage, is facing dismissal, his Milram team announced Thursday. The team had apparently asked the Spanish rider not to start stage 2 of the Giro after internal blood tests showed an aberrant result. The result did not mean that the 32-year-old Astarloa had tested positive, the team added, noting that a decision to fire him is pending. His lawyer, meanwhile, is contesting the results.

It was a world championship-style victory for Jens Voigt (CSC) in Thursday’s 147km 17th stage that traced the routes of the 2008 and 2009 worlds courses. Voigt attacked an all-star group that included two-time world champ Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) and the national champions of Italy and Spain with 35km to go at the start of two finishing circuits on the Varese worlds course the peloton will see in October. Chasers left it too late and never saw Voigt again as the German diesel hammered home to one of his most impressive victories of his head-banging career.

Levi Leipheimer came to the Giro d’Italia as part of the last-minute invitation for Astana that included Alberto Contador and Andreas Klöden as co-leaders. Leipheimer was at home in California when he got the call and he quickly made arrangements to fly to Sicily. No one knew what to expect. The team wanted nothing more than to make the most of the unexpected situation. Flash forward three weeks and Contador is poised to become just the second Spanish rider to win the Giro.

Is Mark Cavendish so good that he’s already gifting sprints? In the manner that High Road teammate André Greipel sprinted to victory ahead of Cavendish and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) ? when Cavendish looked back to Bennati at least three times to check that the Italian wasn’t pulling through ? it would seem so. No way, says Greipel. The burly 26-year-old bristled at the suggestion that the biggest victory of his professional career was handed to him by his younger teammate.

If there were any doubts that Andy Hampsten was entitled to the 1988 Giro’s pink jersey, they would be exposed on the crucial stage 18, an individual 18km mountain time trial from Levico Terme up to the ski station of Vetriolo Terme. With Frenchman Jean-François Bernard out of the race because of a crash the previous day, the logical favorites for the stage win were the other top climber/time trialists: Hampsten, Erik Breukink, Urs Zimmermann and Roberto Visentini.

Rock Racing is the new title sponsor of the Skyscraper Harlem Cycling Classic. The 35th anniversary edition will be be held on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15th, at Marcus Garvey Park, 5th Avenue and 121st Streets, in New York City. The crit is a stop on the USA Crits racing series and will be broadcast by World Championship Sports Network (WCSN). Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball said it was important for Rock Racing to support an event that has annually brought world class cycling talent to one of the nation's longest-standing African-American cultural and business centers.

Doug Ellis was on the way to the Verona train station when he hitched a ride with a pair of journalists. We couldn’t help but pull out the tape recorder when we drove the chairman of Slipstream Sports on his way to catch a train after the start of Saturday’s 14th stage. Here are excerpts of the in-transit interview: VeloNews: How important was it to win the opening team time trial?

Monday’s spectacular yet controversial stage up Plan de Corones capped a trio of decisive mountaintop finishes that saw Alberto Contador whittle out a slender but perhaps decisive lead going into the final week of the 91st Giro d’Italia. Contador hasn’t won a stage yet, but he’s finessed his way into a 41-second lead over Riccardo Riccò thanks to a superb time trial in stage 10 and three consistent performances across the Dolomites.

One by one the team stepped on to the bus, sweat pouring from their faces, their jerseys wide-open, radio earpieces hanging from their salt-encrusted helmet straps, road dirt and carbon brake dust on their faces, veins pulsing on their sweat soaked arms and legs. As helmets were buckled and seats found, each said in his own way, with his own accent, “That was the best lead-out I have ever been a part of.”

The Colavita Sutter Home team took three of the six podium spots at the Tour of Somerville on Monday. Lucas Sebastian Haedo and Kyle Wamsley took the first two spots in the men's race, while Jonathan Page was third. Wamsley was second at Saturday's Kelly Cup NRC race in Baltimore. National crit champ Tina Pic won the women's race, outsprinting Cheerwine's Kelly Benjamin and Aaron's Erica Allar.

A pair of gravity veterans took home the USA Cycling 4X Pro National Championship in Angel Fire, New Mexico on Sunday. Rich Houseman (Temecula, California) claimed the stars-and-stripes jersey for the pro men, while Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Arizona) won the title for pro women.

Frayed nerves that were already threadbare after two torturous weeks at the 91st Giro d’Italia spilled over Monday in the 12.9km mountaintop time trial up gravel roads to Plan de Corones. While it made for great TV and proved popular with the tens of thousands of fans who trekked up the summit, it proved to be another source of irritation in an already exasperated, race-weary peloton.

At least there were two riders who were in high spirits after Monday’s grueling 12.9km climbing time trial up the spectacular summit at Plan de Corones. While nearly the entire peloton was a chorus of complaints over the difficulty of the controversial 16th stage up slippery gravel roads with grades as steep as 24 percent, Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) and Alberto Contador (Astana) both had plenty of reason to celebrate.

When Andy Hampsten survived the snowstorm over the Passo di Gavia at the 1988 Giro d’Italia and took over the maglia rosa (see Hampsten and the 1988 Pink Jersey: Part 1) the battle to become the first American to win the world’s second most prestigious grand tour was far from over. There were still seven days to go, including two time trials and four mountain stages, before the finish in Vittorio Veneto.

Price: $65 Web site:Parktool.com Weighs a lot: Park’s latest digital bike scale has a capacity of 55 pounds, and reads in pounds or kilograms on an oversized digital display. In kilograms it measures and displays to .01kg (.01 kg = 10 grams). In the pounds mode the resolution is 1 oz. (1 oz. = 28.35g). Its composite resin housing can be clamped in a bike stand or hung from a hook in the ceiling. Its two-prong hook is silicone coated to protect your bike’s finish.

Price: Shorts: $75; jerseys: $70. Sizes: Small to XXXL Web site: www.teamtype1.org Team Type 1 is a domestic professional team developed to inspire people living with diabetes. The team is now making its jerseys, shorts, gloves and other gear available to the public.

Starting under darkening skies with scattered rain showers, the 4th annual Priority Health Tour de Leelanau was fortunate to end in bright sunshine after some very aggressive racing. Organizers said the Tour de Leelanau drew the deepest fields of racers to ever compete in Michigan. Starting in the fishing village of Leland and ending in Peshawbestown on the edge of Traverse Bay, the race course for the Tour de Leelanau traveled from corner to corner of this scenic Michigan county.

Alberto Contador (Astana) went from beach bum to Spain’s best chance to win the Giro d’Italia since Miguel Indurain won back-to-back editions in 1992-93. Contador rides into Monday’s decisive individual time trial at Plan de Corones nursing a slender but significant 33-second lead to Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir).

Spain's Gustavo Cesar (Karpin Galicia) claimed the overall victory in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Sunday. Jose Leon Carrasco (Andalucia-Cajasur) took the sixth and final stage, a 122.1km run from Palleja to Barcelona. France's Remi Pauriol (Crédit Agricole) took an eight-second overall lead into the finale, but finished outside the top 10 and slipped to third overall behind Cesar and Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d’Epargne).

Susanne Ljungskog (Menikini-Selle Italia) won the Tour de l'Aude on Sunday. The ninth and final stage, a 71km leg around Limoux, went to Germany's Judith Arndt (Team High Road), who outsprinted Ljungskog and Nicole Cooke of the British national team.

Under normal conditions, Alberto Contador (Astana) claiming the maglia rosa might bring some certainty to the 91st Giro d’Italia. But there’s nothing predictable about this explosive and unpredictable race with a week still to go. The defending Tour de France champ faltered in Sunday’s six-climb, 154km 15th stage, but had just enough spin in his legs to slink into the overall lead by 33 seconds — a lead that by his own admission might be only temporary.

David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) won Saturday's Kelly Cup criterium in Baltimore's Patterson Park. The 20-year-old Canadian outsprinted Colavita's Kyle Wamsley and compatriot Dominque Rollin (Toyota-United). Mid way through the race a seven-man breakaway formed that included Jonny Sundt and Veilluex from Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast. But with less than ten laps to go the break split and Sundt returned to the field and Veilleux was left in a four-man break. Veilleux went into the last 100 meters on Rollin's wheel then came around Rollin and held off Wamsley for the win.

High Road speedster Ina Yoko Teutenberg won her second stage of the Tour de l'Aude on Saturday. Teutenberg was the fastest in a group of some 30 riders that broke away on the hilly eighth stage, starting and finishing in the town of Bram. “I was a bit lucky because I was really tired after getting into the break and it was windy, too.” Teutenberg said. “Another rider went for it on the other side of the road at the finish and I thought it would be close but I finally won by about a bike length.”

How do you define an epic? It’s a noun grossly over-used by sportswriters, particularly those who write about cycling. Through the years, European journalists have described heroic deeds by brave athletes on bicycles with gushing prose that was rarely deserved. They even titled road racing’s formative years The Heroic Era.

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic has been canceled for only the second time in its 37-year history due to heavy snow in the San Juan Mountains north of Durango. Race director Gaige Sippy told The Durango Herald that the Colorado State Patrol pulled the plug at 6 a.m. Saturday after five inches of snow fell at Durango Mountain Resort overnight, with a foot of the white stuff burying the finish line in Silverton.

Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare) swapped tears of frustration for tears of joy Saturday after winning a blockbuster stage as the overall favorites squared off up the grueling 7.7km climb to the Alpe di Pampeago summit in the 91st Giro’s first clash in the Dolomites. The 195km, two-climb stage lived up to expectations to deliver big surprises as Sella pulled away early as part of a 13-man breakaway at 13km that also included Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream-Chipotle).

The 2008 National Racing Calendar turns a page into the summer season this weekend with a trio of NRC events in New Jersey, Michigan and Maryland.

The three races

I’m going to go against the norm this week and start with the bad news. Right now I’m sitting in the Steaming Bean coffee shop in rainy Durango, Colorado, one day out from what is supposed to be my first A-priority event of the 2008 season, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. For those unfamiliar, the Iron Horse is among America’s longest running cycling events, this year celebrating its 37th anniversary.

Alberto Contador (Astana) is poised to become the first Spanish rider to wear the pink jersey since Juan Carlos Dominguez won the opening prologue in 2002. The only question now seems to be which day it will happen as the defending Tour de France champ enters a trio of tortuous climbing stages across the heart of the Dolomites positioned perfectly for a maglia rosa assault.

It’s unlikely that Mark Cavendish will become the peloton’s new gentleman sprinter, but he was gracious enough Friday to say thanks to Daniele Bennati for not closing down the sprint 100 meters shy of his second win in the 91st Giro d’Italia. The High Road sprinter didn’t elaborate on whether or not he also said arrivederci as he burst past his Liquigas rival in what’s fast becoming recognized as the most lethal last-second punch in the peloton.

Liquigas's Daniele Bennati won Thursday's 12th stage of the Giro d’Italia, winning a furious sprint by the narrowest of margins over Mark Cavendish (High Road) at the end of a 172-kilometer race from Forli to Carpi. Quick Step's Giovanni Visconti finished in the main field and kept the the maglia rosa of the overall race leader.

Your pre-ride meal can provide a maximum performance boost.

Italian Alessandro Bertolini (Diquigiovanni) won Wednesday's wild ride into Cesena in the 11th stage at the Giro d'Italia that saw a cascade of crashes in yet another wild day of racing at the corsa rosa. Overnight leader Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) defended his pink jersey, but only after being dropped twice and overcoming a crash with 30km to go in the 199km, mountainous stage over what were once the training routes of Marco Pantani.

Tuesday offered another time trial at the Giro, this time from Pesaro to Urbino. The first half was flat, and its second half climbed about 400 meters, including a 10 percent stretch at midway and a 12 percent section three-quarters of the way through. Riders had to decide if they wanted a full-on TT bike, which would be great for the first half and not so great on the second half, or a road bike with a clip-on that would be sub-par for the first half and shine on the second half?

Portuguese police say they found evidence of widespread doping after raids Monday on LA-MSS, a continental team that includes several Operación Puerto “refugees,” wire services reported Tuesday. Police didn’t officially reveal the name of the team, but the Portuguese sport daily, A Bola, reported in its Tuesday edition that Portuguese authorities visited the residences of riders on the LA-MSS team. Authorities said the investigation, which was conducted under the national anti-doping council and the national anti-corruption bureau, is ongoing.

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) powered to his second consecutive victory Tuesday to conserve his lead at the 88th Volta a Catalunya in Spain. A winner of Monday’s opening prologue, Hushovd out-kicked Bernard Eisel (High Road) to sprint to victory in the 167.8km stage from Riudellots de la Selva to Banyoles. Hushovd widened his grip on the overall leader’s jersey to second-place George Hincapie (High Road) by 10 seconds thanks to a finish-line bonus.

Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) might raise Italian donkeys, but he rode like a thoroughbred in Tuesday’s rainy and very difficult 39.4-kilometer to upset the favored Andreas Klöden (Astana). The 33-year-old Bruseghin, who has more than a dozen donkeys and grows wine grapes on his farm in Vittorio Veneto, surged to just his third career victory in impressive fashion. The veteran Italian relegated the heavily favored Klöden to third by 40 seconds, but the real surprise was the second-place ride at just eight seconds off the pace by the injured Alberto Contador (Astana).

Six weeks ago, Slipstream-Chipotle’s Timmy Duggan was slated to be a member of team time trial winning squads at both the Tour de Georgia and the Giro d’Italia. Instead, Duggan went down in a pileup in Georgia the day before the TTT and suffered a brain injury that landed him in an Athens hospital for several days. Duggan hasn’t raced since and his season’s plans are now up in the air.

After a week of avoiding crashes and keeping a low profile, Andreas Klöden (Astana) will reluctantly step into the spotlight in Tuesday’s 39.4km individual time trial that will be the 91st Giro d’Italia’s first major litmus test. The media-shy Klöden will be favorite for the decisive 10th stage as the main contenders for the maglia rosa step up to show their cards after nine nervous and exciting days of racing.

Kazakhstan’s Zulfia Zabirova won the third stage of the Tour de l'Aude on Monday, soloing in to victory at the end of 111km race around Corbi Lézignan-res. High Road’s Judith Arndt continues to hold the overall lead in what has grown to be one of the world’s premiere stage races for women.

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) notched an impressive prologue win in Monday’s opener at the Volta a Catalunya against some pretty impressive company. Hushovd, 30, used his combination of strength and technical skills to claim a six-second victory over George Hincapie (High Road) on the short, but challenging 3.7km course in Lloret de Mar. Spanish rider José Ivan Gutiérrez (Caisse d’Epargne) and Tomas Lovkvist (High Road) tied at seven seconds off the pace with world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC) stopping the lock nine seconds in arrears.

Reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Astana) has promised to continue riding in the Giro d’Italia, despite learning that he suffered a minor elbow fracture in a crash last Saturday. "Contador's visit to the radiologist today (Monday) revealed a fissure in the radius head of his left elbow," his Astana team said in a statement on Monday. "The fracture without dislocation stems from his Stage 8 crash from Rivisondoli to Tivoli (on Saturday)."

Most sports have a distinct off-season. For the super ambitious cyclist, there is a cycling medium for any time of year. Road and mountain bike racing goes all spring and summer, 'cross rages in the fall and winter, and with the sweet indoor ADT velodrome in LA, track goes all year round. I have many athletes finish their road or mountain bike season in September, go right into 'cross, and a few are good enough to make the worlds 'cross team, committing them through the end of January … leaving them a month before the next road/mtb season starts in earnest.

Brave Soldier Brave Shave Price: $15 Size: 6 ounces Web site: www.bravesoldier.com Safe from a razor’s edge. Brave Soldier’s Brave Shave was originally designed for the specific task of body shaving associated with the sports of cycling and swimming. But according to the brand it has proven perfect for the ‘ultimate face shave.’

Somebody once made the mistake of asking “What do you think about out there during five hour races? It can’t all be focus, right?” You asked for it! A sampling of my really, really random inner monologue from the second stage at the Four Days of Dunkirk, starting while rolling from the camper to the start: Wow. It’s really nice today. Why are we starting in a dive strip mall parking lot? Lame. I need to pee.

There is one less stage race on the National Racing Calendar as Pennsylvania's Tour de 'Toona has cut back from being a seven-day race to a single-day criterium. The crit will be held July 27th and have a $30,000 prize list. Organizers plan to return to a stage race format in 2009, race director Larry Bilotto said. “This was not an easy call to make; by initiating just a one-year reduction, we feel we can produce an even stronger International Tour de ‘Toona stage race in 2009.”