Road

With six weeks of solid riding and several five-hour rides in my legs, my bike is starting to once again feel part of my body, and it now also seems to be moving more fluidly.

Just two weeks after announcing plans for an unusual twist for the 13th edition of the Tour de Langkawi, the organizing committee of the early season Malaysian stage race has issued a revised route more in keeping with the traditions of the event. On December 18, the committee released a route that included a stage 2 race to the hors catergorie Genting Highlands, a move that critics said would have decided the race too early.

The 91st edition of the Giro d'Italia will begin in Palermo and end in Milan after covering 3423.8km over 23 days, it was announced on Saturday. The exact course for the 2008 Giro, which begins May 10, was presented at a ceremony in Milan's Arcimboldi Theatre. It will begin with a team time trial and end with a 23.5km race against the clock. There will also be two other time trials throughout the race, including a 13.8km mountain time trial finishing atop the famous Plan de Corones.

Sven Nys further solidified his lead in the UCI World Cup of cyclocross Wednesday, winning the latest round in Hofstade, Belgium. Nys, who also won in Koksijde and Igorre and racked his total World Cup tally to 39 victories.

It’s that time of year for roadies. This month, many of the world’s top professional teams have made the move to warmer climes to reassess their 2007 campaigns and to get ready for the coming season.

Spanish cyclist Joseba Beloki, a three-time podium finisher on the Tour de France, announced his retirement on Friday. The 34-year-old had been without a team since being implicated, along with dozens of other cyclists, in the Operación Puerto doping affair which has dominated the sport's headlines over the past 18 months. Beloki finished runner-up to Lance Armstrong in 2002, having finished third in 2000 and 2001.

The revamped Astana cycling team, now under the management of former Discovery director Johann Bruyneel, is in Jávea, Spain, for a training camp this week. Long-time VeloNews photographer Graham Watson is there, documenting the first meeting of a restructured team before the 2008 season... and the final glimpses of another team as it closes shop at the end of next week.

So here you are in the middle of December and perhaps you already have a few holiday parties under your belt. How many rides or workouts have you already missed this month due to the change in season and a busy schedule?

Officials in Scotland are campaigning to have cycling's premier event, the Tour de France, come to Scotland within the next few years. The summer marathon on two-wheels staged a major success this year with huge crowds turning out to see the prologue time-trial in London followed by a first stage down to the Channel coast. And with cycling a boom sport north of the border, the national events agency EventScotland believes the time is ripe to lure the Tour. The organisation's corporate communications manager Leon Thompson told The Scotsman newspaper that negotiations are underway to

Organizers released details of the 2008 Tour de Langkawi on Monday, with the riders facing the formidable hors categorie stage to the Genting Highlands on the second day of the race. The Malaysian state of Johor is expected to play a major role in the 13th edition of the Tour de Langkawi when the southern state hosts three of the nine stages in a revamped route for the race scheduled for February 9-17. The route takes a significant departure from past editions, with the stage to Genting now longer and appearing earlier than it ever has before.

The Health Net-Maxxis team made one final roster addition this week by re-signing veteran sprinter and one-day specialist Kirk O’Bee for the 2008 season. “We’re really fortunate and excited to have a rider of Kirk’s quality back with the squad for the coming season,” noted team directeur sportif Mike Tamayo. O’Bee said he, too, is pleased to be back in Health Net – Maxxis colors for next season. “I’m really comfortable working with this team,” he said. “I know everyone. I had fun racing with these guys last year. We have a good squad and I want to help keep things going.” After a

It took Tim Johnson seven years to return to the top of American cyclocross, and it was fitting that the Massachusetts native grabbed his second-career elite ’cross title on a snowy day in Kansas City.

Bjorn Selander (Ridley Factory Team) came from behind to outkick Jamey Driscoll (FiordiFrutta) for the title in the under-23 men’s race Saturday at the windblown, snowswept USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Kansas.

The sands in the 2007 cyclocross season's hourglass are rapidly sliding to the bottom chamber. With the USA Cycling Cyclocross Nationals Championships in Kansas City on deck there is nothing left to do but wait until start time. All the preparation, training and racing has been completed and there is nothing that can be done over the next few days that will make you any faster. But there are plenty of things that can be done to make you slower, and with the holiday season upon us, it’s very easy to get sucked into the ever-tempting vortex of sweets, treats and libations. Luckily for me,

The 2009 Tour de France will begin July 4 in the principality of Monaco, organizers announced on Friday. This will be the first time the Tour has set out from the principality, though stages have finished there in five editions, including the famous finish between Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor when the Tour last visited Monaco, in 1964. In 2009, the Grand Départ will be a 15km individual time trial that includes a section of the famous Monaco Grand Prix circuit. Stage two will also begin in Monaco.

Steve Tilford collected his fifth cyclocross national championship on Friday at wind-whipped, mud-spattered Wyandotte County Park in Kansas City, Kansas. The KCCX-Verge-Eriksen Cycles rider won the masters 45-49 race in 43:03, nearly two minutes ahead of Kevin Hines, with another veteran ’crosser — two-time masters national champion Gunnar Shogren (Fort Factory Team) — taking third at 4:03 back.

Aqu, Inc., organizers of The Tour of America, a coast-to-coast professional stage race, on Thursday announced revised dates and a tentative route for its inaugural event. Based upon feedback from racers, professional racing organizing bodies, the media and supporters, the tour has been shortened to 21 stages covering approximately 2200 miles (more than 3500 km) and scheduled for September 6-28, 2008. The tour will start in New York's Central Park and travel through 18 states before finishing in Palo Alto, California. Cities along the race's route include New York City, Philadelphia,

Like Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador, Trek Bicycles has chosen to stick with Johan Bruyneel and join the Astana team. The Wisconsin-based manufacturer will become the team’s official bicycle supplier on January 1, 2008. Trek Travel will also partner with Astana, offering behind-the-scenes access to the team. SRAM announced its sponsorship of Astana on November 25.

The Milan show had a lot more to offer than I could cover in the brief column I posted last week. Here are few more items from the trade show that celebrates both the technology and style of some of Italy's most respected bicycle companies. 1988 World Champion Maurizio Fondriest’s face, half of which is made of components, graces the booth promoting the bikes that bear his name.

Men's 200-meter sprintDutchman Theo Bos easily beat Frenchman Mickael Bourgain 2-0 to take gold in the men’s sprint at the second stop of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics that concluded Sunday. In both finals heats Bos overtook Bourgain on the final straightaway, winning each time by less than half a wheel length. After the second heat the reigning world sprint champion pulled off his helmet and sunglasses, then raised his arms in triumph, acknowledging the crowd at Beijing’s Laoshan Velodrome. In the bronze medal round German Stefan Nimke defeated France’s Kevin Sireau

American Michael Friedman won the men’s scratch race on Saturday at the UCI Track World Cup Classics in Beijing, China. Friedman beat Walter Fernando Perez of Argentina and Tim Mertens of Belgium to score the second U.S. medal of the meet. On Friday, Sarah Hammer rode to the bronze in the women’s individual pursuit. In other racing, Great Britain collected two medals, winning the team pursuit and the keirin with Chris Hoy. France scored thrice, with Francois Pervis winning the kilometer time trial, Arnaud Tournant placing second in the keirin and Sandie Clair and Clara Sanchez claiming

David Millar has taken a seat on the World Anti-Doping Agency's Athlete Committee, the organization announced this week. The 30-year-old Scot, who joined the Slipstream team as a part owner for 2008, has been a strong anti-doping advocate since serving a two-year suspension for confessing to using EPO. Millar, who will join elite athletes from throughout the world on the committee for one year beginning January 1, is the first athlete from Great Britain to serve on the committee. "I'm delighted to have been elected and am looking forward to getting involved," Millar told The

American Sarah Hammer rode to a bronze medal in the individual pursuit as the second round of the UCI Track World Cup Classics series opened Friday in Beijing. Australian Katie Mactier took the gold with Britain’s Rebecca Romero second. In men’s racing, Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain took the individual pursuit ahead of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Dyudya with Russian Alexander Serov winning the bronze-medal round against American Taylor Phinney. Wiggins, the reigning Olympic and world champion, made a late-race comeback to take the gold. Dyudya led at the 2000- and 3000-meter marks, but Wiggins

Alexander Vinokourov, suspended for blood doping by his national federation, announced his retirement from the sport at a press conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Friday. The 34-year-old and his Astana team were kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France after he tested positive for homologous blood doping. "I am stopping competition ... It's a definitive decision," he told a news conference. "I don't want this sport anymore ... I'm slamming the door and I'm leaving."

Five T-Mobile riders resorted to blood doping on the 2006 Tour de France, a newspaper report will charge on Saturday. According to the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the riders made a dash to the Freiburg University Clinic in Germany immediately after the prologue in the French city of Strasbourg. There, the report alleges, they all received transfusions of their own blood, a practice outlawed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Former T-Mobile cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz, who was convicted of doping with testosterone in July and banned for a year by the German cycling federation (BDR), recently

The UCI has expressed its surprise and astonishment at the Kazakh cycling federation's decision to ban Alexander Vinokourov for only one year for blood doping. Thursday's ruling paves the way for the disgraced Kazakh cyclist to compete at the Beijing Olympics, as his suspension runs up to July 2008, the month before the games start. In explaining how the Kazakh federation arrived at its decision, vice president Nikolay Proskurin said: "Documents and evidence presented by Vinokourov and his lawyers were not convincing. We decided to disqualify him for a year.” Proskurin added: "I

Against a backdrop of falling television audiences and dwindling roadside support, the organizers of the Vuelta a España on Wednesday called for their shrinking fan base to rally behind the race once again as they unveiled the route for the 2008 edition. "This will be the Vuelta of hope, a chance for a new cycling," said race director Victor Cordero as he unveiled the 63rd edition of the Spanish national tour. The three-week, 3173km race begins August 30 in the southern city of Grenada and ends September 21 in Madrid. Its 21 stages include three time trials, among them a team time trial,

The French finance company Cofidis will continue underwriting its cycling team until the end of 2009, it was announced on Wednesday. In a press release, the company said that supporting cycling in the long term offered a “formidable” return on its investment. Cofidis has been a part of the professional peloton since 1996. The company also vowed “to continue and intensify” its commitment to drug-free cycling. Cofidis quit the 2007 Tour de France when rider Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone after stage 11. The 35-year-old former Italian champion was sacked and subsequently

The Tour de Georgia is still hunting a title sponsor for 2008, but with five new host cities, a team time trial on Braselton’s Road Atlanta motorsports track and the enthusiastic backing of Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, race director Jim Birrell was optimistic on Wednesday as organizers announced the route for next year’s race. The 2008 race will include five new host cities and feature a team time trial on Braselton’s Road Atlanta speedway. “We’re in a much better situation than we were last year,” said Birrell of Medalist Sports during a press conference at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at

Due to having my computer stolen and losing a ton of information, photos, time and momentum, I had not yet posted anything about last month's Milan bike show. Scheduled in early November, its relevance as an important international bike show has declined over the years, but given the rich history and passion of the Italian bicycle industry, it nonetheless had much to offer in the way of eye candy.

Campy’s Red Shifters Red is, and always has been, the color preferred by Italian auto racing teams, says the Italian bicycle components manufacturer Campagnolo. And using this symbolism Campy will turn the Record shifters it supplies to its professional teams red. The letters on the shift bodies of both shifters will be changed from white to red.

Saturday Afternoon - It was drizzling in Oz this morning. That’s okay, because the track is covered making us feel less guilty about being inside. The scratch race has no consequences for the Olympics but it’s a popular event and full of surprises. Travis Meyer squeaked through in his heat. We remember him from his days at Junior Worlds when he won three world track titles in a 10 hour time span. His brother Cam took the bronze last night in the points. A poignant moment for me yesterday came when a struggling Magnus Bäckstedt (bronchial infection) was working with Travis to regain the

Cadel Evans rates his No.1 ranking at the end of the 2007 ProTour more highly than even his runner-up finish in this year's Tour de France. "For me, personally it was better than getting second at the Tour and it's not easy to do," the 30-year-old Australian said Sunday. "It's taken from all of the big races from February to October so it's a long time to have to be good for. "In terms of races or contracts or whatever, maybe it isn't (better) but for me personally it was." Evans faces a testing 2008 season with the Tour de France and the Beijing Olympics road race just

Mickael Bourgain led a French domination of the men's sprint on the final night of the opening leg of track cycling's World Cup in Sydney, Australia, on Sunday. Bourgain fought off team-mate Kevin Sireau, winning both his races in the final. England's world keirin and kilometer time trial champion Chris Hoy prevented a French clean sweep of the medals, beating world team sprint champion Gregory Bauge of France for the bronze medal. "I felt very very good and I am happy with the tournament," Bourgain said. "My hardest match-up was against Greg Bauge, but that is how it goes.

Chris Hoy won the men's keirin event as British cyclists claimed two goldmedals on the second night of the UCI World Cup track meet in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday. Hoy, the reigning keirin and kilometer time trial world champion,downed compatriot Ross Edgar and world sprint champion Theo Boss of theNetherlands to take gold. Great Britain followed up with gold in the men's team pursuit, beatingNew Zealand. The British team of Edward Clancy, Stephen Cummings, Chris Newton andindividual pursuit world champion Bradley Wiggins won in a time of 4:01.196seconds over 4000 meters. Team

Chris Hoy won the men's keirin as British cyclists claimed two gold medals on the second night of the UCI World Cup track meet Saturday in Sydney, Australia. Hoy, the reigning keirin and kilometer time trial world champion, downed compatriot Ross Edgar and world sprint champion Theo Boss of the Netherlands to take gold. Great Britain followed up with gold in the men's team pursuit, beating New Zealand. The British team of Edward Clancy, Stephen Cummings, Chris Newton and individual pursuit world champion Bradley Wiggins won in a time of four minutes 01.196 seconds over the

Just like most of the T-Mobile riders this week, Michael Rogers wasn’t sure what lay in store when he heard news that the German telecommunications giant was pulling the plug on its title sponsorship of the team. Despite some uncertainty, the Aussie GC rider believes the team’s future is safe as team manager Bob Stapleton scrambles to reorganize the squad in time for the start of the new season. “I did think [the team was dead]. T-Mobile chips in several million dollars a year and to find a sponsor of that caliber, in these conditions, is no easy thing,” Rogers said in an interview with the

Editor’s Note: - Connie Carpenter is at the UCI World Cup in Sydney, Australia, this week, accompanying her son, 2007 world junior time trial champion Taylor Phinney, as he enters his first elite level track competition. The 1984 Olympic gold medalist has agreed to send us reports throughout the event. Friday Morning - All the buzz is in the infield as the Track World Cup got under way on Friday morning. The track is outside Sydney, further than the Olympic Park complex – in a quiet zone known as Bass Hill. It’s familiar, but oh so strange, to be here in my first trip to Oz. Everyone is

Dual Olympic champion Ryan Bayley and Athens silver medalist Katie Mactier delivered Australia a golden opening night at the cycling World Cup season opener in Sydney, Australia, here Friday. Bayley continued his build-up to next year's Beijing Games by spearheading Australia's Team Toshiba to victory in the men's team sprint final, while Mactier claimed gold in the women's individual pursuit. Australia's time trial world record holder Anna Meares took silver in the women's sprint as she seeks to make the event her own for the Olympics after her favorite event, the

While news of Deutsche Telekom’s decision to withdraw its support fromits cycling program was disappointing, it was far from unexpected, saysT-Mobile rider Michael Barry. Barry told VeloNews that he and his teammates formally learnedof the decision just prior to the release of the news to the public thisweek, but had been prepared for the possibility since May, when time trialspecialist Sergei Honchar was suspended for violating the team’s own internaldoping policies. Honchar was subsequently fired “for violations of theteam code of conduct.” “When Honchar was suspended, the situation

The official route details won’t be revealed until Saturday, but more features of the 2008 Giro d’Italia are being discovered. Local officials in Sicily unveiled the profiles of the opening three stages of the 2008 Giro set to begin May 10 on the Italian island. The corsa rosa will begin with a 28.5km team time trial in Palermo and pass most of the city’s most interesting landmarks with the start in front of the Teatro Politeama and concluding near the Massimo theatre. The first road stage will roll from Cefalu to Agrigento, running from the north to the south of the island over a route

The Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis, winner of four consecutive NRC team titles, announced its 2008 roster this week, making it one of the domestic scene’s strongest teams for the coming season. “The guys we’ve re-signed for ’08 were instrumental to the success of the team in 2007,” said team director Mike Tamayo. “Building the squad around these guys will ensure the team is just as strong next season.” Anchoring the returning group is individual NRC title winner Rory Sutherland. In his first season racing in North America, the 25-year-old from Canberra, Australia, showed

Twenty Americans will compete in the opening round of the 2007-08 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics, which runs from Friday through Sunday in Sydney, Australia. The U.S. national team and seven American pro track teams are among the 48 nations and 23 trade teams set to compete in the season’s first major international event, which factors into Olympic qualification. The U.S. national team includes Adam Duvendeck (Momentum), Brad Huff (Slipstream-Chipotle), Bobby Lea (Toyota-United), Giddeon Massie (T-Town Express), Dotsie Bausch (Colavita-Sutter Home-Cooking Light), Liz Reap (T-Town

Hamid Akhavan, the CEO of T-Mobile International, is probably glad that the name of his company won’t continue to be trashed by the German media, which has made dope-tainted cycling its principal target over the past 18 months. This 46-year-old Iranian, who has held the top position at T-Mobile for less than a year, was previously the German company’s chief technology officer, with degrees from the California and Massachusetts Institutes of Technology. Akhavan is carving out a name for himself in the world of wireless technology but, at least in the sports world, he will be remembered as the

German tour holds steadyDespite the shock of the departure of T-Mobile as Germany’s top cycling sponsor, officials from the Deutschland Tour say the nation’s leading stage race will go ahead as planned. T-Mobile’s abrupt departure from cycling is continuing to ripple through Germany and the cycling community at large, but so far the damage seems to be limited to its role as team sponsor. T-Mobile also is a major sponsor of the 10-day German tour, but so far there hasn’t been any decisions made on whether it will continue to support the race. “The Tour of Germany will take place no matter

The T-Mobile cycling program has lost its title sponsor, but the American director of the men's and women's teams said Tuesday that both will continue to operate with private support. Deutsche Telekom AG announced on Tuesday that it “has elected to end sponsorship of professional cycling with immediate effect.” The decision affects both men’s and women’s teams. The Bonn-based telecommunications group has been involved in cycling since 1991. The current contract had been scheduled to run until December 31, 2010. "We arrived at this decision to separate our brand from further

Much of what I do in life is collect information about bicycle technology, and earlier this month I went to the Milan bike show to do just that. But when my week-old MacBook Pro computer was stolen from me on November 7, I learned about some new technology that compromised my collections of bicycle information. I want to tell you what I learned with the intentionof saving somebody else the stress and hassle I went through.

Alberto Contador is out to prove his 2007 Tour de France victory was no fluke. The Spanish climber says he’s ready to get back to the business of training and preparing for the 2008 Tour after a busy off-season that’s included a seemingly endless stream of publicity appearances. “With so many commitments I’ve hardly had time to rest, but I’m ready to get back on the bike and begin again from zero,” he told MARCA during a break at an award’s ceremony in Spain. “I need to stop these and get back to work.” Besides scores of post-Tour criteriums, Contador’s hardly raced since his surprise Tour

The newest player in the road component market is apparently not being hesitant in its efforts to make a name for itself in racing circles. SRAM announced that it has signed a second ProTour-level cycling sponsorship after having reached an agreement to supply the reorganized Astana team with components. In a release issued Monday, the Chicago-based component company pointed to the light weight of its RED group as the reason Astana director Johan Bruyneel showed interest in the deal.

U.S. national cyclocross champion Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) has been racing across the pond this fall, and successfully, too, taking a win and a runner-up finish in two World Cup races. She dropped us a note after Saturday’s race in Koksijde, Belgium; here’s what she had to say about how her race unfolded. — Editor The race definitely wasn't pretty on my part (I spent more time swimming in the sand than actually riding it), but somehow I managed to just not suck completely and pull out a podium. The course was fairly technical — there were five sand sections that were difficult to

Sastre eyes Tour, Vuelta double; Michaelsen new DS Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre isn’t about to fiddle with a formula that works. The veteran Spanish climber confirmed once again he’ll race both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España with eyes toward podiums in both grand tours in 2008. “I still haven’t finalized my schedule, but what’s sure is that I will race both the Tour and Vuelta again next year,” Sastre said during an awards ceremony in Spain. “As always, I will arrive in the best condition possible and try to do the best I can.” Sastre has proven to be Mr. Reliability in grand

German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz, who was recently handed a one-year suspension for a failed drugs test, admitted on Saturday that he used doping products in the build up to the 2000 World Championships. The 27-year-old, sacked by Team T-Mobile in July after abnormal levels of testosterone were found in his blood, says he doped while preparing for the 2000 world’s in Plouay, France. Sinkewitz was part of the German Under-23 team, but pulled out of competing a few days before the championships and he says officials in the team knew he doped. Sinkewitz, who has previously revealed details of

Normally, I compose a journal article after only one, maybe two, hours of weekend cyclocross racing and generally have more than enough interesting material to write about. But, last week I logged in more than 20 hours of chamois time, and depleted two tubes of Chamois Butter, during La Ruta de los Conquistadores in Costa Rica. There are so many things to write about, I feel like I could publish a book. A few months ago my girlfriend, Heather, a wedding and event planner, got the opportunity to help a colleague with a wedding in Costa Rica over Thanksgiving and asked me if I wanted to tag

Katie Compton is on a crusade in the motherland of ’cross. She won round three of the Cyclocross World Cup in Pijnacker, The Netherlands on November 3. Daphny Van Den Brand, winner of the previous round in Kalmthout, Belgium, was second by almost a minute. This past weekend, Compton again put her stamp on an international field at the third round of the Superprestige Series in Gavere, Belgium. At the world cup, Compton won, but in Gavere, she dominated, taking first by a hefty 2 minutes and 46 seconds.

Italy’s Liquigas is turning its back on defending Giro d’Italia champ Danilo Di Luca and will rebuild the team for 2008 with a youth movement that includes seven new riders. With Di Luca’s contract not extended following a tumultuous season (see below), the Italian ProTour team will refocus its efforts with the arrival of classics/sprinter Daniele Bennati, Enrico Franzoi and five other younger riders. Di Luca won the Giro and Lìege-Bastogne-Liège, but saw what looked like a lock on his second ProTour title in three years when he was banned for three months by Italian officials for links to

If Alejandro Valverde was hoping for a quiet off-season, he was wrong. Representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency were expected to meet Monday with Court of Arbitration for Sport officials in connection with an effort to try yet again to secure a racing ban for the beleaguered Spanish rider for alleged links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. Officials from both the UCI and WADA said last week during the Third World Conference on Doping in Sport in Madrid they were “considering their options” about what to do with Valverde, who they insist is linked to the alleged blood doping

Rain, 30-degree temperatures, and a course greased so slick with mud that racing turned cartoonish at times caused words like "real" and "'cross race" to commingle during Sunday’s fourth round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross near Trenton, New Jersey. Sloping hairpin turns that posed little threat during Saturday's dry conditions turned treacherous, and running them became faster than risking wipeouts. Defying the weather and the gossip that he can't race in mud, Ryan Trebon (Kona–YourKey.com) took his second victory in as many days.

Georgia Gould (Luna) and Ryan Trebon (Kona – Yourkey.com) claimed their first U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross victories of the season Saturday at Mercer County Park. Fit and fast, both Gould and Trebon rode races marked by power, technique and perhaps a little luck on a course that required rhythm, balance and acceleration. An interesting mix of twists and turns forced racers to stitch together angles and "highways" for an interesting race; a gigantic sandpit the size of three volleyball courts and eight 12-inch vertical steps made sure to drain them of any reserved energy.

Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling from your friends at VeloNews.com.

With the news of Chris Horner joining fellow American Levi Leipheimer at Astana just hours old, another staple of American cycling also has also been linked to Kazakh team — Trek Bicycles. “We’ve definitely looked at it,” said Scott Daubert, Trek’s former Discovery Team Liaison and current road bike brand manager. “Johan Bruyneel was here right after the Tour of Missouri two months ago.” With the Discovery Channel sponsorship concluding in 2007, Trek officials knew they needed something else for next season. Daubert said Trek had three options: quickly find a ProTour team; take a year off;

German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz was given a one-year suspension by the disciplinary committee of the German Cycling Federation on Friday. The 27-year-old was fired by his T-Mobile team during this month's Tour de France in July after he was found to have had an abnormally high level of testosterone in his blood during a pre-race test on June 8. Sinkewitz then confessed earlier this month in German magazine Der Spiegel to having used EPO since 2003. Sinkewitz he also gave five hours of evidence to the BDR's disciplinary committee in a bid to get his expected two-year ban reduced.

Chris Horner will stay in Europe, José Luís “Chechu” Rubiera won’t retire and Vladimir Gusev remains “at home” as all three are poised to join the new-look Astana team for the 2008 season. The Astana team announced the new arrivals Friday as well as revealed it will cover salaries it says were left unpaid to several riders from the 2007 season in a move that cuts all ties with former team manager Marc Biver. “It’s worked out really well,” Horner said. “It’s fantastic. It’s going to be a great squad. We’ve got great sponsorships. It’s exactly what I wanted to stay in Europe.” Horner’s

Troubles for Michael Rasmussen aren’t over yet. The Danish climbing specialist could face a two-year ban after lying about his whereabouts ahead of this year’s Tour de France. Rabobank fired Rasmussen while leading the 2007 Tour with just days to go following inconsistencies about where he was in the weeks ahead of the race. On Thursday, UCI president Pat McQuaid told VeloNews that Rasmussen’s lies could come back to haunt him and insisted that latest admissions fall short. “We are considering sanctions. If he lied, to me that’s the same as a positive in a doping offense,” McQuaid said

Team CSC has won the ProTour team title three years running, but team boss Bjarne Riis is wondering if it’s worth taking aim for a fourth title in the wake of major changes in store for the season-long series for 2008. With all the major grand tours and several important one-day classics removed from the ProTour as part of a major restructuring of the European racing calendar, Riis is skeptical about how much the series title would mean. “Without the grand tours and the other important races, you don’t have to be very clever to see that the ProTour isn’t the same,” Riis told VeloNews. “We

David Zabriskie is the only guy in the world who has earned a very special yellow sticker shaped like the map of France for his top tube. The sticker proclaims “Fastest Time Trial Ever: 54.676kph, David Zabriskie.” Ever since he won the 19km prologue at Noirmoutier in 2005 at that record speed, beating a stellar Lance Armstrong and donning the yellow jersey, cycling fans have marveled at his great bike position. But despite having a very low, narrow, incredibly aerodynamic position, his first time ever in a wind tunnel was Monday, November 12. That will probably come as a surprise to many,

Organizers of the Amgen Tour of California released details of the 2008 edition Tuesday, highlighting an eight-day, 650-mile race slated to start with a prologue at Stanford University, in Palo Alto, on February 17 and end a week later in Pasadena. The 2008 edition of the Tour of California will visit 12 host cities for official stage starts and finishes, including Palo Alto-Stanford University (new in 2008), Sausalito, Santa Rosa, Sacramento, Modesto (new in 2008), San Jose, Seaside, San Luis Obispo, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita and Pasadena (new in 2008). "The challenging

Patrik Sinkewitz will not face criminal charges following this month's doping confession, said a spokesman for the Bonn public prosecutor's office on Tuesday. The 27-year-old German was found to have an abnormally high level of testosterone in his blood during a routine doping control before this year's Tour de France, and T-Mobile subsequently sacked him during the Tour. Earlier this month, he confessed in the German magazine Der Spiegel to having used the banned blood booster EPO since 2003. The Bonn resident has agreed to pay an undisclosed five-figure sum to charity, but

After two years of testing the waters in their Amgen Tour of California, race owner Anschutz Entertainment Group and race organizer Medalist Sports are ratcheting up the difficulties for the third edition next February. Until now the highest climb on the course was the 2155-foot San Marcos Pass into Santa Barbara in 2006, while the ruggedly steep Sierra Road, prior to the stage 3 finish in San José, tops out at 1943 feet. Sierra Road remains for 2008, but prior to tackling this redoubtable ascent, the riders will have already climbed the 4360-foot Mount Hamilton; and on the eight-day race’s

To get to Tabor, in the Czech Republic, from Belgium you can either fly (a two-hour flight) or drive. My father, my mechanic for the World Cup, and I decided to fly. This was a big mistake. The reason I shied away from driving was due to my limited web research that noted “difficulties” driving in Czech. But after the stress of our car, plane, bus, metro, train and walking journey, any difficulties driving would be welcomed. As my father said, about halfway into our trip, when we had to purchase an additional bus ticket, since the first one was not for the ‘Airport Express,’ “You pay to

José Luís “Chechu” Rubiera – who rode in six of Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France teams – said he’ll decide this week whether he’ll continue with his career. The veteran Spanish climber already told VeloNews during this year’s Vuelta a España that he was facing difficulties finding a new contract for 2008 following the dissolution of Discovery Channel. With job offers scarce, Rubiera said he would rather not race than to compete on a smaller team with a low salary. So far, he admits that the market is tough. “The situation is pretty bad. It isn’t so much that offers aren’t coming in,

The committee empaneled to review Michael Rasmussen’sfiring and ejection from this summer’s Tour de France issued a report Mondaysupporting the actions of Rabobank team officials, but questioning theirdecision to allow the Danish rider to start the race in the first place. After a three-month review, the Vogelzang committee of inquiry – organizedby the team’s sponsor, the Dutch financial firm Rabobank – concluded that team officials acted properly when they firedRasmussen at the height of the Tour, while he was wearing the yellow jersey.“The report is critical and extremely thorough,” said

Sorry for my tardiness with this journal entry. It’s been more than a week since the double-header UCI weekend in my hometown of Boulder and I think I have finally caught my breath. Once again, Chris Grealish and his Denver/Boulder Courier Events crew put together quite a show. Saturday’s Redline Cup and Sunday’s Boulder Cup offered contrasting and challenging courses, huge crowds and tough competition. Not to mention, some sore legs and lungs for yours truly. And, despite the lactic-acid buildup still lingering in my quadriceps, it was nice to have some big races close to home. Sure, I

German sportswear giant Adidas will end its sponsorship of the T-Mobile cycling team at the end of 2008 at the latest, and perhaps earlier, after a raft of recent doping controversies that have rocked the team. Adidas said its contract would be not be extended beyond its 2008 expiration date and added that the company was seeking to terminate it with immediate effect. "This has been relayed to T-Mobile officials this week," said Adidas in a statement. "It's the result of the revelations of the last few days." Adidas was referring to the doping confessions of rider Patrik Sinkewitz,

Tour de France hope Michael Rogers got a reprieve Friday when the UCI officially cleared him of any suspicion following testimony by ex-T-Mobile teammate Patrik Sinkewitz last week. Some media reports suggested that Sinkewitz, following testimony he gave to the Germany cycling federation (BDR), hinted that Rogers could be among riders who might have undergone banned blood transfusions ahead of and during the 2006 Tour. On Friday, the UCI issued a statement confirming that Rogers is not implicated in any doping affair. “Contrary to reports in certain sections of the media, the Australian

USA Cycling released its 2008 National Racing Calendar (NRC) on Wednesday, outlining a schedule that offers more than $1.2 million in prizes for elite cyclists competing in the U.S. next year. Entering its 12th season, next year’s NRC features 35 events across 23 states and will again crown the nation’s top domestic individuals and teams. Of those 35 races, 31 of them will feature women’s events while 28 will include men’s racing. Beginning February 19 with the Santa Rosa Women’s Grand Prix in California, the 2008 NRC spans seven months, concluding with the Priority Health Grand Cycling

Jef d’Hont -- the former Telekom soigneur who spilled the beans on extensive doping practices within the German powerhouse during the 1990s -- plans to reveal more accusations against Jan Ullrich in a new book. The Belgian plans to publish in early 2008 new allegations that will point the finger squarely at 1997 Tour de France champ Ullrich. “There will be new information incriminating Jan Ullrich in the book,” d’Hont told the German sports magazine, Sport Bild. “Jan Ullrich doped with EPO in 1996.” D’Hont’s first book, “Confessions of a Soigneur,” released this spring, blew the lid on

In yet another bizarre twist of just where Michael Rasmussen was in the weeks and days before the start of the 2007 Tour de France, the Danish climbing specialist now says he never went to Mexico as he previously insisted and says that his Rabobank team knew about it all along. Rabobank fired Rasmussen while wearing the yellow jersey just four days shy of a likely Tour victory over alleged discrepancies in reports of his whereabouts during critical, pre-Tour testing windows for surprise anti-doping controls. “First of all, I would like to clearly state that I was not in Mexico in June. I

With such Tour de France veterans as Magnus Bäckstedt, Julian Dean, David Millar, Christian Vande Velde and Dave Zabriskie on its 2008 roster, Slipstream-Chipotle appears to be a certain starter at next year’s Tour — taking over the role as “the American team” previously played by Discovery Channel, U.S. Postal, Motorola and 7-Eleven. At the Tour presentation in Paris last month, both Slipstream’s American team manager Jonathan Vaughters and Danish directeur sportif Johnny Weltz were confident of performing well. “My first big wish is of course to get the invitation to the race,” said Weltz,

Hamburger admits to EPO abuseBo Hamburger, the ex-rider who holds the distinction of being the first to test positive for the banned blood booster EPO in 2001, admits that he started using the drug back in the 1995 season. Hamburger said the EPO use continued through the 1997 season. The revelations come as part of a tell-all book he’s just released in his native Denmark. “Doping was part of cycling in the middle of the 1990s and the victories back then came as at a level playing field because we all took it,” he writes in his book. “It was a general practice. My alternative would have been

Boulder, Colorado didn’t get a USGP this year, but Chris Grealish and his team of Boulder-Denver Couriers put on a weekend of UCI ’cross racing that rivaled the best of the series. Crowd estimates were put over 2000 and CrankBrothers even made the trip out to set up a tent in the venue and do some racing. Since it’s more than midway through the domestic season there are not too many unseen tech’ secrets, but we spotted a few new items, mostly in the form of tires.Click Image for Full Gallery