Road

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

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

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.

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

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

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,

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

There are some things I really like about this job and my regular trips to Italy have to be on the top of that list. I visited the offices of Guerciotti in Milan this week. Company founder Paolo Guerciotti and his son Alessandro welcomed me to the downtown facility that also serves as a showroom and warehouse. In its heyday in the 1980s, Guerciotti bicycles had a huge presence in the U.S., due in no small part to Ten Speed Drive Imports in Florida. At the time, Guerciotti was building 8000 bikes a year. Now, annual production is down to 1500, but the company continues to thrive thanks to

Defending Giro d’Italia champ Danilo Di Luca finds himself with so few contract prospects for next season that he’s made the extraordinary step of securing his own sponsors to underwrite his salary in the hopes of offering his services to a team for 2008 at a bargain-basement price. Di Luca - banned for three months by Italian authorities last month and stripped of his ProTour title by the UCI - seems too hot to handle for teams nervously watching the reaction from race organizers taking a harder line in handing out race invitations. “We’ve come up with our own solution and I have some

Levi Leipheimer’s trophy collection improved dramatically in 2007 with some quality wins that included his first-ever Tour de France stage victory, the Tour podium with third, the overall at the Tour of California and the U.S. national pro title. The return to the friendly vibe at Discovery Channel seemed to make all the difference for the 34-year-old. All the pieces came together as the Montana-native was back with the U.S. team after racing six seasons for foreign teams. Following Discovery Channel boss Johan Bruyneel to the new-look Astana team will keep Leipheimer in the familiar -

Repeating their dominant performances from 24 hours earlier at Saturday’s Redline Cup, reigning U.S. national cyclocross champions Ryan Trebon and Katie Compton crushed the competition on Sunday at the UCI C1 Boulder Cup cyclocross in Boulder, Colorado.

Reigning U.S. cyclocross champions Katie Compton (Spike Shooter) and Ryan Trebon (Kona-Yourkey.com) scored crushing wins at Boulder, Colorado’s Redline Cup on Saturday. A dusty Boulder Reservoir played host to the UCI Category 2 race, and what its long 1.5-mile course lacked in mud and climbing, it made up for with sections of loose sand. Riders powered through rim-deep sediment in a volleyball court and a long beach section — the latter forced less-skilled racers to dismount and run.

Former T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz has admitted having banned blood transfusions and using illegal blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) since 2003 in an interview slated to appear on Monday. The 27-year-old was fired by T-Mobile during this year's Tour de France after he failed a doping test when it was discovered he had abnormally high levels of testosterone. Sinkewitz spent five hours giving evidence to the German Cycling Federation's (BDR) disciplinary committee ten days ago in an effort to get his expected two-year ban reduced. And in Monday's edition of magazine Der

Juan José Haedo admits that winning in Europe wasn’t as easy as he expected after he made the high-profile switch from the U.S. domestic scene to join Team CSC for the 2007 season. The Argentine ace won six races – four in the U.S. and two in Europe – in his first of two years with the Danish outfit, but he admits victories were harder to come by than on the U.S. domestic scene where he says he could snag wins when he wasn’t at 100 percent. “Some things were harder than I thought they would be while others were slightly easier than expected. It’s a whole other way of doing things over here

The UCI unveiled its 2008 continental calendars earlier this month, with a few noteworthy changes to its America Tour schedule. In addition to national championship events, the ’08 calendar offers 16 elite men’s and espoirs’ races in the United States and Canada. Six elite UCI women’s events are slated for 2008, solely during the months of May and June. Four UCI elite men’s events, all stage races, will be held in Mexico, with none scheduled for elite women. Returning U.S. events include the season-opening Amgen Tour of California, April’s Tour de Georgia and September’s Tour of Missouri,

Raids: No links to UllrichA raid by German federal investigators on the premises of two doctors who have admitted supplying cyclists with doping products found no evidence linking them to former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich, according to German press reports on Thursday. Senior federal criminal investigator Wolfgang Maier said Wednesday’s raids on Freiburg University's clinic, plus the homes of doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmid, found nothing to link 1997 Tour winner Ullrich to the medical facility. Ullrich, 33, has been under a cloud of suspicion since he was sacked by

Earning a ticket to the Olympic Games is always a tense and nervous experience for any athlete, but two already have their boarding passes for Beijing thanks to strong performances this season. On the road team, Kristin Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer have already locked up berths for next summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. According to Andy Lee at USA Cycling, Leipheimer qualified thanks to his third-place overall and stage win at the Tour de France while Armstrong is in after scoring a silver medal at the Stuttgart world championships in September. For Leipheimer, the 34-year-old says

Before I started composing this week’s journal I sat lazily on my room bed, in what has to be the world’s most dilapidated Days Inn, looking at my road rash from Saturday’s crash wondering what I should write about. I pondered over a long list of reasons why I had such a poor showing at the races, but I didn’t want to bore you with the same excuses you’ve heard from every bike racer in the world as to why he or she didn’t do well. Let me just say this, before, during and after every race you should know your equipment, know your ability and stay focused. So, instead of giving you a whine

Levi Leipheimer likes what he sees in the new-fangled Tour de France route unveiled last week in Paris for the 95th edition of the grande boucle. Leipheimer says the interesting mix of shorter time trials and four summit finishes represents a perfect recipe for what he expects will be victory for his new home at Astana. He says whether it’s him or defending champ Alberto Contador stepping on the top rung remains to be seen. “It’s a great course for Alberto and me. We’re really looking forward to next year’s Tour,” Leipheimer told VeloNews in a phone interview from his home in California.

Consumers have more choice than ever when buying road components. Campagnolo, Shimano, SRAM all have viable options for those looking to equip a performance road bike. And those options may broaden even further in the near future with Eric Sampson’s plans to deliver a road group by January 2008. Will Sampson’s soon to be introduced Stratics road group be able to compete with the big three? It’s hard to tell by comparing his preproduction prototypes, but Sampson has the right attitude to compete. He says that he’s not trying to shave every possible gram. He wants to build it light but, first

Don’t think that disgraced Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso is idly wasting his time while he serves out his two-year ban for links to the Operación Puerto doping scandal. The 29-year-old Italian is plotting his return when his ban ends October 24 next year and is already in contact with several teams for what will be a full racing schedule for the 2009 season. According to a story in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Basso has been staying busy since admitting to Italian anti-doping investigators in May that he was a client of Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, the alleged ringleader of the

If you live in the three-country economic union known as Benelux – and ride a bike – odds are good that it’s a Ridley. The Belgium-based bike maker owns a 45-percent share of the road and ’cross market in its homeland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, according to the company’s international sales manager David Alvarez.

Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain said he never took banned performance-enhancing substances during his illustrious career. In a full-page interview with Indurain in Sunday’s edition of the Spanish sports daily MARCA, the 43-year-old Spaniard was asked by journalist Olga Viza what he would say if someone asked him directly if he doped. “I would say ‘no.’ I passed all the controls, thousands of them, so many I lost count. It’s something normal; you win, you pass controls and there’s no problem,” Indurain said. “What’s happening today is that everything is in doubt.” Indurain’s

Thanks to impressive finishes by its downhillers, Fort Lewis College defended its Division I collegiate mountain-bike national title during the 2007 USA Cycling collegiate national championships in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The Skyhawks defeated Lees-McRae College, host of the championships, 730 to 635. Taking the Division II title was the Colorado School of Mines, which edged Warren Wilson College, 636-626. Fort Lewis took the lead in the team omnium competition after Benjamin Sonntag grabbed the win in the cross-country on Friday. But Lees-McRae answered the challenge on Saturday with

Stu Thorne couldn’t call the weekend anything but a success, with Tim Johnson taking the second race of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross to make it a sweep for Thorne’s Cyclocrossworld.com team. And Katie Compton showed she needed no team to complete her one-woman domination of the races in Louisville, Kentucky, although Georgia Gould gave her a run for her money, finishing 26 seconds back despite a third-row start.

Cycling is continuing to be faced with massive hurdles and challenges going into 2008, as commanding bodies within the sport are still fractured while doping remains as big an issue and problem as it was at the beginning of 2007. As for T-Mobile, the entire team lived a tumultuous season where the future of the team constantly seemed in limbo due to a consistent stream of doping related problems, allegations and admissions. The team’s results were the best in the last three years, with over thirty victories and countless fine finishes highlighted by strong performances in all three Grand

Jeremy Powers and Katie Compton finished the first round of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross the way they started it – at the front. Those similarities aside, the pro races in Louisville, Kentucky, played out very differently. For the first half of the pro men’s event, it was two-on-two competition as Powers and cyclocrossworld.com teammate Tim Johnson traded blows with Kona’s Ryan Trebon and Barry Wicks. Then, it was just two as Powers and then Johnson rode clear.

The German-based T-Mobile women’s team completed its 2008 roster last week, with ten returning riders and three new signings, including American national champion Mara Abbott. After finishing the season at the top of the UCI rankings, the powerhouse T-team women’s is aiming even higher in 2008. In addition to Abbott, who spent 2007 with Webcor Builders, team director Anna Wilson and team manager Kristy Scrygmeour added German national champion Luise Keller as well as young talent Madeleine Sandig. “We are extremely happy to have finished the season accomplishing our goal to be the number

The climber-friendly 2008 Tour de France route looks ideal for defending champion Alberto Contador, but there’s no guarantee that he or his new-look Astana team will be at the July 5 start in Brest. Astana’s scandal-ridden 2006 season could prove an obstacle more challenging to overcome than any of the course’s mountains as Tour officials promise to take a harder line when considering which teams will take part in the season’s most important race. New Astana manager Johan Bruyneel admits the team must convince Tour officials that changes are more than cosmetic to prove it deserves a Tour

“We want to create a race that is not predictable.” So said Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme Thursday inannouncing the course for the 95th Tour, which takes place next year fromJuly 5 to 27. Prudhomme should get his wish because the 21-stage, 3554kmroute he presented has a plethora of stages that hark back to the dayswhen breakaways usually succeeded and the yellow jersey changed hands manymore times than it does in modern times.

When, earlier this week, the Tour de France directors Patrice Clerc and Christian Prudhomme embraced an initiative by the Union Cycliste Internationale and World Anti-Doping Agency to create a biological passport in the fight against doping, there was hope that three years of polemic were about to come to an end. Instead, in their presentation of the 2008 Tour at the Palais des Congrès in Paris on Thursday, Clerc and Prudhomme again spoke about their displeasure with the way cycling is being run. Although an invitation to the glitzy presentation was extended to UCI president Pat McQuaid, the

A couple weeks ago I ventured to Ohio for the UCI double-header weekend.I hadn’t planned to attend these races, but three days prior an email fromUnited Airlines offered me affordable flights to fabulous destinationssuch as, the Caribbean, Europe, South America and Cincinnati. With no major events going on in Colorado, I thought to myself ”Whynot?” and booked the flight. I quickly got the lowdown from promoters,Mitch Graham of BioWheels and Doug Dobrozsl of Queen City Wheels and thetrip was set. After arriving in Cincinnati late Friday night – well, actually earlySaturday morning – I

The haze of the tenuous late-season job market cleared up a bit last week as two up-and-coming domestic teams announced key signings. The Successful Living Professional Cycling Team, which recently sawteam sponsor Russ Dalbey of Successful Living commit to three more years with an increased budget, announced that it has signed a two-year deal with 27-year-old Canadian CharlesDionne. Dionne, the only two-time winner of the difficult San Francisco Grand Prix, joins the team after spending 2007 racing with the domestic squad Colavita-Sutter Home. Prior to that, Dionne spent 2006 with ProTour

Levi Leipheimer’s move to Astana is now official and he will join ex-Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel and Tour de France winner Alberto Contador at the new-look Astana team for 2008. Leipheimer said following the Disco-Astana migration was the natural choice following the closure of the Discovery Channel team at the end of this season after the long-running American squad couldn’t secure a new title sponsor. “It’s what I’m comfortable with. It’s what I am used to,” Leipheimer told The Associated Press. “It looked like everyone was going to go their separate ways. It was a big

Dear Lennard,I recently experienced a sudden blowout of my road bike front tire that led to a crash and lots of injuries. I’m writing in an attempt to determine what went wrong and why. Although I do not remember the crash here’s what I do know. I was with two friends and we were about three minutes into a descent and traveling at about 35 mph. My two riding partners tell me that I was in the front and we were on a sweeping turn when they heard a loud “pop” and suddenly I was down. My front tire had blown. As a result my inner tube has about a four- to five-inch slit in it but the tire

Reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador has a new home for the 2008-09 seasons. As previously reported on VeloNews.com, the Spanish climber on Tuesday confirmed a two-year contract with Astana. Contador follows former Discovery Channel sport director Johan Bruyneel to the new-look Astana team, which has been riddled with doping scandals during the 2007 season that saw star riders Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin test positive for blood doping. Contador, 24, insists that management changes within the Astana team will help assure a new start as he takes the difficult

Think back to what you were riding off-road a decade ago; you’ll probably chuckle. Maybe you had a 130mm stem, a 48-tooth big ring, or a Flite saddle — all of which were probably anodized purple — and none of which have any business being on a mountain bike. If you were at the cutting edge of suspension technology for cross-country racing you were riding an elastomer sprung fork with a cartridge damper. It’s a good bet it was a RockShox Judy. Back in 1997, I was riding for John Kemp’s RockShox DEVO team. I was a junior expert racer at the time. I had a Judy SL with 63mm of travel, and I was

Bobby Julich wants another crack at an Olympic medal and has penned a deal to continue with Team CSC through the 2008 season. The veteran all-rounder signed a one-year contract extension with the Danish team, his home since the 2004 season. “I signed after the Tour of Germany for one more year,” Julich told VeloNews in an e-mail. “After missing the Tour de France, I found my morale and really enjoyed helping the team. I am extremely proud to be on the best team in the world for the third year in a row.” Despite missing the 2007 Tour this year after a nasty stomach bug zapped him, Julich

The Spanish cycling federation on Monday cleared Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo, who tested positive for doping during the 2007 Tour de France, after a second test proved negative, his lawyer and the federation said. The federation informed Mayo "that the B sample had come out negative and for this reason it had ended" its inquiry, Mayo's lawyer, Jose Rodriguez, told AFP. The cycling federation confirmed the news and said there had been a mistake with the first sample. Mayo, a specialist climber, tested positive for blood-booster EPO during the Tour on July 24 and could have been suspended

Matthew Wilson was at a loss for words when, after seven of the most challenging days in his sporting life, it was finally announced he was the winner of the 2007 Jayco Herald Sun Tour. "I don't know what to say... It's the best feeling... I've only had a few victories in my career, and they're all special for different reasons, but this one goes down as probably the best," said the Unibet pro, overjoyed with his victory but also relieved a turbulent week was finally over. From the first stage to the last, won by Astana's Aaron Kemps from a three-man breakaway that

With just one stage to go, Matthew Wilson of Unibet.com is poised to take the biggest victory of his career in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, riding what may well have been a race-saving, race-winning time trial Saturday in Melbourne. Though the margin is small: a superlative performance against the clock saw Steve Morabito the fastest rider around the short but testing 8.6 kilometer course, his time of 11:32 moving the Astana all-rounder within three seconds of Wilson by the day's end. Right now, however, the yellow jersey appears to have all the confidence in the world in what has been a

It’s mid-October and while the Tour of Lombardy is this weekend, the domestic racing season is over. It’s the time of year when battle-weary riders rest their tired legs, reconnect with family and friends, quit shaving their legs and maybe even put on a few pounds. It’s a time that’s supposed to be relaxing, a short counter-balance to a long and stressful race season that now runs from February’s Amgen Tour of California through September’s USA Crits finals in Las Vegas. Health Net-Maxxis rider Kirk O’Bee has been spending time with his 5-year-old son Samuel, riding him to kindergarten and

While two-time defending world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic) is heavily favored to score his third consecutive Tour of Lombardy victory on Saturday, the venerable 242km fall classic is not the only title in play. The 2007 ProTour series is also up for grabs because the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) this week handed longtime ProTour leader Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) a three-month suspension for his implication in the 2004 Oil for Drugs scandal, which caused the UCI to drop him from the standings. These developments put the consistent Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) into the