Road Racing

UCI president Pat McQuaid told Reuters on Sunday that there were no positive tests at this year’s Tour de France. Based on controls taken so far, McQuaid said he is optimistic about the future of the sport. "At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.” McQuaid spoke to reporters Sunday during the final stage of the Tour of Ireland.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) consolidated his lead in the Eneco Tour by beating some of the more specialist fast men in a sprint for the finish of Monday's sixth stage. Boasson Hagen grabbed precious bonus seconds for the win, extending his lead over American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) to 21 seconds going into Tuesday’s final 13.1km individual time trial. Farrar, the winner of three stages so far here and the leader until Boasson Hagen took over on Sunday, finished third on the stage, just behind Australian Matthew Goss (Saxo Bank).

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde will lead Caisse d'Epargne at this year's Vuelta a España, the team announced on Monday. The 29-year-old, who finished second in the 2006 Vuelta, did not compete in this year's Tour de France after being banned from competing in Italy for two years by the Italian Olympic Committee after he was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal. The decision, which Valverde has contested, kept him out of the Tour, the 16th stage of which passed through Italy. The Vuelta takes place from August 29 to September 20.

Cadel Evans will lead Silence-Lotto at the 64th Vuelta a España with hopes of reaching the podium in the season’s final grand tour. Evans struggled through the recent Tour de France, finishing out of the top 10 for the first time, but will be riding to make amends for a frustrating performance in July with something big at the Spanish tour. The Aussie all-rounder has raced the Vuelta three times, abandoning in 2004, finishing 60th in 2004 and just missing the podium with fourth in 2007.

Interchangeable lenses are nothing new to performance eyewear. But historically, removing and replacing the lenses required a clenched jaw and careful application of force. Often, flexing the frame to pop out a lens felt like the frame was about to break. A revolution in sunglass technology has changed all that, to the point that a number of novel solutions to lens interchangeability now share space in the marketplace. We’ve assembled several sunglasses to look at their approach to lens removal and replacement.

Simon Gerrans – the popular Aussie rider left out of the Tour de France by his Cervélo team – got his revenge Sunday. Gerrans became the first Australian to win the GP de Plouay, the 14th race in the season-long ProTour calendar, held on a hilly course in western France. Gerrans won ahead of defending champion Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom) and Germany’s Paul Maertens (Rabobank).

Bernie Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) overtook the OUCH-Maxxis sprint train roaring out of the final corner of the Downtown Salt Lake Criterium on Sunday to win the bunch sprint in final stage of the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Sulzberger powered away from U.S. criterium champion John Murphy (OUCH-Maxxis) and Chris Barton (BMC Racing Team) in the final 200 meters to take the win.

The Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show kicked off its second year on Saturday at Denver’s National Western Complex. Eye candy abounded, and a steady stream of visitors kept the 70 or so exhibitors busy talking most of the day. Free microbrew samples ensured that spirits were high, and the relative coolness of the vast hall sheltered visitors and exhibitors alike from the 96-degree heat outside.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the leader's jersey from Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) after placing second in Sunday’s fifth stage of the Eneco Tour behind Lars Bak (Saxo Bank). Bak made his dash for the line 5km out to edge Boasson Hagen by two seconds with Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-N.G.C.) third. Farrar missed out in the late breakaway and came in 30 seconds adrift to see Hagen pass him overall by 15 seconds following the 204.3km stage to Sirrard in the Netherlands.

Russell Downing (Candi TV) stuck it to the ProTour squads at the Tour of Ireland Sunday, escaping on the weather-shortened circuits of Cork to take the overall win and second on the stage behind Norway’s former road and cross-country champion Lars Petter Nordhaug (Joker-Bianchi). Saxo Bank animated the rain-drenched stage from Bantry along the southern coast to Cork. With five riders within shooting distance of the GC, the Danish ProTour team stacked many of the day’s early breaks and pushed the pace.

Tour de France stage-winner Juan Manuel Garate will be part of Rabobank’s starting nine for the upcoming Vuelta a España. Garate, who won atop Mont Ventoux ahead of Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC), crashed during the Clásica San Sebastián earlier this month and broke a finger. He’s been able to recover in time and will be at the start line Saturday in Assen, Holland for the commencement of the 64th Vuelta. The presence of the veteran Spanish climber brings added firepower to the strong Rabobank squad for the season’s third and final grand tour.

Felt-Holowesko's Alex Howes has a unique way of signaling attack, but riders might take note in the future if the reigning U23 road champion opts for unusual nutritional choices near the finish of a race. On Sunday, near the end of the tough 153km fourth stage, Howes bit off a hunk of hot dog and shot away from the day's long breakaway to take his first NRC win on the mountaintop finish at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort at the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. [nid:96996]

Liquigas-Doimo heads to the 64th Vuelta a España with a strong team and even stronger ambitions. Led by GC threats Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas will start the Spanish tour with high hopes for a shot at overall victory as well as stage victories with the likes of Daniele Bennati and Manuel Quinziato.

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) did what he does best at the end of stage 2 of the Tour of Ireland. After a fast, slightly downhill leadout from his man Bernie Eisel, Cavendish turned on the afterburners to take the victory ahead of Rabobank’s Michael Van Staeyen and Saxo Bank’s Stuart O’Grady. “It’s great to win,” Cavendish said. “It was a tough circuit but once the peloton came back together we took control with 2km to go.”

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) won the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour on Saturday, his third victory of the stage race through the Benelux countries. Farrar, further secured his hold on the overall leader’s jersey, outsprinting Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia) and Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre). Farrar also won the first and second stages. Sunday’s fifth stage covers 204.3 kilometers over many of the same roads included in the Amstel Gold Race. The Eneco Tour ends Tuesday, with a 13.1km time trial in Amersfoort, in Holland.

The blistering heat that has marked the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah gave way to blistering times Friday night as the stage 3 individual time trial rolled onto the grand prix track at the Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele, Utah. Tom Zirbel (Bissell) redeemed his sub-par performance in Tuesday’s prologue and returned to the form he has exhibited for most of 2009. Zirbel punished his cranks for 14.5 km to put in the fastest time of the night in 17:00, 14 and 19 seconds ahead of BMC teammates Ian McKissick and Brent Bookwalter, respectively.

Russell Downing (CandiTV) outkicked two Saxo Bank riders out of a small group to win the first stage of the 2009 Tour of Ireland. Astana and Saxo Bank drove the peloton hard up and over the day’s categorized climbs, shattering the field and setting a group of 23 riders free with just under 40km to go. Alexander Kolobnev and Matti Breschel (both Saxo Bank) finished second and third ahead of Philip Deignan (Cervélo) on the 196km stage from Powerscourt to Waterford.

Française des Jeux’s Yoann Offredo has been ruled out of next week’s Vuelta a España, after suffering injuries in the Eneco Tour. The 22-year-old Offredo crashed in the second stage of the Eneco Tour on Thursday and suffered a collarbone fracture. Offredo had been listed on Française des Jeux’s preliminary start list for the Vuelta.

It was nearly déjà vu in the finale of stage 2 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Wednesday as Darren Lill (Team Type 1) sped away from a select group of chasers on the climb to Mt. Nebo. Lill was not to be denied the stage win as he was by Garmin’s Blake Caldwell in stage 2 in 2008, staying away on the slopes of the highest point in the Wasatch for the solo win.

In just a few years on the US market, Shimano’s PRO component line has already achieved good visibility. Lately prominent on the bikes of Columbia-HTC riders and of course those of Skil-Shimano, PRO bars, stems, and other parts appear destined for reasonably broad acceptance.

American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) won the second stage of the Eneco Tour on Thursday, further consolidating his hold on the overall lead. Farrar won a field sprint at the end of a 178.1km stage from Ardooie to Brussels, adding to the sprint win he earned in stage 1 on Wednesday. Farrar outsprinted Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux) and Columbia-HTC’s Edvald Boasson Hagen for the win in Brussels. The stage was marked by several breakaway attempts, the last of which was reeled in just 500 meters from the line.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Felt Bicycles has issued a voluntary recall of about 1450 2007/2008 F1X Cyclocross bicycles. The bicycle’s fork steerer tube can break, causing the rider to lose control, fall and suffer injuries. There have been six reports of these forks breaking with minor injuries reported in two of the incidents. The recall includes all 2007/2008 Felt F1X Cyclocross Bicycles. These bicycles are available in Semi-Matte Black and have aluminum frames with carbon fiber forks with aluminum steerer tubes.

There only thing certain about Alexander Vinokourov’s immediate future and whether or not he’ll race the Vuelta a España is that it is all far from certain. Despite some reports that Vinokourov has the go-ahead to start the Vuelta next weekend with Astana, nothing is settled yet for the returning Kazakh rider. According to Astana team spokesman Philippe Maertens, paperwork that would ease the way for Vinokourov’s return to the Astana fold is complete, but there’s still no final agreement between all the major players.

Recent injuries have put GC-threat Juanjo Cobo's Vuelta a España in doubt. The 28-year-old Fuji-Servetto leader crashed during training last week ahead of the Trittico Lombardo, resulting in serious abrasions and bruises to his arms and hands. Later X-rays revealed a fracture in the Spaniard's right shoulder. Despite doctors’ orders to stay off the bike for three weeks, Cobo is still hoping to start the Vuelta. Team manager Joxean Fernández included Cobo as part of the starting nine for the Vuelta, with Iker Camaño as the first replacement.

Francisco Mancebo and Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) pulled off a one-two finish in the first stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Wednesday. The tandem sprang away from the fadiing peloton on the climb above East Canyon Dam and extended their lead to a maximum of 35 seconds before coming through the finish on the outskirts of Salt Lake City together, 25 seconds ahead of a disorganized chase group that contained overnight leader Brent Bookwalter (BMC). The result vaulted Mancebo into the overall lead over Sevilla by 9 seconds.

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) sprinted to victory in the 184km first stage at the 5th Eneco Tour on Wednesday in Belgium. A major crash marred the finale into Ardooie, Belgium, sending scores of riders somersaulting to the ground in a high-speed melee. Farrar avoided the mishap and darted to victory, sprinting ahead of Tom Boonen (Quick Step), with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) coming through third.

Defending champion Jeff Louder's BMC Racing Team put a resounding stamp on the first day of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah in Tuesday evening's prologue, placing four riders in the top ten with Brent Bookwalter taking the win beneath the Utah State Capitol Building. Bookwalter blazed through the foothills above Salt Lake City to win the 2.8-mile prologue with a time of 6:12. Garmin-Slipstream’s Dave Zabriskie stopped the clock two seconds off Bookwalter’s pace in 6:14. Ian McKissick (BMC) rounded out the podium less than half a second outside of Zabriskie’s time.

How do the big races produce custom leaders' jerseys so fast?

Why does my bike 'autoshift'?

Why is my bottom bracket noisy?

Can I retrofit QR15 legs on my SID fork?

Over the years Jeff Louder (BMC) has been a pretty noticeable guy at The Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic – he’s been on too many stage podiums to count, and has finished in the top three overall five times, including third overall at the 2009 race, which concluded July 26. At this year’s race, he stood out in another way – he had an odd circular pink and black object stuck to the top of his helmet.

When Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) says he’s on good form, you better believe him. Fresh off sprinting to victory in Sunday’s Hamburg Cyclassics race in Germany, Farrar came within a whisker of winning the opening prologue at the Eneco Tour, which clicked into gear Tuesday with a 4.4km course.

Gary Fisher is best known for producing innovative, race winning and fun-to-ride mountain bikes. That’s all about to change. With the introduction of the Gary Fisher road bike line in 2010, you can expect to associate the Fisher brand with both the dirt and the tarmac. Already, the Kelly Benefit Strategies pro team has ridden the Gary Fisher Cronus to major wins with the Tour de Beauce, by Scott Zwizanksi and most recently the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium by David Veilleux.

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis) and Lea Davison (Maxxis) won the short track on Sunday in the Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain in New York. Kabush, following his victory in Saturday's cross country, added a little icing to the cake by taking the short track ahead of Sam Schultz (Subaru-Gary Fisher and Sid Taberlay (Sho-Air-Specialized). Davison, meanwhile, outfought Luna teammates Katerina Nash and Georgia Gould to win the women's race.

A matter of inches

Garmin-Slipstream's Tyler Farrar sprinted to victory in the Vattenfall Cyclassics on Sunday. Farrar out-sped Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) and Gerald Ciolek (Milram) to become the first American to win the 216.4km circuit race in Hamburg, Germany. Having lost out several times on sprint stages to Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish in this year's Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, the 25-year-old Farrar said he was pleased to finally get a win under his belt.

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Willow Koerber (Subaru-Gary Fisher) won their respective Pro XTC cross-country races in the Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain in New York on Saturday. Kabush overcame a close encounter with a stump to take the win in 1:38:46 ahead of Max Plaxton (Sho-Air-Specialized) with Todd Wells (Specialized) third. Koerber, meanwhile, celebrated her first pro win in five years by crossing just ahead of Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel, who finished second and third, respectively.

Into a gully, then into the lead

This just in from Northwave: The company is starting to show some early releases from the 2010 shoe line, including the Rebel SBS mountain bike shoe. The Rebel SBS is positioned as a mid-priced, high performance trail shoe that includes many features from the top-line product.

Phillip Gaimon defended his title at New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb on Saturday, as Canadian Sue Schlatterer easily won the women’s division. After near-record-setting spring and summer rains, Mother Nature blessed the 37th edition of one of the toughest hillclimbs in the country with a warm and near-perfect day. At race-time the temperature at the base of the Auto Road (1565 feet) was an unusually warm 75, while the summit (6,288 feet) posted a balmy 60, with wind speeds at just 20 mph.

Lance Armstrong (Mellow Johnny's) won Colorado's Leadville 100 on Saturday, knocking more than 15 minutes off of the old record, about a half hour ahead of six-time winner Dave Wiens. Armstrong rode about 60 miles alone off the front, finishing with a nearly flat rear tire. Armstrong ally Matt Shriver helped drive the pace in the early miles, powering a group of eight along the relatively flat mid-section of the course and into the base of the turn-around climb. Shriver hung on, despite problems with his cleat, to finish third.

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As we've already reported, several Trek-supported riders are on hand in the high country of central Colorado to keep the pace high as Lance Armstrong takes his second stab at the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race.

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Reigning Olympic road race champion Samuel Sánchez will wear the No. 1 bib for the upcoming Vuelta a España in the season’s third and final grand tour, August 29- September 20. With none of last year’s top-3 podium finishers back for the 2009 edition, race organizers released a preliminary start list Thursday that includes the Euskaltel-Euskadi leader with el número uno.

Preliminary Start List – Vuelta a España 2009

• 
  EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) - ESP
  Race Numbers 1- 09
• SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel (ESP)
• ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor (ESP)
• MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi (ESP)
• PEREZ LEZAUN Alan (ESP)
• PEREZ MORENO Ruben (ESP)
• ISASI FLORES Inaki (ESP)
• HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ Aitor (ESP)
• IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel (ESP)
• TXURRUKA Amets (ESP)
• • Reserve Rider - URTASUN PEREZ Pablo (

Late in the riding season, the best ways to dress up your bike and make it feel like new include new cables and housing, new bar tape or grips, a new chain, and new tires. If you can’t afford new wheels or other components, there are little things that can make a big difference. It’s especially true for shifter and brake cables and housing. Aside from just improving the feel at the levers, actual shifting and braking performance will improve as well.

Can I combine SRAM mountain and road components to produce hillclimb gearing?

What road wheels do you recommend for a 250-pound rider?

Can I get a Trek Madone seatcap with more setback?

Can I put a 105 compact crank on my Dura-Ace bike?

Why should I always put a spacer above my stem?

SRAM, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, has announced a voluntary recall of the SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links. SRAM reports that the PowerLock outer connector plate could crack during installation or early use, causing the chain to separate and leading to loss of bicycle control and possible injury. For this reason, SRAM is recalling and replacing all affected SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links.

Any tips for traveling with bikes with tubeless tires?

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It’s been a long time coming for José Rojas, but persistence paid off — the Spanish sprinter finally won his first race of 2009, taking stage 2 at the Tour de l’Ain. The oft-injured Caisse d’Epargne fastman finally got into the winner’s column in Monday’s 146.5km stage, out-kicking Belgian bomber Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) with French rider Maxime Bouet coming through third.

Should I re-glue my tubulars annually?

Following his victory this weekend at the Vuelta a Burgos, Alejandro Valverde now has his eyes set on the overall title at the Vuelta a España. On Sunday, Valverde did what he needed to on the climbing stage to the Lagunas de Neila to bounce ahead of Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) and claim the overall at the 31st Burgos tour. It marked Valverde’s seventh win on the 2009 season.

Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1) and Brooke Miller (Tibco) both took wins at the 22nd annual running of the Hanes Park Classic on Sunday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was the second consecutive Hanes Park win for Miller and the second win of the weekend for the U.S. national criterium champion. For Ilesic, the win was sweet retribution for his heartbreaking second-place finish during the previous evening’s NRC battle 80 miles south at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte.

Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Czech Katerina Nash (Luna) won Sunday's short-track races at the U.S. Cup/PROXCT event at Mt. Snow, Vermont. Kabush's win — following victories in Saturday's cross-country and last week's World Cup at Bromont, Quebec — confirmed his wave of good form, which he's hoping to ride into the world championships in Australia next month.

Portugal's Joao Cabreira (Loulé-Louletano) won Sunday’s fourth stage of the Volta a Portugal, while Nuno Ribeiro (Liberty Seguros) finished second to take the leader’s yellow jersey André Cardoso crossed third in the 158.1km stage from Trancoso to Mondim de Basto. In the overall standings, Ribeiro leads Cabreira by two seconds with David Bernabeu third at 46 seconds. After a rest day Monday, the race resume Tuesdays with a 184.6km stage from Felgueiras to Fafe.

Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis) won the first stage of the Tour de l‘Ain on Sunday. Remi Cuzin (Agritubel) and Floris Goesinnen (Skil-Shimano) finished second and third in the 146.5km stage from Bourg-en Bresse to Saint-Denis-les-Bourg.

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) won the Tour of Burgos on Sunday. Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) won the fifth and final stage, raced over 155km between Vilviestre del Pinar and Laguna de Neila. Valverde went into the finale in third overall, one second behind Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream) and five behind Pate’s teammate Tom Danielson, winner of the stage-4 individual time trial. But the Spaniard leapfrogged both men to take the final overall. Danielson fell to third at 12 seconds back, while Pate plummeted to 45th at 9:27.

Lance Armstrong has another championship jersey to add to his collection — this one for winning the Colorado state pro men’s cross-country championship at Blast the Mass on Saturday in Snowmass Village. Jay Henry (Tokyo Joe’s) finished second with Len Zanni (Honey Stinger-Trek) third.

Canadian David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Tibco’s Brooke Miller scored solid wins in the sixth annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday. Veilleux rolled the dice during the final laps of the men’s race on Saturday night and came up a winner. Veillieux leapt off the front of a strong 10-man breakaway, where he was the sole Kelly rider, to hold a 14-second gap throughout the remaining three laps of racing.

Canadians don't often get a chance to race at Mt. Snow, since the venue is so often used for the U.S. national championships. But when they get a chance they make the most of it, as they did Saturday when Canada's men's and women's national champions came south of the border to score wins at the Kenda Cup East/PROXCT event.

France’s WADA-certified anti-doping laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry have confirmed positive test results from two of Danilo Di Luca’s B samples from this year’s Giro d’Italia. Di Luca twice tested positive for the the third generation of EPO, called a Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA), during the Giro in May. Di Luca has denied doping and is likely to challenge any suspension that results from the confirmed tests. Di Luca’s attorney has already publicly challenged laboratory procedures at the French lab.

TIME teases a new pedal, pre-Eurobike

You’ve seen it, we’ve reported on it and everyone expected it to eventually be offered for sale and now it’s finally official: Adam Craig’s Anthem X Advanced SL carbon racer will be included in Giant’s 2010 mountain bike line. The new World Cup-worthy full-suspension carbon race bike will be accompanied by a ground-up redesign of the Trance composite platform, which was absent from the line in 2009, but will be offered again in 2010 as the Trance X Advanced SL.

Anthem X Advanced SL

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We ran out of time during the Tour to cover every bit of the latest and greatest. But never fear, we saved some of the best for last.

Giant Bicycles announces production model aero bike

The Intermontane Challenge wrapped up last week with a 30-kilometer time trial, providing a chance for Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz-WTB-FOX) and Sue Butler (MonaVie-Cannondale) to cement their overall wins in the week-long stage race. Neither winner faced significant threats to their overall race leads, and both protected their positions by riding carefully on the sinewy singletrack of Kenna Cartwright Park just on the edge of Kamloops.

Team Type 1's Alison Powers has wrapped up her overall win of the Women's Prestige Cycling Series with a solid performance at the final event, last week's Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon. Powers held onto the lead she established at the series' first two events, the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Joe Martin Stage Race. While Powers' lead was insurmountable after the first few events, the series' team competition went down to the wire, with Team Tibco eventually taking the lead ahead of Powers' Team Type 1 and the Webcor team.[nid:96375]

Norwegian ace Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday after outshining teammate André Greipel in a sprint finish. Greipel, wearing the race leader's jersey, finished second on the 239.7-kilometer stage from Naleczow to Rzeszow but was later relegated by race officials after impeding the sprint of Australia's Allan Davis.

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Steve Hed has never approached business in a conventional way. When he first met his wife, Anne, she was a struggling young triathlete who wanted to race the Ironman. She went into Grand Performance bike shop in Minneapolis because she’d heard that its owner often helped triathletes with expenses. Her heart sank when the barefoot guy covered in grease in the back of the shop turned out to be Steve Hed, the shop’s owner, but she asked anyway.

Roman Kreuziger's recent strong performances at the Tour de France, Tour of Switzerland and the Clásica San Sebastián have moved him up to third on the UCI World Ranking, just behind the much-more-heralded Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. Kreuziger, a 23-year-old with Liquigas, was ninth overall at the Tour de France, and third at the Swiss Tour (which he won in 2008). His second at San Sebastián, behind Quick Step's Carlos Barredo, moved him up from fifth to third in the new rankings released this week.

Teams are already releasing preliminary start lists for the upcoming Vuelta a España (August 29-September 20) and Rabobank will bring a strong team with sights on overall victory and stage wins. The Dutch outfit released 10 names for the Spanish tour and will look to Robert Gesink, who crashed out of the Tour de France with a fractured wrist in stage 5, to take aim for the final podium.

Carbon mid- and deep-section wheels are all the rage in road racing, and for good reason. A deep aerodynamic profile helps slice through the wind, and using carbon as the rim material helps keep weight to a minimum. Most high-end deep section carbon wheels have that perfect blend of light weight and improved aerodynamics.

Italian Angelo Furlan (Lampre-N.G.C.) dominated a sprint finish to win the second stage of the Tour of Poland Monday. Furlan beat Belgian Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) and Argentina's Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) to take the victory in the 219km stage between Serock and Bialystok. Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), the winner of stage was, retained the overall lead despite a tie on time with Furlan, whose teammate David Loosli sits third overall at one second back. Tuesday’s stage 3 is a 225,1km leg from Bielsk Podlaski to Lublin.

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) took aim at a first-ever World Cup win and hit his target in round 6 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, held Sunday in Bromont, Quebec. Lene Byberg (Specialized) also took her maiden World Cup win, thanks to power, prowess and an 11th-hour tire switch when she decided that mud would become a factor.