Road Racing

Julien Absalon (Orbea) seized the lead of the cross-country Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday after winning round two of the series in Offenburg, Germany. It was Absalon's 18th World Cup victory — a record that tops the 17 wins scored by Thomas Frischknecht — and leaves him undefeated at Offenburg. In women’s competition, Ren Chengyuan (China) took the win while Austrian Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost Pro Team) finished fifth to retain the overall lead.

Heath Blackgrove took a surprise victory at the 30th running of the Athens Twilight Criterium Saturday in downtown Athens, Georgia. The Team Hotel San Jose rider was one of three survivors from a large breakaway late in the 80km race that refused to cooperate long enough to secure its survival to the finish. “It’s the biggest crit in America, and I’ve heard a lot of stories about it. So to win the first time doing it, with a crowd like this, is pretty special,” he said.

Ivan Basso is back in the winner’s circle for the first time since his comeback from a 16-month racing ban after claiming overall victory Saturday at the 33rd Giro del Trentino race in northern Italy. The Liquigas captain out-dueled overnight leader Janez Brajkovic (Astana) in the fourth and final stage for his first victory since he was banned for links to the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.

Price: $14 to $30 Sizes: 250 to 1000 milliliters Web site: www.cantitoeroad.com Caffelatex is a new kind of tire sealant that foams as a means to better coat the tire with sealant. The makers of Caffelatex believe their trademark "ActiFoam" causes the sealant to foam when ridden or shaken, thus completely filling the tire cavity with sealant. In turn, the foaming action should help to keep the tire beads sealed and assist in sidewall puncture prevention.

Price: $3,388 Colors: Blue, red, or white Web site: www.ridetommasini.com Tommasi introduces their new X-Fire road bike. The X-Fire uses double and triple butted Columbus XCR stainless steel to compliment its ride quality. The X-Fire is available in both stock and custom geometry. The stock geometry frames are also available in both classic and compact geometry. Tommasini recommends their carbon FKT56 fork to best suit the geometry of the X-Fire.

It was the battle of the uphill sprint specialists in Friday’s third stage at the Giro del Trentino with South African Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) winning for the third time this season. Hunter had the most gas in the tank to fend off Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) to win the 160km course with a rising finishing into Innervillgraten as the four-day race dipped into Austria. Danilo Di Luca crossed the line third despite efforts by his LPR team to dominate the stage.

The Giro d’Italia threw a lifeline to the Spanish team, Fuji-Servetto, by including the team in this year’s corsa rosa.

Team Jamis races Edge tubular mountain bike wheels at Sea Otter

The Fuji-Servetto team, has been invited to race in next month's Giro d'Italia, the team announced this morning. The team also announced its long team for the event. The team will bring nine riders to the race, chosen from among: Juanjo Cobo, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Eros Capecchi, Ricardo Serrano, Jesus del Nero, Ermanno Capelli, Alberto Benitez, Iker Camano, Hector Gonzalez, Josep Jufre, Javier Megias and Angel Gomez. Other teams for this year's Giro: Organisers published the list of 22 teams for the Giro and Fuji, whose team director is Italian Alvaro Crespi, were included

Cervélo sprinter Thor Hushovd will skip this year's Giro d'Italia to concentrate fully on his bid for stage wins and another run at the green jersey at the Tour de France in July. Hushovd, a former Tour stage winner and green points jersey recipient, had a solid spring classics season with two third places at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix and a victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

There’s no secret why Davide Rebellin pointed to his head after winning his third La Flèche Wallonne title on Wednesday. The Italian veteran proved he had the legs to summit the Mur de Huy alongside the other strongmen of the Ardennes races. But it was the cagy Italian’s brains that earned him the winning margin on the slopes of the feared climb. “It might just be the best of my three wins," Rebellin said. “I've been working hard in that respect (climbing)."

Dear Readers,
A bike tech column is going to naturally gravitate toward discussing new equipment. I regularly get letters, however, extolling the virtues of a more sustainable approach with less emphasis on the latest equipment. Given that it’s Earth Day, I thought it a good time to give voice to a couple of these letters. And for Earth Day (and every day), ride your bike and avoid motorized transportation as much as you can.
Lennard

Price: $50 Sizes: One month supply Web site: www.intelligentendurance.com Intelligent Endurance is a new supplement producer that aims at improving athletic performance through the use their combination of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Intelligent Endurance believes that their daily serving of ten natural ingredients will help to holistically bring the mind and body together to promote endurance and help the athlete reach his or her full potential.

Price: $60 Weight: 250 to 265 grams Sizes: 700x18-23 and 700x25-32 Colors: Black, white, silver, and carbon Web site: www.sks-germany.com The new SKS Raceblade fender is a wrap-around fender made for frame and fork designs that typically prohibit the use of traditional fenders. The Raceblade mounts tightly to a bicycle's seatstays and fork blades — no eyelets necessary.

The 2010 Tour of Italy is to start from Amsterdam, the Dutch news agency ANP reported on Monday, quoting a spokeswoman for the city authorities who added a further announcement is due to be made at a news conference on Thursday. The Netherlands is already to host the start of the 2010 Tour of Spain from Assen in August and likewise Rotterdam is to host the start of next year's Tour de France.

This year’s Sea Otter Classic, like so many of its predecessors, served as a launching pad for companies looking to introduce new products. The event also maintained tradition by hosting a few funky one-off project bikes, and a few sneak peeks at products in the works. Here’s a quick look at some legitimately launched products, and a few that were mostly kept behind the curtain. Also, to get yourself in the mood, take a look at Brad Kaminski's 360-degree panoramic shot of the Sea Otter tech expo.

A one-off, 12-pound Trek

It wasn’t a move meant to last, but when Scott Nydam, of BMC Racing, rolled across the line to win the Tour of the Battenkill pro men’s Invitational following a 112-mile breakaway — about half of it solo — the rider from Sebastopol, California, said the victory was a long time coming. “Five months of training and a lot of preparation went into this,” Nydam said. “It all came out today.”

Cross-country world champion Christoph Sauser seldom races in the United States, but he made the long trip from South Africa, site of the 2009 UCI World Cup kickoff, to tackle the short track and cross country at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. That team sponsor Specialized Bicycles sits just up the road in Morgan Hill likely influenced his travel plans.

Sergei Ivanov (Katusha) won the 44th edition of the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday in a dramatic two-up sprint with Saxo Bank's Karsten Kroon as a frantic chase fell just a few seconds short of success. "For me it's the biggest win of my career," said a clearly delighted Ivanov after emerging the strongest of a final three-man break that also included Robert Gesink (Rabobank), who hung on for third on the steeps of the Cauberg, just a few seconds ahead of the charging peloton.

Evelyn Stevens (CRCA/Radical Media) out sprinted a seven-woman breakaway to win the 62-mile women's Pro-1-2-3 race at the Tour of the Battenkill Saturday. Stevens, in her second year of racing, also won the Valley of the Sun road race in Arizona in February. The 200km (124-mile) men's pro invitational race will be held Sunday. In Saturday's 82-mile pro-am men's race, Chad Beyer (BMC) outsprinted Bissell's Tom Zirbel to take the win. Team Type 1's Ken Hanson was third. [nid:90864]

Team Bissell again put its number to use in the Sea Otter circuit, stacking the two key moves of the day with riders. Andy Jacques-Maynes and Jeremy Vennell rode the last few laps together with Colavita’s Luis Amaran, with Jacques-Maynes attacking over the last climb and holding his gap to the finish. Astana’s Levi Leipheimer rode comfortably in the group behind. With the three-time Tour of California champion riding the front of the chase, that group eventually whittled down to a small front group of about 10.

Halfway through the short track, it was a three-way race for the podium. And all three men were riding for Specialized: Todd Wells, Burry Stander and world champion Christoph Sauser. Sauser burped his tire and did not finish, but Wells charged on for the win, with Stander taking second and Giant’s Carl Decker outsprinting Jeremiah Bishop (Monavie-Cannondale) for third. Kona’s Ryan Trebon and Subaru-Gary Fisher’s Sam Schultz and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski were also in the hunt.

Riding alone the last three laps, Catharine Pendrel (Luna) looked like she had the Sea Otter short track sewn up, but Emily Batty (Trek) had other plans. Chasing just behind with Heather Irmiger (Subaru-Gary Fisher), Batty jumped with half a lap to go on a paved climb, and held her lead to the finish. “I just felt like I had so much energy,” Batty said. “It will be a good opener for (the cross-country race) tomorrow.” Norway’s Lene Byberg (Specialized) leapt past Irmiger and Pendrel to finish second, with Pendrel rounding out the podium.

SRAM takes advantage of Sea Otter’s captive audience of domestic and international press every year with a big product launch. This year the brand showed 2010 mountain products from its RockShox, Avid, SRAM and Truvativ lines.

Suspension

Raffling for a worthy cause is smart fundraising, according to Ibis co-owner and front man Scot Nicol. If the product is cool, the cause is solid and the tickets aren’t too expensive, then you can raise some good money. For example: Last year Ibis donated a Silk SL road bike to fatcyclist.com to support the webmaster’s fight against cancer. That bike brought in $37,500 for the LAF foundation through the Livestrong Challenge avenue.

The latest and possibly most significant tech development being revealed here at the Sea Otter classic in Monterey is a completely free, inexhaustible, universally available energy source: the sun. In contrast to Thursday’s windy chill, exhibitors and spectators alike were treated to possibly the warmest day on the Laguna Seca infield in recent memory. Actual dust was found coating some of the otherwise shiny and new bike parts on display. Giant

Editor's Note VeloNews technical editor Zack Vestal attended FOX Racing Shox' 2010 model year introduction this week. This is his second report on he new products. His first report was published Thursday. FOX Racing Shox product and marketing managers had some difficulty at Zaca Station, peeling the cycling media away from the desert trucks and motorbikes on display. But when Mario Galasso, bike product manager, began showing off the new 2010 FOX forks and rear shocks, he quickly earned everyone’s attention.

On Friday, SRAM released its new Force group, which features redesigned brakes, new graphics and the addition of a BB30 crank. The company also displayed its latest version of Zipp 303 wheels, which first hit the road on the cobbles of the 2009 Paris-Roubaix. SRAM Force With the inclusion of the new BB30 crank and bottom bracket, a Force group now weighs 1,957 grams (the standard group with a GXP crankset weighs 2,097 grams).

Astana's Levi Leipheimer glided up the finishing climb to victory at the Sea Otter Classic road race Friday, finishing just ahead of the three Bissell men with whom he was in a long breakaway. Leipheimer's Santa Rosa training buddy, Paul Mach, took second with his Bissell teammate Morgan Schmitt rounding out the podium. Ben Jacques-Maynes, the fourth man in the break, came in just behind.

Price: $200 Web site: www.thuleracks.com The Thule 515 Prologue Pack is a new all inclusive bike rack system. The Prologue pack includes two Prologue fork mounts with locks and an extended ride-on adapter bar to fit factory car racks.

What does a prototype Ford F-150 SVT Raptor off-road truck have in common with Adam Craig’s Giant Anthem X Advanced SL? Aside from race-tuned motors, onboard navigation systems, and hydraulic brakes, they both share suspension technology from FOX Racing Shox.

When you come to Sea Otter with a sharp eye, you’ll bound see all sorts of cool stuff, whether it’s new team equipment or an in-the-works prototype. We saw wheels from Easton, a new bike from legend John Tomac and some natural wax lube designed by a MIT grad student — among other things.

The range of bikes and components on display at a typical Sea Otter Classic never fails to impress, and this 2009 edition is no exception. Although oriented more toward mountain riders than road, the products on display cross all categories. Here is the first sampling of goodies from the infield of Laguna Seca, as component and bike brands roll out the red carpet for riders, spectators and media. Ritchey

Team Bissell steamrolled the Sea Otter Classic criterium Thursday, attacking the field en masse until they had three men clear. Morgan Schmitt was given the win after riding essentially a three-man team time trial with Ben Jacques-Maynes and Kirk O’Bee. With the field split into two groups behind them on an out-and-back course, Bissell’s three leaders decided the podium on the road. Jacques-Maynes, one of Bissell’s marquee riders who has already found success this year, let Schmitt know who got the top step.

It’s official: Lance Armstrong will be in Venice next month to race the 2009 Giro d’Italia. "The recovery is going well and the plan is to be at the Giro," Armstrong spokesman Mark Higgins told VeloNews. Several Italian media outlets reported that Armstrong confirmed to race officials Thursday that he will be at the May 9 start of the centenary Giro.   Both La Gazzetta dello Sport and Tutto Bici reported that Giro race director Angelo Zomegnan received official confirmation from Armstrong on Thursday.  

Price: $750 to $3,350 Weight: Rim 195 grams Sizes: 606 effective rim diameter Web site: www.edgecomposites.com When it comes to weight, Edge Composites wants nothing to do with it for the new 25 Tubular wheelset, the company's premium climbing wheelset, with a low aero 24mm profile.

There’s just no slowing down Jimmy Casper.   The French sprinter from Besson-Sojasun bolted to his second win this week after sprinting to victory in the 50th GP de Denain in France on Thursday. Casper also won Paris-Camembert on Tuesday.   Casper, a winner here in 2005 and 2006, covered the 202.7km course, which included a 15.2km circuit completed five times, in 4:40:18.  

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) avoided a massive pileup in the closing meters of the bunch sprint to win Scheldeprijs on Wednesday in Belgium. Canadian Dominque Rollin (Cervélo TestTeam) steered clear of the mayhem to earn his first European podium with third place while Tony Cruz bolted to fourth in strong showing by BMC Racing that also saw Jeff Louder work into the day’s main breakaway. Louder joined a 14-man breakaway early in the race and was only caught in the closing 10km.

Dear Lennard, I saw the Prestaflator tool showed on VeloNews.com. Looks cool, but what kind of compressor is reasonable and affordable for road tires?  I have looked at compressors in the past and I generally only find industrial-like ones for nail guns, etc.  Is there an affordable one just for low volume higher pressure road tires? Samuel Dear Samuel,

Price: $300 Web site: www.thecompetitiveedge.com New from Tanita, makers of precision scales and body composition monitors, the BC-558 Ironman InnerScan Body Composition Monitor. What sets the BC-558 apart from other body composition scales is its ability to measure the composition of each body segment — trunk, right arm, left arm, right leg, and left leg.

The Sea Otter Classic, which runs this Thursday through Sunday, is now in its 19th year. From humble origins in 1991, when just 450 attendees populated the event, to 2008, when almost 10,000 participants and 50,000 spectators packed the venue for the four-day festival, Sea Otter has become a fixture on the spring calendar.

A few days after Boonen's victory, the photos are still rolling in from Paris-Roubaix. Despite this year's mostly dry conditions, teams were ready with bikes for all conditions. Padded bar tape, oversized tubular tires, box section aluminum rims, and closely matched front chainrings were virtually standard equipment. Other teams took things a step further, using cyclocross bikes, cantilever brakes, bar-top brake levers, and in some cases, custom hybrid road/cyclocross frames. Reporter Andrew Hood and photographer Graham Watson captured a few photos of team bikes just prior to the race.

Kristin Armstrong is famous for both her success in bicycle racing, and the “type-A” attention to detail that keeps her climbing the podium at critical races every season. After a dropped chain in 2006 nearly cost her a gold medal at the world time trial championships, she resolved to never let the same mechanical malady derail another performance. She used a custom machined aluminum chain catcher in Beijing to help win gold. Now, after demand from both ProTour team mechanics and the public, a new K-Edge Chain Catcher has been refined for retail sale.

Swedish rider Emma Johansson (Red Sun) dashed to victory Monday in the Tour de Drenthe in Holland to take the third round of the 10-leg World Cup series. Johansson was the fastest out of a group of six riders that escaped in the 138km course. She ruined chances for a hometown victory, out-kicking Dutch riders Loes Gunnewijk and Chantal Black, second and third, respectively. Germany’s Ina Teutenberg led the main pack across the line to take seventh at seven seconds back.

Junior national team member Adam Leibovitz finished third overall in a very tight race at the Ster Van Zuid-Limburg stage race in Belgium on Monday, after leading the race through the weekend. Leibovitz won Friday's prologue, and held the overall lead through road stages on Saturday and Sunday, entering the final stage on Monday with a one-second lead over Belgium's Jonathan Breyne. On Monday, Leibovitz, from Indianapolis, finished in the pack at 66th, 22 seconds behind a six-rider breakaway.

Germany's Heinrich Haussler may have had a frustrating season so far at the major events, with second places at Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders, but he is on the top rung at one race: the UCI individual points rankings. Haussler's recent consistency has moved him into first place in the rankings, up from second place behind Allan Davis the last time the points were tallied. Meanwhile, Alberto Contador's win at the Tour of the Basque Country has vaulted him from 13th to second in the rankings.

Price: $40 Web site: www.prestaflator.com

Price: $1,700 Sizes: Four sizes Web site: www.litespeed.com Litespeed is re-releasing its titanium Pisgah mountain bike frame. Features on the new Pisgah include the RDS dropout system for quick conversion to singlespeed dropouts, new geometry showcasing an oversized tube set, asymmetric chain stays for maximum drivetrain stiffness, power transfer and tire clearance.[nid:90491]

Price: $60 Weight: 180 to 200 grams Sizes: 650 x 23 and 700 x 19, 23, and 25 Colors: Black Web site: www.bontrager.com The folks over at Bontrager are more than excited about their newest performance tire, the Race X Lite Aero TT tire. After testing this new tire they have concluded that it is the fastest tire on the market. Bontrager believes that the new Race X Lite Aero TT tire will shave seconds off of your time trial.

Defending champion Tom Boonen soloed to victory in a dusty, crash-filled Paris-Roubaix on Sunday as Quick Step, Cervélo TestTeam and Silence-Lotto slugged it out toe to toe over the cobblestone trophy awarded to the victor in the Hell of the North.?? "The race was very hard," said the big Belgian after collecting his third win here, following triumphs in 2005 and 2008. Praising runner-up Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), he added: "This victory for me is the most beautiful because I beat Pozzato, who is a great champion."

Astana's Alberto Contador won the Tour of the Basque Country on Saturday, after clinching the sixth and final stage, a 24km time trial around the town of Zalla. It was the second straight Tour of the Basque Country title win for the defending Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España champion. "It's incredible how I continue to progress in my time trial work," said Contador, who took part in the event as part of his preparations for the Tour de France.

The Italian cycling community is big on traditions, and the Giro d’Italia organizer’s choice to repeat one of the most famous stages in the event’s 100-year history was greeted with enthusiasm when it was announced in the winter. At 254-kilometer, stage 10 from Cuneo to Pinerolo through the high Alps was identical to the one in 1949, when campionissimo Fausto Coppi destroyed the opposition with a massive 200km-plus solo breakaway that saw him finish almost 12 minutes ahead of the runner-up, his national rival Gino Bartali, and more than 19 minutes ahead of the rest.

The product development offices Crankbrothers comfortably fill a medium-sized building three blocks from the water in downtown Laguna Beach, California. Step out the front door and you are presented two choices: Turn right to surf or left and take a short spin to rough trails that require a healthy dose of bike handling skill to negotiate. The area is the stomping ground of the Laguna Rads, a long-established group of mountain bike riders, many of whom were instrumental in shaping the sport in its early days.

As the Paris-Roubaix weekend draws near, several teams have announced plans to use special edition frames in the legendary race. German brand Canyon Bicycles, sponsor of Silence-Lotto, has created a “Pavé” version of its Ultimate AL frameset for the team to use. And thanks to a wild-card invitation, the BMC racing team will take the start in Compeigne, with four riders piloting a new carbon-aluminum SLX model, instead of the standard ProMachine SLC01 carbon model.

Silence-Lotto's special edition from Canyon Bicycles

Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) finished third in the 161km fourth stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco in Spain, joining a successful, three-man breakaway on Thursday. Michael Albasini (Columbia-Highroad) kicked to victory, with Jurgen Van den Broucke (Silence-Lotto) coming through second and Vande Velde slotting into third after an all-day break in a hilly, seven-climb stage in Spain’s Basque Country.

Edvald Boasson Hagen. His name doesn’t exactly roll off your tongue, but it’s a name you’d better remember because the young Norwegian is only 21 and he has just won his first spring classic. Ghent-Wevelgem may not be the biggest of the classics, and a lot of young riders have won it and not gone on to bigger and better results. But it seems that Boasson Hagen is a little different, a little more special.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Agritubel's David Le Lay took a narrow lead in the Circuit de la Sarthe stage race in France on Wednesday, after winning the morning's 94km road race and then finishing 10 seconds off the pace, in 14th place, in the afternoon's 6k individual time trial. Jimmy Engoulvent (Besson Chausures-Sojasun) won the time trial, finishing one second ahead of Astana's Andreas Kloden. American Jeff Louder of BMC was eighth and moved into tenth place on the GC following the time trial. The race concludes Friday.

Scott teases time trial bike

In a thrilling preview of what awaits in the Tour de France later this summer, some of cycling’s top climbers went mano-a-mano up the precipitous green hills of Spain’s Basque Country in Wednesday’s third stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Alberto Contador (Astana) attacked with 5km to go on the short but steep Cat. 1 Alto de Ixua to drop rivals he’ll be facing off against in July and ride into the overall leader’s jersey.

Lance Armstrong's Astana team expressed optimism Wednesday over his prospects of recovering from his broken collarbone in time to line up for next month's Tour of Italy. The seven-time Tour de France winner's participation in the Giro, which starts on May 9 was thrown into doubt after he required surgery following his fall in the Vuelta Castilla y Leon race in Spain on March 25. The Texan had a stainless steel plate and 12 screws inserted to stabilize his right collarbone, which was broken in four places, but is now back in training.

The Giro d’Italia is losing one of its marquee stages across the Alps for its centennial celebration due to access problems on the French side of the border. Race officials announced Wednesday that the blockbuster, five-climb 250km stage over the Col d’Izoard and other emblematic climbs in the French Alps scheduled for stage 10 on May 19 between Cuneo and Pinerolo will be altered and stay entirely inside Italy.

Enrico Rossi (Ceramica Flaminia) snagged a narrow victory after being away in an 150km breakaway Tuesday to surprise the peloton in the opening stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Rossi attacked at 35km in the 192km stage and won by a whisker ahead of the chasing pack, taking a 13-second victory ahead of the sprinters and grabbing the leader’s jersey as an added bonus. Besson Chaussures and FDJeux thought they had things under control to set up their fast men, Jimmy Casper and Sébastien Chavanel, respectively.

Yury Trofimov (Bouygues Telecom) upset the chasing peloton to win Tuesday’s second stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco in Spain after slipping away in a four-man breakaway in the six-climb, 160km route. Trofimov dropped fellow escapee Rein Taarame (Cofidis) with 2.5km to go and crossed the line five seconds clear to celebrate a hard-fought victory. Ben Swift (Katusha) led the main pack across the line with third at 1:10 back.

After a relatively mild winter, colder temperatures and frequent snowfall have come to Colorado. The wide variation in our springtime weather — from 50s and sun one day to 20s and snow the next — has created a perfect opportunity to put the Castelli Insolito Radiation winter jacket to the test. With a retail price of $500, this jacket is not for the faint of heart. But it is packed with features that make it suitable for fall, winter, and springtime rides. I found that this single Castelli jacket could potentially replace two or three separate pieces of my winter wardrobe.

Although not as harsh as Paris-Roubaix, the cobbles of the Tour of Flanders do warrant a few concessions from racers’ typical bikes. For wheels, standard steel spokes and box rims are the rule (although of course there are exceptions). Beyond that, each team's mechanics have their own take on the ideal set-up for the Ronde van Vlaanderen. Here are a few of the details we found at a few teams’ hotels and inside the start village in Brugge.

Luís León Sánchez continues on his spring rampage, winning the opening stage and donning the leader’s jersey of the Vuelta al País Vasco in Spain. But it almost didn’t happen. The 25-year-old Caisse d’Epargne rider was gapped on a fierce second-category climb with 8km remaining in the 142.5km opening stage and only regained contact with 3km to go.

Cervelo's Ted King outsprinted OUCH-Maxxis' Tim Johnson Sunday at New England's traditional road season opener, the Michael Schott Memorial Circuit Race, on Marblehead Neck in Massachusetts. The Pro/1-3 race featured a few nationally known pros with New England connections, including King, Johnson, Adam Myerson, Mark and Frank McCormack and young cyclocross star Nick Keough.

When Stijn Devolder was asked Sunday what was different about his second Tour of Flanders victory in two years, he was close to tears. “A friend of mine died at the Tour of Qatar in February, and I promised to remember him the first time I won a race this year,” Devolder said. He was talking about Frederiek Nolf, the Topsport Vlaanderen team rider who died in his sleep one week short of his 22nd birthday.

Price: $90 Colors: Red, orange, pink, yellow, green, blue, silver, and black Web site: www.rockymounts.com RockyMounts is replacing its Lariat SL rack with the all-new PitchFork. The new rack is RockyMounts' standard in fork-mounted bike carriers for Thule and Yakima crossbars. The new design is a bit more sleek with a low-profile design for better aerodynamics.

Shimano is revamping its Ultegra group, cutting weight from the second-in-line road parts and, in trademark trickle-down fashion, incorporating many features that the company added to its Dura-Ace group last year. The company claims that the new Ultegra 6700 group will be more than 150 grams lighter than the current Ultegra 6600 and 45 grams lighter than the Ultegra SL group.

One of the most famous and unique endurance races in the world takes place annually in Alaska. The Iditarod sled dog race was won on March 18, when Alaskan Lance Mackey reached the end of the 1049-mile route from Anchorage to Nome in nine days, 21 hours, 38 minutes and 46 seconds. The last finisher came in nearly six days later.

Price: $2 per bar Weight: 40 grams Flavors: Cranberry Nut and Chocolate Peanut Butter Web site: www.forzegps.com Forze GPS is a new health bar from PacificHealth Laboratories, makers of Accelerade and Endurox products. Not so much a mid-race snack, Forze GPS is intended to help curb hunger to help keep endurance athletes lean.

Dear Readers, I’ve discovered the ultimate in compatibility of shifting components: Sturmey-Archer 3-speed shifters and hubs work perfectly with Campagnolo, Shimano or SRAM 9-, 10-, or 11-speed drivetrains. What a sweet deal! Now you can avoid all of those flashy colorful bikes and get top performance with a nice, practical black bike with steel upright handlebars. Or you can simplify your flashy lightweight modern bike with a practical, three-position lever.

Filippo Pozzato continues on his strong pre-Flanders form, notching victory in the opening stage of the Three Days of De Panne in Belgium.   Pozzato, who won the Prijs Harelbeke on Saturday, out-kicked fellow escapee Frédérick Willems (Liquigas) to win the stage and take the first leader’s jersey in the four-stage, three-day race.   Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) won the bunch sprint, some 57 seconds back to take third place.  

Dear Lennard,
I always wondered about hanging my mountain bikes vertically too but not really worried about the shocks but about the hydraulic brakes and what that might do to the lines. Is it fine?
Paul Dear Paul,
That’s a good question. If the bike is hanging vertically with the front wheel up, there would be no problem, because any air bubbles would gravitate toward the lever, which would be where you’d want them. But how about with the rear wheel up?

Park Tool started in 1956 as Hazel Park Cycle Center, a bike shop on the northern edge of of the Twin Cities, adjacent a park of the same name. Owners Art Engstrom and Howard Hawkins fed themselves through the cold Minnesota winters by sharpening ice skates, and they built their own bike tools. They made the original Park Repair Stand out of old parts, and they patented the clamp’s design. The base that held it steady was a huge artillery shell casing filled with concrete attached to metal clawed chair feet. The “Hazel Park Bicycle Repair Stand Company” was born.

Geoff Kabush (Rocky Mountain-Maxxis) and Georgia Gould (Luna) took home impressive wins at the opening round of USA Cycling’s Pro Cross-country tour (ProXCT), held at Southridge Park in Fontana, California. The race was also the second round of the Kenda Cup West, the West Coast half of the ShoAir-Specialized U.S. Cup series.

BMC's Jeff Louder and Columbia Highroad's Ina Yoko Teutenberg won the 2009 Redlands Bicycle Classic's overall titles Sunday, as Kyle Wamsley (Colavita) and Alison Powers (Team Type 1) grabbed the stage wins. Apparently every second does count. The overall wins came down to just 1 second for Teutenberg, and to just 5 seconds for Louder. Teutenberg accumulated enough time bonuses in the final stage to take the jersey away from Amber Neben (Nurnberger Shoair) who fell to second place, while Alison Powers (Team Type 1) took third, 27 seconds down.

Frenchman Gregory Bauge overcame a tough test against Malaysia's Azizulhasni Awang to win the world sprint crown at the world track cycling championships in Pruszkow, Poland. on Sunday. Awang took the silver medal with another Frenchman, Kevin Sireau, beating Australian Shane Perkins to take the bronze. The men's sprint tournament is traditionally the most coveted of all track cycling events, and it lived up to that billing thanks to the unexpected rise of Awang to the final.