Jonathan Chodroff (OUCH p/b Maxxis) blazed a 28:57 and Ruth Clemence (Simple Green) posted a 33:28 to take their respective leaders jerseys in the first stage of Arizona's Valley of the Sun stage race.
After a two-day break Mattia Gavazzi got back to his winning ways, bagging his fourth stage victory in the 14th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi, a 146.8 kilometer Stage Six from Batang Kali to Shah Alam on Saturday. The Italian sprinter registered his team Serramenti Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocatoli's 20th ever stage win at the Malaysian race, after yet another bunch sprint. This time it required a photo-finish to separate between three frontrunners: Ag2r La Mondiale's Aurelian Clerc, Garmin-Slipstream's Chris Sutton and Gavazzi, as the trio crossed the line side-by-side.
American Taylor Phinney broke a thirteen year old American record for the 4,000-meter individual pursuit on Friday, on his way to winning a gold medal at the Copenhagen World Cup. Phinney's 4:15.223 effort in the qualifying round broke the previous American record of 4:19.800 set by Mariano Friedick in 1996. Phinney turned a 4:19.119 in the finals to beat Ireland's David O'Loughlin and register his first World Cup victory this season. Phinney's mother Connie Carpenter-Phinney noted that Phinney had never ridden under 4:20 in competition and his last kilo was his fastest, at 1:00:5.
Louis Garneau is introducing a new helmet just in time for the Tour of California. Rock Racing and Team Type 1 will wear the Diamond helmet beginning Sunday, during the first road stage from Davis to Santa Rosa. The helmet promises to be light, comfortable, and of course stylish for these professional teams.[nid:87682]
Colombian climber Jose Serpa (Diquigiovanni-Androni) won the fifth stage of the Tour de Langkawi and moved into the overall lead after a tough ride that ended in Malaysia's hillside gambling resort of Genting Highlands on Friday. The 29-year-old Serpa, second overall in the 2007 Tour de Langkawi, won Friday by launching a blistering attack on the final climb to Genting. "This year I am in good condition, so I have no problem with breakaway and very happy with the win today," said Serpa.
Price: $1999 frameset Colors: Natural carbon weave finish with clear coat Sizes: 53, 55, and 58cm Web site: www.aerocatbike.com
In advance of the Amgen Tour of California, BH Bikes has created an AG2R-La Mondiale team replica G4. Sporting the same component group and paint job as the bikes ridden by the team, this promises to help push the BH brand toward broader recognition in the U.S. Fittingly, this season marks the 100th anniversary of the Spanish company.
Katusha’s Toni Colom gave his newly-formed team its first overall stage race victory of the season winning, the Mallorcan Trophy, a five-stage race which ended here Thursday, for the second time. German sprinter Gerald Ciolek (Milram) claimed victory in the fifth and final stage held over 147km between Magaluf and Palmanova. Katusha, Russian-funded and the newest addition to the pro cycling peloton, dominated the race almost from start to finish.
Indonesia's Samai Samai Thursday took the fourth stage of the Tour de Langkawi, ending Mattia Gavazzi's three-stage winning streak. "I never thought that today would be the best day for me in the Tour de Langkawi," said Samai, a member of the Le Tua Cycling Team. "I'm really proud as I only had a month of practice with Le Tua in Malaysia,” he said. “This win proves that now I'm the best rider in Asia."
Price: $59 to $129 Web site: www.deuterusa.com Deuter is coming out with three new hydration packs and a brand new drip-proof bit valve. The new Helix valve is standard issue with the 2009 hydration pack range and is also available on its own. The valve can be sealed shut and reopened with a twist. Even when the valve is open it should be resistant to leaking thanks to the new internal, spring-loaded plunger that seals the system.
Spaniard Antonio Colom (Team Katusha) won the penultimate stage of the Mallorca Challenge on Wednesday and charged into the overall lead. Colom won the 143.3km stage around Bunyola in 3:54:49, 56 minutes ahead of Edvald Boasson (Team Columbia-High Road) and Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step). Colom now leads Pineau by 41 seconds going into the finale, a 147.6km leg from Magaluf to Palmanova, with Boasson third in the same time.
Caisse d'Epargne won stage two of the 36th Tour Méditerranéen on Wednesday, and Spaniard Luis Sanchez took over the leader’s yellow jersey from Belarussian sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux). The American Garmin-Slipstream squad took second in the 25km team time trial between Narbonne and Gruissan, with Barloworld third.
Mattia Gavazzi is on a roll. The 25-year-old Italian on Diquigiovanni-Androni won the third stage of the Tour de Langkawi on Wednesday which ended in the historic Malaysian port city of Malacca, his third victory in as many days. Australian Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream) team took second place. Gavazzi, the overall race leader, won the 186-kilometer (115.58-mile) stage in four hours, 33 minutes and 29 seconds. Gavazzi won the opening stage from Putrajaya to Senawang on Monday and the second stage from Senawang to Malacca Tuesday.
Just one day before heading out to the Amgen Tour of California, Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) stopped by the VeloNews offices with his Pinarello FM1 time trial bike. He was on his way out for a last day of training before joining the star-studded peloton in Sacramento for Saturday’s prologue. We got some photos and component highlights, and enjoyed a relaxed conversation with Zirbel.
The third and final stage of the Women's Tour of Qatar saw Italy’s Giorgia Bronzini triumph for the second time of the event, outsprinting her rivals to clinch the win on the Al Khor Corniche. Overall victory went to Dutch rider Kirsten Wild. As the 84 remaining riders started, only 6 seconds separated Wild from her closest Bronzini on the GC.
Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) opened his 2009 account with victory in Tuesday’s third stage of the Mallorca Challenge after avoiding a final-turn crash by Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) late in the stage. The Italian sprinter made it over three rated climbs midway through the 182.6km circuit course starting and finishing in Inca and then avoided a spill in the final kilometer to go that took out Valverde and Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas). Luckily for Valverde, who decided to race to help his teammate Jose Joaquim Rojas challenge for the overall, he wasn't seriously injured.
Mattia Gavazzi (Diquigiovanni-Androni) maintained his hold on both the points and leader’s jerseys at Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi, by winning the 160.9km stage to Senawang to Malacca on Tuesday, his second win in as many stages. Gavazzi expressed surprise to have already notched up three victories this year, adding his two Langkawi stage wins to an earlier win at the Tour de San Luis.
Just before a trip to the San Diego wind tunnel, Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong shared some photos and component details of her new Cervélo S2 road bike. Armstrong is a star member of the new Cervélo TestTeam, and the new team is already working to contribute new information to the company. We also caught up by email with Cervélo race engineer Damon Rinard while he was at the San Diego low speed wind tunnel for a few insights.
Australian cyclist Cadel Evans announced on Monday that he would not compete in the Giro d'Italia this season because he was determined to win the Tour de France in July. The 31-year-old, who was second in last year's Tour, explained that while he would have liked to compete in the Giro it simply did not fit into his plans as he prepares to take on Alberto Contador and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong. "There has been a lot of talk about the Giro in the press," said the Silence team leader.
USA Cycling National Development Team riders Austin Carroll and Guy East become the first American Madison pair to win the U.I.V. Talent Cup Amateur Six-Day competition, which wrapped up with this weekend in Alkmaar, Netherlands. The duo is now guaranteed a professional contract for competition in two UIV Professional Six-day events during the 2010-11 season.
Eva Lutz (Nürnberger) won stage 2 of the Women’s Tour of Qatar on Monday. Veronicca Andreason (Bigla Cycling Team) took second in the 100km stage with Rochelle Gilmore (Lotto-Belison) third at 14 seconds back in a group that included Kirsten Wild (Cervélo TestTeam) and race leader Giorgia Bronzini (Italy). Wild took the leader’s jersey from Bronzini and now holds a five-second advantage over her with Kirtsy Broun (Australia) third at 12 seconds. Stage 1. Eva Lutz (G), Nürnberger, 110km in 2:49:56 (38.839 km/h)
Katusha made it two in a row Monday at the Mallorca Challenge, with Robbie McEwen darting clear for his first European win in 2009. A day after setting up Katusha teammate Gert Steegmans for the victory, McEwen out-kicked compatriot Graeme Brown (Rabobank) in the 176.5km stage, which started and finished in Cala Millor.
Italian Mattia Gavazzi (Diquigiovanni-Androni) won the first stage of the Tour de Langkawi cycling race in Malaysia's administrative capital of Putrajaya on Monday. Australian Chris Sutton from Garmin Slipstream took second place.[nid:87467] Gavazzi won the 133.8 kilometre (83.14 mile) stage in three hours, six minutes and 42 seconds. The seven-stage race began in Putrajaya, south of Kuala Lumpur on Monday and heads south to the tourist town of Malacca, then north to the Genting Highlands, before ending on February 15 in the capital Kuala Lumpur.
The questions came in to us here at VeloNews after stage 5 of the Tour Down Under: What sunglasses did Lance have on? The answer: Oakley’s new sports spec, called Jawbone.
Colors: Pearl white with light blue details Sizes: 36 to 43; half sizes 39.5 to 42.5 Price: $170 Web site: www.northwave.com The Devine S.B.S. is Northwave’s high-end women’s road shoe. It is the women’s specific equivalent road shoe to the men’s Typhoon S.B.S. Northwave says that its lower heel and forefoot volume is more accommodating to a woman’s foot.
Two days after the end of the men's Tour of Qatar, the first women's event began with a 94-kilometer stage that started at the Islamic Art Museum in Doha and finished at Doha Shafallah. Italian national team member Giorgia Bronzini won by outsprinting Dutch riders Kirsten Wild and Ellen Van Dijk. The silver points’ jersey went to Wild while Van Dijk becomes the best young rider of the event. [nid:87443]
Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues Telecom claimed overall victory in the Etoile de Besseges stage race, formerly the traditional season-opener, here Sunday. Voeckler, who famously battled the advances of Lance Armstrong to keep hold of the Tour de France yellow jersey in 2004, finished comfortably ahead of Slovenian Jure Kocjan and Russian Yuri Trofimov, last year's winner, in the general classification. Another Frenchman, Jean-Eudes Demaret of Cofidis, won the fifth and final stage after 145 km of racing between Gagnieres and Besseges. [nid:87402]
Fly V Australia rider Ben Day won a snowy and rainy Boulevard road race in east San Diego County Saturday while Floyd Landis used the hilly 90-mile hometown event to quietly return to racing after a two-year suspension. Landis’ Canadian OUCH teammate Cameron Evans took second while Fly V Australia riders and Amgen Tour of California invitees David Kemp, Charles Dionne, and Bernard Sulzberger rounded out the third through fifth. The race rolled out in a driving snowstorm that had barreled into the mountains 60 miles east of downtown San Diego the morning of the event. [nid:87423]
Katusha went one-two in the opening leg of the Mallorca Challenge with Gert Steegmans flying across the line ahead of teammate Robbie McEwen. Caisse d’Epargne sprinter José Joaquin Rojas came through third. The 116km circuit course in Palma de Mallorca officially opened the 2009 Spanish calendar and the Russian-sponsored Katusha had its way against an international field.
Belgian rider Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) won Saturday’s 153km fourth stage at Etoile de Bessèges for his first victory since a two-year ban was overturned last year. The Flemish cycling federation slapped Leukemans with a two-year racing ban for a case dating back to the 2007 world championships when he popped for synthetic testosterone. His Predictor-Lotto team sacked Leukemans in late 2007 and the team later fired a doctor who allegedly gave Leukemans a product called Prasteron that triggered the positive test.
Slovenian rider Jure Kocjan (Carmiooro A-Style) pulled the double, winning Friday’s third stage and taking the overall lead at the Etoile d’Bessèges in France. After two opening stages won in bunch sprints by Jimmy Casper (Besson Chaussures), Wednesday’s hilly profile was sure to decide the GC. A screw up that took the peloton down the wrong road and then nasty weather forced organizers to trim the stage from 133.4km down to 76.5km.
Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the Tour of Qatar in Doha on Friday following Columbia's Mark Cavendish's sprint victory in the sixth and final stage. The win was Cavendish's second stage win in a tour marked by the untimely death of 21-year-old Belgian Frederiek Nolf on Thursday. Cavendish dedicated his stage win to the young rider and his family.
Price: $17.99 Size: 4 ounces Web site: www.hincapie.com Hincapie Sportswear stepped up its retail line with SkinDefense, an advanced sunscreen perfected for cyclists and other endurance athletes. The 4-ounce non-aerosol spray bottle is perfect for a jersey pocket or saddlebag, though that might not be necessary because a single application provides sweat-proof solar protection for up to five hours.
Price: $59.95 Web site: www.silcapompe.it
Parlee Cycles has made a leap into the big leagues by committing to sponsor the Fly V Australia (presented by Successful Living) pro team. The official announcement is pending, but other team component sponsors include Edge Composites (wheels, stem, bar, seatpost and fork), SRAM Red drivetrain, TRP brakes, and Fi'zi:k saddles.
Jimmy Casper made it two in a row for his Besson Chassures team at the Etoile de Bessèges. The veteran French sprinter out-kicked younger rivals Romain Feillu (Agritubel) and Alexandre Blain (Cofidis) in the 149.2km second stage to win for the second day in a row and solidify his grip on the leader’s jersey in the five-day stage race. With the win and time bonuses, Casper is nursing a 14-second lead to Feillu and Sébastian Chavanel (FDJeux) going into Friday’s third stage.
Price: $175 to $380 Web site: www.rudyprojectusa.com KarbonEye
First noticed spec’ed on newer Trek Madone road bikes, the Bontrager XXX Lite Road stem loses a little weight and cuts a sleeker profile than its predecessor. The original Bontrager XXX Lite carbon stem is still available for road and mountain bikes, but this newest model is specified for road use only. A couple of nice touches make it worth consideration as an aftermarket upgrade to any road bike.
Check out CyclingTips's author page.
Jimmy Casper delivered his new Besson Chaussures team its first victory of the 2009 season after out-kicking the field in the opening stage Wednesday at the Etoile de Bessèges in southern France. Casper — best known for his stage win in the 2006 Tour de France — crossed the line ahead of compatriot Sébastian Chavanel (Française des Jeux) and Belgian Klaas Lodewyck (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) to win the 128.6km stage from Bellegarde to Le Grau-du-Roi in a mass charge to the line.
Mark Cavendish won his first race of the season by capturing the fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar Wednesday in Madinat Al Shamal. Team Columbia-High Road’s sprint specialist pulled ahead of a small group of riders in the final meters of the 141km stage to secure victory ahead of Germany's Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam). Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who took the race lead from Cervélo’s Roger Hammond after winning Tuesday's stage, had launched the final drive for the line but gave up yards from home.
The Ridley Noah is one of the latest in series of road frames developed specifically with aerodynamics in mind. As time trial bikes have pushed the aero envelope, many of the technologies discovered for TT use have also found a home on road frames. The added benefits incorporated by Ridley into the $3000 Noah frameset make it possibly one of the fastest road frames available.
Price: $2.50 each Weight: 32 grams Sizes: 1.1 ounce Flavors: Blueberry Pomegranate and Vanilla Orange Web site: www.guenergy.com GU now has a high-octane version of its original energy gel. Roctane is similar to the original GU energy gel but has added nutrients, including amino acids and electrolytes.
Sizes: 25-serving bag Price: $38.25 Web site: www.infinitnutrition.com When it comes to nutrition, size matters. A larger rider is going to require a higher caloric intake than a smaller one. In addition to size, there are other factors that result in our varying metabolic rates (and it always seems like the scrawniest guy at the table can down the biggest plate).
Belgian Tom Boonen (Quick Step) claimed his first stage win of this year's Tour of Qatar Tuesday, in the process taking the leader's jersey from Britain's Roger Hammond. Boonen, of Quick Step, won a bunch sprint at the end of the third stage ahead of Italian Danilo Napolitano and Belgian Jurgen Roelandts.
Roger Hammond (Cervélo Test Team) won the second stage of the Tour of Qatar on Monday after bringing home a solo attack late in the 134km race around Al Khor. Hammond, who takes over the race lead from fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins of Garmin-Slipstream, leapt away from a 14-man lead group and finished just one second ahead of a chase headed by Italian Danilo Napolitano (Team Katusha) and including Belgian sprint star Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who finished fourth. Hammond’s teammate Heinrich Haussler took third.
Powered by newcomer Bradley Wiggins, Garmin-Slipstream roared to victory in the team time trial to open the Tour of Qatar on Sunday. Wiggins, a winner of two gold medals on the track at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, takes the leader’s jersey after crossing the line first with his new Garmin-Slipstream teammates. “It’s a big satisfaction because this first stage was a true goal for us in our winter preparation in Girona,” Wiggins said. “Now our week is saved and we can try the sprints without any pressure.”
With eight French riders in the top 10, it was no surprise that a national rider won the French opener to the 2009 European calendar in Sunday’s GP La Marseillaise. Rémi Pauriol gave his Cofidis team bragging rights for the first win of the 2009 season by staying clear of the chasing Bouygues Telecom duo of Thomas Voeckler and Yury Trofimov. Pauriol survived a series of decisive attacks in the opening hour of racing in the 136.8km route around the hills near Marseille.
Evidently the forge is still hot over at Santa Cruz bicycles. It waited less than a week after the introduction of its new carbon fiber Blur XC to release a brand new gravity-oriented model called the Driver 8, an 8-inch VPP bike with a unique blend of downhill and freeride characteristics. Santa Cruz intends the Driver 8 to be a versatile, all purpose, everyday gravity bike. In a happy surprise for both Santa Cruz and dirt riders everywhere, it’s ready for the public a month early. [nid:87103]
Belgian Niels Albert may have some reason to thank his Dutch rival Lars Boom for his win in the elite men’s event at the world cyclocross championships in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on Sunday. The defending world champion didn’t even come close to affecting the race on his home turf in Holland, but his strong performances at worlds last year and in this year’s World Cup series may have given the usually dominant Belgians reason to set aside personal interests and work together as a team.
There’s an old Dutch saying that notes that when two dogs are fighting for a bone, it’s often the third dog that ends up getting it. Holland’s Marianne Vos may have remembered that old line when she sat firmly in the middle of what appeared to be a battle for the women’s world cyclocross championship between Germany’s Hanka Kupfernagel and American Katie Compton on Sunday in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands. Because of the bitter cold, the Hoogerheide course remained hard and fast for the women's race, and was likely to remain the way for the following men's event.
Ask Germany’s Philipp Walsleben which cyclocross races he hasn’t won as an Under-23 this season and takes him a bit to answer. “I think it’s three this season,” he answers with some hesitation, “but that’s as an U23 rider. I still have long way to go as an elite.”
Dutchman Tijmen Eising continued his season-long romp through the junior ranks of international cyclocross, riding away from the field within the first 300 meters of the world championship in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on Saturday. Eising, the overall World Cup champion and winner of three of the series’ six races, took early command of the field on Saturday.
Colors: Black and Pink, Black, Gloss wood, White, Leopard, Caramel Sizes: One size fits most Weight: 29 grams Price: $59.95 Web site: www.tifosioptics.com [nid:87005]
Price: $15.95 Web site: www.velogear.com
Giro’s vision was 20-20 when it signed Alberto Contador to promote its new eyewear line.
Italian national road champion Filippo Simeoni, who famously had a run-in with Lance Armstrong during the 2004 Tour de France, is not among the riders invited to this year’s Giro d’Italia. Simeoni’s Flaminia Bossini team was not on the preliminary list of 20 teams announced Wednesday. Other teams absent from the initial list include Cofidis, Euskaltel, Française des Jeux and Fuji, formerly Saunier Duval.
Dear Lennard,
Can I run a new CN-7900 chain with 7800 derailleur, cassette, and FSA crank set (53/38)? It is time to replace my 7800 chain and would like to upgrade to the CN-7900 chain.
Mike
Price: $39.99 Weight: 30 grams Web site: www.axiomgear.com New, in the class of boutique bike parts, the Axiom Helix Pro Team water bottle cage. This elegant and simple cage design is a good fit for your most beloved bicycle. Unlike standard water bottle cages, the Axiom Helix Cage will add to the aesthetics of your bicycle instead of take away from it.
Colavita-Sutter Home's Luis Amaran won Saturday's sixth stage of the Tour de San Luis in Argentina. The Cuban-born sprinter won by about 39 seconds over a group of three: Saxo Banks' Matti Breschel, Diquigiovanni's Manuel Bellettti and Liquigas's Kjell Carlstrom.
Belgian Sven Nys and German Hanka Kupfernagel wrapped up their World Cup series wins in Milan on Sunday, although it was a more or less a formality for both. [nid:86889] Nys needed only 2 points to secure his fourth World Cup overall. He did that and more — winning the race by outsprinting reigning world champion Lars Boom, signaling he is ready to take the worlds next weekend in the Netherlands.
American Rachel Lloyd (California Giant Strawberry-Specialized) scored her best cyclocross World Cup result ever on Sunday, coming in fifth in the World Cup finale in Milan, Italy. Daphny Van den Brand won the race, two seconds ahead of Hanka Kupfernagel and 29 seconds ahead of Maryline Salvetat. American Katie Compton skipped the event, since she could not have improved on her third place in World Cup standings. Compton instead used the weekend to prepare for the upcoming world championships in the Netherlands.
He chose not to sprint ? he didn’t have to ? but regardless, Allan Davis’ 33rd place behind stage winner Francesco Chicchi Sunday in Adelaide saw him crowned winner of the 2009 Tour Down Under. It’s been a monumental week for the bull terrier from Bundaberg in Queensland, Australia, who, from this moment onwards, can definitively put the past behind him and move on to what many are predicting bigger and better things. “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride,” Davis told VeloNews, in reference to the past two seasons that saw his career in virtual limbo.
Andalucia's Xavier Tondo won the fifth stage of Argentina's Tour de San Luis on Friday, a 205-kilometer route from San Francisco del Montea de Oro to Merlo (Mirador del Sol).
Allan Davis has never felt so good. The only rider to have ridden every edition of the race, the 28-year-old Queenslander now finds himself in the enviable position of becoming the eleventh champion of the Tour Down Under and the sixth Australian to do so. After two seasons he’d probably rather forget, he finally wrenched himself free of the mudded waters of Operación Puerto to start 2009 afresh with a new team, Quick Step, and clear of any wrongdoing.
Doubling up on his victory two days before and gaining a valuable 10 second time bonus Friday in Angaston, Quick Step’s Allan Davis has given himself a realistic shot of going one better than last year in his bid to become the sixth Australian winner of the Tour Down Under.
Sizes: 1.2mm Price: $36.95 to $69.00 Web site: www.powercordz.com Power Cordz now offers 1.2mm derailleur cable sets and a complete cable system. The difference between 1.2mm Cordz and traditional 1.2mm steel cables is that Cordz are made from Zylon, a fiber that Io Dupont suggests is as strong as steel yet reduces weight by 75 percent. In terms of compatibility, Derailleur Cordz are just that — fully compatible with Shimano, SRAM, Campagnolo, and any standard 4mm housing.
What appeared to be a relatively innocuous stage was turned on its head Thursday in Victor Harbor. Courtesy of a howling westerly wind and some of the world’s best riders, a star-studded break created havoc in the Tour Down Under and threatened to leave no more than a dozen riders in contention to win the race overall.
Team Bissell's Tom Zirbel was second in Wednesday's third stage of Argentina's Tour de San Luis, a 19.8km individual time trial.
Following a difficult year that saw his career aspirations go off the boil, Quick Step’s Queenslander Allan Davis found his form at exactly the right time, flying up the final 500 meters in Wednesday’s finish in Stirling to capture both the second stage and race lead in the 2009 Tour Down Under.
Lucas Sebastian Haedo, an Argentinian who races for the American Colavita team, won stage 2 of his home country's Tour de San Luis on Tuesday. Haedo held off Nazaret Prado of Brazil and Alfredo Lucero of Argentina to win the 174km stage from San Luis/La Toma to Mirador Del Potrero.
Santa Cruz is unveiling its latest cross-country machine, a carbon fiber Blur XC, which looks to be the fastest endurance race bike the brand has ever built.
He said last year Australia was where he found himself. Facing sponsorship uncertainties, Columbia-High Road’s André Greipel went on to a stellar 12-win season that was only topped by his teammate Mark Cavendish. And Tuesday in Mawson Lakes, Germany’s ‘Gorilla’ picked up where he left off, the defending champion sailing straight down the middle of the road to capture the opening road stage of the 2009 Tour Down Under and find himself in familiar surroundings in the leader’s ochre jersey.
Sizes: 23c or 25c x 700c Weight: 240 or 280 grams Price: $45.99 Web site: www.panaracer.com Panaracer now sells a tire that is intended to be ideal for heavy training and racing on less than ideal surfaces. On the scale of durability versus speed, the new Extreme Duro is aimed right in the middle.
Italian Mattia Gavazzi (Diquigiovanni) won Monday's opening stage of Argentina's Tour de San Luis, holding off a charge by the Haedo brothers, Sebastian and Juan Jose. Juan Jose (Saxo Bank) was second on the stage, while his younger brother Sebastian (Colavita) was third in the sprint at the end of a 168.4 km stage from San Luis to Villa Mercedes.