Road Racing

Two-time Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins expects a tough battle on Monday when he leads Britain out in a bid to claim its first Olympic gold in the coveted team pursuit. Britain’s four underlined their credentials as heirs to defending champions Australia by beating their own world record in Beijing on Sunday in a time of 3:55.202 seconds. It allowed the Brits to finish fastest in the first round and book the gold medal match against Denmark. An impressive New Zealand quartet will face Australia in the fight for bronze.

Newly-crowned Olympic keirin champion Chris Hoy is primed for a semi-final clash with three-time world sprint champion Theo Bos as he looks for more gold in the men's sprint. Scottish sprint king Hoy continued his bid for his third Beijing gold medal after coasting into the quarter-finals of the men's sprint Sunday. Hoy, 32, beat a 12-year-old Olympic record for the 200 meters flying start in the qualifying round in a stunning time of 9.815 seconds.

Britain's Rebecca Romero made Olympic history in Beijing Sunday when she became just the second woman to claim medals in two different sports at the summer Games. England's Romero dominated the 3km individual-pursuit final to leave Wendy Houvenaghel of Northern Ireland with the silver medal after posting a winning time of three minutes, 28.32 seconds. Lesya Kalitovska of Ukraine defeated New Zealand's Alison Shanks to win the bronze medal.

To the cheers of a partisan crowd, BMC’s Jeff Louder won the queen stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Saturday, a grueling slog from Park City to Snowbird Ski Resort that delivered 15,000 feet of climbing and three KOM points over 98.7 miles. At Snowbird Ski Resort at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon the Salt Lake City native finished seconds ahead of Garmin-Chipotle’s race leader Blake Caldwell, who finished second on the stage. Team Type 1’s Glen Chadwick, less than one week off a return flight from Beijing, finished third.

With three golds, a silver and a two bronzes through four events on the Laoshan Velodrome, Great Britain is living up to its pre-Olympics hype as the track dominator. So far it hasn’t been a benevolent ruler. Day Two saw Chris Hoy take a crushing victory in the men’s keirin (with Ross Edgar in silver), just 24 hours after the Brits mowed their way to gold in the Team Sprint.

Spaniard Joan Llaneras produced a stunning display of endurance and sprint riding here at the Laoshan velodrome to reclaim his Olympic crown in the men's points race. Germany's Roger Kluge took the silver with Britain's Christopher Newton taking the bronze. Llaneras, 39, reclaimed the title he won at Sydney in 2000 after a stunning ride in the 160-lap race which he finished with 60 points. Kluge, the halfway leader, finished on 58 with Newton on 56.

Wiggins sets new standard in pursuit

Jennie Reed is heading into Sunday’s sprint qualifying rounds with the added air of confidence that comes with owning a world championship gold medal. True, Reed did not take her world title at this year’s worlds in Manchester in the sprint — she won it in the keirin, which is not an Olympic event. But the fast and furious keirin is often a litmus test for how strong a track sprinter’s legs are firing. And this year, Reed’s legs have been firing full blast.

While Mother Nature teased participants with tiny showers up to about an hour before the start, this year’s Mt. Washington Hillclimb went off without a hitch. At start time the temp at the base of the New Hampshire peak was a mild 61, while the summit was a sunny 46 with literally no wind. [nid:81910] The 600-rider field — containing none of the more well known riders of the past few years such as Tyler Hamilton, Tom Danielson or Ned Overend — left the field wide open for up-and-coming riders.

American Taylor Phinney held his head high as he rolled off the wooden track at Beijing’s Laoshan velodrome. The American’s quest for an Olympic medal had just fizzled in the semi finals of the men’s Individual Pursuit, as Phinney fell to New Zealander Hayden Roulston. Above the American, his parents — cycling greats Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney — chanted “We love you buddy!” as Phinney stepped off his bike to end his whirlwind 2007-08 season.

Britain's Bradley Wiggins of Britain successfully defended his Olympic crown when he won the individual pursuit track cycling gold in Beijing on Saturday. New Zealand's Hayden Roulston took silver with Britain's Steven Burke winning the bronze medal. American Taylor Phinney missed a spot in the medal rounds, riding 4:26.6 in Round 1. The 27-year-old Wiggins clocked a time of 4:16.5 in Round 1 to secure his place in the final against the New Zealander, who finished in 4:19.2.

Disproving critics that downplayed his Successful Living team’s chances of taking victory at the national level in 2008, Argentinean Ricardo Escuela won the stage 3 criterium of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Friday evening in downtown Salt Lake City. It was Successful Living’s third NRC win of the 2008 season.

Scotland's Chris Hoy anchored Britain to an historic victory in the coveted Olympic team sprint final in Beijing Friday to leave world champions France with the silver. Hoy, who is aiming for a further two gold medals in the five-day, ten final race anchored the team home after stunning rides from England's Jamie Staff and Jason Kenny in a time of 43.128. France took the silver in 43.551 with defending champions Germany beating Australia to the bronze medal.

In the lead up to the Beijing Olympics, American track pursuit cyclist Sarah Hammer graced the pages of both Sports Illustrated and ESPN magazines. As her sport’s world champion in both 2005 and 2006, Hammer was touted in print as America’s best shot at grabbing a medal in track racing.

Options: Available to fit Campagnolo or Shimano brakes. Weight: 24 grams/pair Web site: www.serfas.com Retail: $70. Includes pads for aluminum and carbon rims. Serfas carbon fiber brake pad holders are intended to be lighter and stronger than other pad holders. The company also claims the pad holders dissipate heat quickly and evenly. The titanium mounting nut allows a fully adjustable pad angle. The pad itself has a three-stage braking surface.

The top stage racers in the country wasted no time Thursday in tearing apart the general classification at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. A select group of 13 riders emerged during the day’s third and final mountain pass as the most likely contenders for overall victory, while Garmin-Chipotle’s 24-year-old Blake Caldwell took his second career Tour of Utah stage win. For the second consecutive day, the stage winner came out of a small breakaway, and for the second consecutive day the winner wore a Garmin-Chipotle jersey, which was then traded for yellow atop the podium.

Call it MaskGate.

Four world-class track cyclists land in one of the most polluted cities in the world and want nothing more than to protect the one organ – their lungs – that most determines whether or not they’ll win an Olympic medal.

They don masks, given to them by their Olympic governing body, and an international scandal erupts.

Sarah Hammer, Jennie Reed, Michael Friedman and Bobby Lea unintentionally created a furor on August 5 when they walked into Beijing’s international airport wearing USOC-issued masks to cover their nose and mouths.

What a way to

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Jason Donald (Garmin-Chipotle) bridged to an early breakaway and then won the Tour of Utah's first stage after working a day-long break. Donald's win in the 101-mile flat-to-rolling stage gives him the early overall lead in the stage race. Second place went to Sheldon Denny of the Fan Sports Network team; third was Brad White of Successful Living. Thursday's second stage is hillier: the University Health Care Road Race, at 84.6 miles, has four climbs. It begins in downtown Ogden and ends in Salt Lake City.

Colors: Black Sizes: Waist sizes: 28, 32, 34, 36, 38-inches. Material: 100 percent polyester outer shell with poly/spandex liner and one-piece molded chamois Suggested retail: $110 Web site: www.yeticycles.com Yeti's new Raptor shorts are part of the company's new 2008 Ride Wear line of comfortable, baggy tech jerseys and shorts that are designed for long trail rides and gravity riding.

German rider Linus Gerdemann (Team Columbia) won the Tour de l'Ain cycling race after the fourth and final stage on Wednesday. Gerdemann clocked 14:14:03 over the four stages to finish 12 seconds ahead of French rider David Moncoutie of Cofidis, with AG2R rider Stephane Goubert of France third at 36 seconds. The 25-year-old German, holder of the yellow jersey after his victory on Tuesday, and his Columbia teammates were dominant on the hilly Bugey stage.

Suggested retail: To be determined Size: 26 x 2.00 Weight: 630 grams Web site:www.geax.com The Geax Saguaro Tubular is 26 x 2.00 tubular mountain bike tire, part of Geax's revamped 2009 model line. The Saguaro has very round profile, with a polycotton casing derived from road racing tires. The casing is designed to offer comfort and low rolling resistance. The casing is hand made of Corespun K 290TPI cotton and Kevlar fibers.

Suggested retail: $9.99 Capacity: 21 ounces Web site: www.rocketsciencesports.com The Rocket Bottle is an aerodynamic water bottle that fits standard bottle cages. Rocket Science claims that wind-tunnel testing shows the bottle has 16 percent less drag than a standard bottle, which the company says equates to saving 53 seconds in a 40km time trial.

Price: $119.99 Weight: 94 grams per set OLD: 100mm front and 130mm rear (Fits standard road bikes). Web site: www.fullspeedahead.com FSA's new K-Force QR quick release levers feature a 3K-weave full carbon fiber lever, designed to be aerodynamic and ergonomic. The skewer, pivot barrel and springs are stainless steel. The set weighs 94 grams.

Fabian Cancellara’s finish-line salute at the end of Wednesday’s Olympic time trial erased any concerns that the big Swiss rider has lost his edge in the race against the clock. He rolled into the finishing straight with 33 seconds in his pocket over Swede Gustav Larsson, stopped pedaling, lifted his arm in a very un-aero fist and punched the air.

Toyota-United's Canadian strongman Dominique Rollin won the 2008 Rochester Omnium after winning the rain-soaked Twilight Criterium and coming in second in the opening time trial of the three-stage event. Rollin, a Tour of California stage winner and former Canadian national champion, also scored points in the road race to lock up an overall win over BMC's Tony Cruz, who won the 101-mile road race.

Dear Lennard,
Why would changing a tire on a Zipp 530 be so difficult? I beat my fingers and snap tire levers trying to get a tire off.
Steve Dear Steve,
It’s a good question, but one I thought might be best answered by the folks at Zipp.
Lennard

The 2008 USA Cycling Elite Nationals concluded Sunday in Orange County, California, with the men's elite, U23 and Junior 17-18 road races. U23 Road Race

Travis Woodruff (MomentumEndurance) and Abigail Strigel (Polska/Fond du Lac Cyclery) won Sunday's Sunburst Showdown at Wisconsin's Sunburst Ski Area.. The race was the eighth event of the Wisconsin Off Road Series. After five laps of the course, Woodruff took the Elite Men's win (1:24:39), ahead of second-place Brain Matter (Geargrinder-Hyundai; 1:24:57) and third place Jeff Melcher (Team Pedal-Moraine; 1:28:05). By coincidence, all three rode Gary Fisher Superfly bikes.

Floris Goesinnen (Skil Shimano) sprinted to victory in the first stage of the Tour de l'Ain in eastern France on Sunday. The Dutchman took the leader's yellow jersey after crossing ahead of Paul Moucheraud (Roubaix Lille Metropole) with the peloton led by Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) arriving close behind. A breakaway group gained a 10-minute lead ahead of the pack early in the 149km stage from Lagnieu to Montreal-la-Cluse but the gap narrowed as the course became more mountainous.

Dave Wiens pulled away from Lance Armstrong in the final ten miles of Saturday's Leadville Trail 100 in Colorado, winning the race for the sixth time, in record time. "The guy that I raced today was not the guy who won the Tours," the modest Wiens said at the finish.

Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke didn’t raise her arms in glory after uncorking a winning sprint at the end of Sunday’s rain soaked Olympic road race. The blonde Welshwoman, 25, instead let fly with an ear piercing shriek that echoed throughout the Juyongguan Pass area of China’s Great Wall.

On a sweltering day that saw many riders succumb to Beijing’s heat and humidity, Samuel Sanchez timed a last-minute acceleration to perfection to win the 2008 Olympic men’s road race. The Spanish climber crossed the finish line beneath China’s Great Wall just inches ahead of Italian Davide Rebellin. Swiss world time-trial champ Fabian Cancellara, who was riding without any teammates, collected the bronze.

Justin Williams (Rock Racing) and Beatriz Rodriguez (SC Velo) won their respective under-23 criteriums on Friday as the USA Cycling junior, U23, and elite road national championships continued in Anaheim, California. The criterium championships were held on a fast, flat 1.7km course in Angels Stadium. In the 35-lap U23 men’s race, the 19-year-old Williams threw his bike at the line in a massive bunch sprint to barely squeak past second-placed Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast) with Daniel Holloway (VMG-Felt) third.

Things will be very different for Jason McCartney as he lines up Saturday in what will be his second crack at an Olympic medal. Four years ago, after winning the qualifying race to make the U.S. Olympic team for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the Iowan was in sweltering Athens as a wide-eyed domestic pro lining up against the likes of Paolo Bettini. Flash forward four years and McCartney, now 34, will be breaking a sweat again in the heat, humidity and smog of Beijing. The thrill of being at the Olympics is still there, but long gone is the sense that he doesn’t belong.

Price: $39.95 Available from: www.richardsachs.com/dvd.html "Imperfection is Perfection" is a movie about Connecticut frame builder Richard Sachs and his bicycles, filmed by Des Horsfield. Horsfield's film takes an intimate look into the life and mind of the bicycle frame builder as Sachs talks about why he does what he does. A trailer can be viewed at Des Horsfield Productions.

Alison Powers (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Jonathan Chodroff (CRCA-Empire Cycling Team) won the national elite time trial championships in Irvine, California, on Wednesday. Elite Women Powers said she fulfilled a goal she set seven months ago by besting second-place finisher Mara Abbott (Team Columbia) by 1 minute, 39 seconds. Chrissy Ruiter (ValueAct Capital) came in third at 51:05.50.

Price: Blocks $2, Drink $1.50 Servings per pack: Two Web site: www.clifshot.com Do you come back from your mid-summer rides with crusty white streaks all over your jersey, shorts, gloves and helmet straps?[nid:81154]

Dear Readers,
I have received so much mail about the " tubulars vs. clinchers rolling resistance debate that I could not resist running some of the better ones. The debate may never end, but your letter sure have raised a lot of issues that I’d never considered.
Lennard

Price: $285 Weight: 535 grams Web site:www.crankbrothers.com No need to stop, to drop and roll: You can bust some serious moves on a 5-inch travel bike these days; both up and down hills. Crankbrothers’ Joplin post, a Maverick American-licensed design, offers three inches of adjustment via a handlebar-mounted remote, which allows you to get down some serious terrain. It’s intended for trail riding and Super D racing. Crankbrothers offers a two-year warranty with the Joplin.

Trek/VW rider Chris Eatough came from behind to win the 24 Hours of 9-Mile solo national championships in Wausau, Wisconsin, Saturday. Pua Sawicki defended her 2007 title with 18 laps, which she completed in 24 hours and 3 minutes. [nid:81316] In the men’s race, Josh Tostada led the race early on, riding 15-mile laps in under an hour. “[Tostada] really put me into difficulty, he and I were very evenly matched,” Eatough said. “But my pit crew has our routine dialed, and the new bike let me race even faster.”

Joining a winning break on the final stage of the Tour of Elk Grove, David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit) won the overall title of the Illinois stage race. It was a big weekend, with appearances by several top American riders, including Astana's Chris Horner, who suffered a broken collarbone in Saturday's second stage. Action Images’ Ben Ross was there to photograph the action.

Price: $180 Weight: 340 grams Web site: www.louisgarneau.com Air Sticks to It: Louis Garneau launched its new Supperleggera helmet at the Tour de France on the heads of Bouygues-Telecom’s riders. The golf ball-like dimples on the front of the helmet are said to capture a small layer of air, thus promoting better laminar air flow, making it faster aerodynamically. Besides better flow, the helmet is lighter and comes with a five-color sticker set so that you can match it to your team kit.

Marie-Helene Premont (Rocky Mountain) and Julien Absalon (Orbea) virtually assured themselves of overall victories in the season-long cross-country World Cup series by turning in strong rides at the seventh round in Bromont, Quebec, on Sunday. Absalon took his second consecutive win in the series, while Premont finished second to Canadian Olympic team mate Catharine Pendrel (Luna), who won her first ever World Cup.

Astana’s Chris Horner will miss the Vuelta a España later this month after suffering a broken collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Elk Grove on Saturday. Horner broke his left clavicle in a crash in the final sprint of the second stage of the Illinois stage race and, after crossing the finish line, was transported to a nearby hospital where the break was diagnosed.

Colavita-Sutter Home’s Alejandro Borrajo and Katherine Carroll (Aaron’s) claimed victory at the fifth annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, the eighth event in the 2008 USA CRITS Series. With the help of teammate Kyle Wamsley, Borrajo beat a small, select group of elite criterium riders that escaped the main field just over an hour into the race. The Argentine sprinter added another win to his already successful season by outracing last year's winner, Frank Pipp (Health Net), and Emile Abraham (Team Type 1).

Sam Hill (Monster Energy-Iron Horse) regained the lead in the men's downhill World Cup on Saturday over Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate), after beating his South African rival by 2.7 seconds. In the women's race, Rachel Atherton (Animal Commencal) extended her lead over Sabrina Jonnier (Maxxis) with her second consecutive win.

Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde won Saturday's Clásica San Sebastián by outsprinting a group of about ten riders including Davide Rebellin, Paolo Bettini, Franco Pellizotti, Denis Menchov and Samuel Sánchez. The group formed after Bettini's Quick Step team put the hammer down in the final kilometers, leading into the Cat. 3 Alto de Arkale climb 16km from the finish. Bettini attacked twice on the climb and whittled the peloton down to about a dozen riders.

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Phinney and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics. "Votre hard-drive ne marche pas ... c'est morte" is something that I didn't want to hear today.

Shortly after the official result sheet of last Saturday’s Tour de France time trial was dropped on my table at the pressroom in St. Amand-Montrond, I made an interesting discovery. All but one of the riders who had just taken the top 15 places in the challenging 53km test either represent teams that have a strong internal anti-doping program (CSC-Saxo Bank, Garmin-Chipotle and Team Columbia) and/or are members of the Movement for Credible Cycling (Gerolsteiner, Rabobank, Garmin and Columbia).

Shimano has formally announced plans to release Dura-Ace Di2, a new electronic shifting option for the all-new 7900 series Dura-Ace, in January. Composed of dual control shift/brake levers, front derailleur, rear derailleur, a wiring harness and battery pack, the new Dura-Ace Di2 7970 components integrate with components from the upcoming 7900 series Dura-Ace group, while adding only 68 grams.

When Trek’s new top-of-the-line Top Fuel 9.9 SSL was unveiled earlier this month at the company's mountain bike product launch, arguably one of the most attention-grabbing components was a Bontrager-branded carbon wheelset. As it turned out, this was not the only new set of wheels Trek will unveil for 2009. Bontrager will offer updated versions of its Race Lite wheelset for the cross-country crowd as well as its all-mountain Rhythm line. Both models will be offered in 26-inch and 29-inch versions. Carbon upgrade

American Kori Seehafer of the Menikini-Selle Italia Master team won Wednesday UCI Women's World Cup event in Vargarda, Sweden. Seehafer, a Wisconsin native who lives in Colorado, won the 132-kilometer event in a sprint against fellow American Kim Anderson (High Road). The two finished 1:10 ahead of third placed Charlotte Becker. (Results) The win moved Seehafer, who did not have any prior women's World Cup points, into 9th place in the rankings: Women's World Cup road rankings and points following Vargarda road race: 1. Judith Arndt, 260

A video clip showing Australian Cadel Evans snap at a broadcast journalist following the Tour de France’s stage 10 finish at Hautacam has become a minor YouTube sensation, with the clip garnering near 100,000 views and hundreds of comments by race’s end. After taking the yellow jersey, Evans was walked through customary post-stage TV interviews when a microphone windscreen tapped his injured left shoulder, wounded in his race threatening stage 9 crash.

Zogics Citra Wipes Retail price: $10 for eight wipes Website: www.zogics.com Zogics Citra Wipes are handy little single-use packs for cleaning the grime from your hands after road and trailside repairs. They're easily stuffed into a seat bag or hydration pack, and the solvent in the wipe is citrus-based and therefore nontoxic; in fact, Zogics claims the whole thing to be biodegradable (the wipe, not the packaging.)

Now that the champagne has lost its fizz and the podium girls are back to their day jobs, the cycling world now waits with bated breath until that last anti-doping control winds through the labyrinth of syringes, gyroscopes, laser prisms and other weapons in the arsenal at the labs. Until the final sample comes back clean, no one can afford to breathe easy. Anyone who loves the Tour is desperate to avoid that final-hour “worst-case scenario” that could once again send cycling to its knees.

Tubes, tubulars or NoTubes?
Dear Lennard,
I'm currently running Campy 10-speed and am interested in running Hutchinson Tubeless Tires. It appears that the only officially approved system is the Shimano Dura-Ace wheelset, which is obviously not an option for me. My question is will a wheelset with rims that do not have pierced spoke holes on the interior (like the Mavic Ksyrium SL, Campy Shamal Ultra or Fulcrum Racing Zero) suffice and is there anything special that has to be done to make them work?
Phil

Increased suspense, a boom in television ratings and happy sponsors left Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme in a buoyant mood two days prior to the end of this year's race. But with the ever-present threat of cheats lingering, the Frenchman knows it is far too early to talk of a definitive turnaround for the sport. After years of controversy the reputation of the race was tarnished by a minority of drugs cheats. But compared to recent scandals, this year's Tour got off comparatively lightly.

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans (Silence-Lott) dismissed as “unfounded rumor” speculation he has suffered a knee injury that could threaten his participation in next month’s Olympic Games in Beijing. Evans, 31, finished second in Tour de France for the second straight year and on Sunday night joined his Silence Lotto team mates for the traditional post-Tour dinner in Paris. Evans said he did slip on a wet floor but it was no more than that.

For Australia's Cadel Evans, the Olympic road race in Beijing is already too far on the horizon. For the immediate future, the 31-year-old wants to concentrate on winding down at the one-day criteriums which follow the end of the Tour de France — and then put his bike to rest. Evans' overriding feeling was one of "relief" on Sunday after he finished his fourth Tour campaign with an impressive fourth top ten finish. Yet his second consecutive runner-up spot, a year on from losing the yellow jersey by 23 seconds to Spaniard Alberto Contador, must have hurt.

Here's a picture that reflects the amazing day now behind me. It was amazing. The feeling riding onto the Champs was unlike anything I've ever felt on a bicycle before in my life. Tired legs turned into a feeling of nothing but excitement. And now we're in the middle of a celebratory dinner and I've already consumed far too much bubbly. Thanks everybody for following the past few weeks!

Stage 21 stats

Stage 21, Étamps to Paris, 143km

Carlos Sastre has a reputation of being a cool customer under pressure. After 11 seasons as a pro, nothing rankles the 33-year-old veteran too much. From doping scandals that nearly toppled his CSC team after captain Ivan Basso was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal to the death of his brother-in-law, José María “El Chaba” Jiménez in 2003 at just 32, he’d seen it all.

Anyone can attest it’s hard to sleep when you’re hot. It's a fact that Garmin-Chipotle physiologist Allen Lim knows well. It’s why, among other things, regulating his riders’ temperatures on and off the bike is key to keeping them as fresh and fast as possible. This concept plays into both short-term and long-term performances; the former being a stage performance and the latter being the whole of the three-week race like the Tour de France.

Kazakhstan's Dmitri Fofonov has tested positive for a banned stimulant, his Credit Agricole team said on the final day of the Tour de France. Fofonov finished the race in 19th overall, 28:31 behind race winner Carlos Sastre. Credit Agricole manager Roger Legeay said Fofonov told the team he bought a product over the Internet to fight cramps. He has been suspended and may be fired, Legeay said.

Carlos Sastre became the seventh Spaniard to win the Tour de France yellow jersey when he wrapped up overall victory on Sunday, taking his country's total to 11 wins.

Drew Geer and Mark Gouge are racing the Jeantex Bike Transalp 2008 powered by Nissan, an eight-stage epic mountain bike stage race, from Füssen, Germany, to Riva del Garda, Italy, passing through Austria and Switzerland. The two are racing for the Chipotle-Titus-VeloNews team.

Naturns to Andalo Italy

Defending champions Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm of Team Bulls won the final stage of the TransAlpe 2008 and wrapped up their second consecutive win of the 665-kilometer stage race. On the last stage from Andalo to Riva del Garda, Platt and Sahm underlined why they kept hold on their title with good reason. The team mastered the 61-kilometer stage in 2:30:03, putting their total riding time in the 8-stages at just under 30 hours at 29:59:25.

Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo Bank) won the 95th Tour de France on Sunday as Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) took the 21st and final stage on the Champs-Élysées.[nid:80935] "I've dreamt of this since I was a child," said an emotional Sastre, who was surrounded by his wife and two children, Claudia and Yeday. "I'm beyond words — to be here with my family is really special." Steegmans, too, was delighted, having finally snapped his team's winless streak at this year's Tour.

Just days ago Mont-Ste-Anne’s tricky four-cross course was reduced to an impassable mud bog after heavy mid-week thunderstorms dumped buckets of rain on the region. Organizers contemplated canceling the event outright, as the thick mud refused to dry in the wake of additional showers. [nid:80882] But eventually the track did dry out, and maintenance crews armed with shovels and earth moving equipment turned the tide. As the World Cup race kicked off under darkening skies on Saturday evening, only a handful of patches sported mud. [nid:80879]

Drenched with sweat after riding at maximum effort for four and a half minutes, Greg Minnaar couldn’t contain his smile after winning the Mont-Ste-Anne round of the 2008 UCI World Cup. “Winner winner, chicken dinner,” Minnaar said.

Stage 20: Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond, 53km Weather: Hot and humid with partly cloudy skies and moderate wind, temperatures in the mid 80s. Stage winner: Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher proved he was the strongest time trialist at this Tour, winning both the 29km stage 4 TT and Saturday’s 53km effort. World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara finished second, 21 seconds back.

Stage winner Stefan Schumacher was more surprised than anyone to be back on the Tour de France podium after claiming victory in Saturday’s time trial. Schumacher’s win in the first time trial at a distance of 29.5km wasn’t a complete surprise because he’s done well in shorter distances, but his 21-second victory ahead of Olympic favorite and two-time world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara wasn’t expected by many.

Gerolsteiner’s Stefan Schumacher surprised a few observers when he won the stage-four time trial in this year’s Tour de France. Then, he stunned them on Saturday by winning the Tour’s second race against the clock, beating two-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (CSc-Saxo Bank) by 21 seconds on the 53km course. "I did a perfect race,” said the 27-year-old German. “The course was a little bit rolling, which is perfectly suited to me. I got into a good rhythm straight away. There was a tailwind at the start, and afterwards I just kept my head down and focused on the job."

Carlos Sastre is poised to become the seventh Spanish rider in history to win the Tour de France. Barring catastrophe, the Team CSC-Saxo Bank rider will ride into Paris on Sunday as the third consecutive Spanish Tour winner. The 33-year-old surprised many after he fended off the time trial threats of Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov to retain the leader’s jersey. Sastre spoke with reporters after Saturday’s stage. Here’s a sampling of what he had to say. Question: What are you feeling now with the yellow jersey?

It’s been three weeks since we left Brest for the start of this thing and after today’s TT stage we find ourselves back in a Campanile, a hotel that takes the cookie-cutter room model to the max. The feeling of déjà vu is out of control, at least until you step outside. It’s strangely fitting however, in an odd sort of way. Tomorrow we head to Paris for one of the grandest sporting spectacles in the world, a slick hotel, huge dinner and evening out to follow, but tonight we’re off in the middle of nowhere, relaxed as can be, and feeling like it’s any another day.

CSC-Saxo Bank's Carlos Sastre withstood the challenge from Silence-Lotto's Cadel Evans on Saturday, defending his yellow jersey going into the final stage of the 2008 Tour de France. A surprising Sastre ceded just 29 seconds to Evans over Saturday's 53km time trial and will enter the Tour's finale Sunday with a 1:05 lead over the Aussie, who is on track for his second consecutive runner-up finish in the Tour.