Road

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USA Pro Cycling Challenge prologue starting times

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"Terrified, I arrived with my training partner Andy Guptill two weeks early to acclimate and preview stages. “You’re a different rider than you were two years ago,” my coach said."

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Cadel Evans dismisses reports of a rift in the BMC Racing team over world road champion Thor Hushovd's signing and says the Norwegian's ability to perform in the spring races would take some pressure off of him early in the year.

Billed as a rematch between Tour champion Cadel Evans and runner-up Andy Schleck, the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is the first time the Tour’s top riders have crossed paths since the final podium presentation on the Champs-Élysées.

Graham Watson captures the action in stage 2 of the 2011 Vuelta a España.

HTC-Highroad promises to ride its last grand tour with its collective head held high as Tim Duggan hopes to clinch an extension with Liquigas-Cannondale.

Vattenfall Cyclassics

• 1. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor), Team Sky, 4:49:39
• 2. Gerald Ciolek (Ger), Quick Step, s.t.
• 3. Borut Bozic (Slo), Vacansoleil-DCM, s.t.
• 4. Simone Ponzi (Ita), Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
• 5. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp), Movistar, s.t.

Tyler Farrar found himself forced to choose between the Vuelta and the Vattenfall this year.

Stage 2

• 1. Christopher Sutton, Team Sky, at 4:11:41
• 2. Vicente Reynes, Omega Pharma-Lotto, same time
• 3. Marcel Kittel, Skil-Shimano, s.t.
• 4. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Cervélo, s.t.
• 5. Matti Breschel, Rabobank Cycling Team, s.t.

Chris Sutton sprints to victory in Vuelta's 2nd stage; Daniele Bennati takes lead.

Edvald Boasson Hagen wins the 2011 Vattenfall Cyclassics.

Who are the big names in the smaller teams you should look for on the Colorado roads next week? These riders didn’t feature in France in July, but could very well win stages or even contend in the overall in Colorado in August.

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Casey B. Gibson shoots a very soggy U.S. pro crit championships in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Ned Overend and Tinker Juarez go one-two on Mount Washington as Marti Shea defends her 2010 crown.

Jakob Fuglsang wants to keep his red jersey; Iñigo Cuesta is on the sidelines; and organizers hope an earlier race draws bigger crowds.

Men

• 1. Eric Young, Bissell Pro Cycling Team
• 2. Charles Huff, Jelly Belly-Kenda
• 3. Jacob Keough, UnitedHealthcare
• 4. Isaac Howe, Kenda Pro Cycling-Geargrinder
• 5. Alexander Candelario, Kelly Benefit Strategies

Women

• 1. Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Colavita Forno D’Asolo Pro Cycling
• 2. Laura Van Gilder, Mellow Mushroom
• 3. Kelly Benjamin, Colavita Forno D’Asolo Pro Cycling
• 4. Carmen Small
• 5. Samantha Schneider, Tibco-To The Top

Graham Watson snaps the team time trial opening the 2011 Vuelta a España.

Stage 1

• 1. Leopard-Trek, 16:30
• 2. Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:04
• 3. HTC-Highroad, at 0:09


• 4. Astana, at 0:10
• 5. Movistar, at 0:14

GC

• 1. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard-Trek, 16:30
• 2. Fabian Cancellara, Leopard-Trek, same time
• 3. Maxime Monfort, Leopard-Trek, s.t.
• 4. Thomas Rohregger, Leopard-Trek, s.t.
• 5. Daniele Bennati, Leopard-Trek, s.t.

Jakob Fuglsang takes the red leader's jersey as Leopard-Trek wins the opening team time trial.

A long, decisive time trial at midrace could give the edge to two-time Vuelta champ Denis Menchov.

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BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Taylor Phinney knows that the next few weeks of his life won't be easy.

Editor's Note: The following article first appeared in the March 2011 edition of VeloNews magazine.

The Grand Cycling Classic brings the men and women to the east side of Lake Michigan Saturday for classic, Midwest downtown criteriums. The men are the headliners early in the day with the professional national championships in the morning.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Love them or hate them, time bonuses are on the menu for the three-week Vuelta a España.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Race organizers did the climbing specialists a favor this year by placing a long yet decisive individual time trial right in the middle of the three-week Vuelta a España that should see the mountains crown the overall winner on September 11 in Madrid.

"I don’t know how I will react to three weeks of racing, it is unknown and that is exactly what it is so exciting about it."

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — The 22 starting teams will face a short, 13.5km, but challenging team time trial course to open the 66th Vuelta a España around this bustling beach resort along Spain's Mediterranean Coast.

American Matt Baranoski (Perkasie, Penn./SUB 49) earned a bronze medal in the kilo event at the junior world track championships in Moscow, Russia, on Friday.

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Pros' replacement parts, where to carry your stuff, carbon brake pads and more

The American team qualified ninth and set a new American record for the team pursuit at the UCI junior track championships in Moscow Thursday.

Simon Gerrans — the only Australian to win stages in all three grand tours — is the latest addition to the GreenEDGE team for 2012.

Quick Look: Garmin ready to deliver its pedal-based power meter next spring; plus a quick review of the new Edge 200 computer

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — The season's third grand tour clicks into gear Saturday with a team time trial in this seaside summer resort that's already packed to the gills with tourists seeking sand, sun and sex. How many of those are here for the Vuelta a España is not exactly clear, but the Spanish tour will start with no shortage of contenders for overall victory when the race roars into Madrid on September 11 for the final sprint.

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RadioShack lines up for the Vuelta a España with a strong team centered around Jani Brajkovic and Andreas Klöden.

Since I was out of GC after yesterday's adventure into mid-stage bike repair, I took the opportunity to shoot some video footage of the race in action while we were on the pass. You will have to excuse a few mis-spoken words

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BERLIN (AFP) — German veteran Andreas Klöden of RadioShack has said he is not aiming for victory in the Tour of Spain, which starts Saturday, after suffering heavy falls on last month's Tour de France.

Taylor Phinney will be making his grand-tour debut with a BMC team looking to win stages and sneak into breakaways at the Vuelta a España.

John Degenkolb — the German sprint phenomenon — will join Skil-Shimano as part of a two-year contract with the Dutch team. The 22-year-old has claimed six victories in his rookie season and looks to be a star in the making.

The United States will have the maximum of nine starters for the elite men's road race on September 25 in Copenhagen.

Lennard takes questions on electric tire pumps, hanging bikes form hooks and gets more feedback on road tubeless

Aussie start-up GreenEDGE has confirmed that Sebastian Langeveld, the winner of this year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, will join the squad in a move to bolster its lineup for the major one-day races.

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PARIS (AFP) — Italian rider Michele Scarponi said he will look to legendary sprinter Alessandro Petacchi for inspiration after Lampre announced that he will lead their challenge on the Tour of Spain.

Fat and fun road tires, if you don't mind the occasional flat

Today was the third stage of the Breck Epic, and it was Epic.

PARIS (AFP) — Dutch outfit Vacansoleil will line-up in this year'sp Vuelta a España without last year's runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera. The 35-year-old Spaniard took second place while riding for Xacobeo, but it was later revealed that he had tested positive for the banned substance Hydroxyethyl Starch, also known as HES, during an in-competition test at the race.

Davide Rebellin bolted back into the winner's circle with victory in Tuesday's Tre Valle Varesine (1.HC) in northern Italy.

After being left out of the Tour de France and riding to a sub-par Giro d'Italia, it's all-in for Geox-TMC during the upcoming Vuelta a España.

Three grand-tour rookies are part of a slim North American contingent for this year's Vuelta a España that will likely include only four starting U.S. riders.

Bradley Wiggins hopes to erase the bad memories of his disappointing Tour de France with a strong comeback performance in the Vuelta a España.

LEON, Spain (VN) — Tom Boonen and Sylvain Chavanel headline Quick Step for the upcoming Vuelta a España.

LEON, Spain (VN) — Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and grand tour rookie Peter Sagan headline a deep Liquigas-Cannondale team for the Vuelta a España.

2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge teams

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Today was the second stage of the Breck Epic stage race. It was about 40 miles long and included a giant section of the Colorado Trail, which is for mountain bikers what a four-scoop chocolate ice cream Sunday is to my daughter.

Specialized is trotting out a fat line of new gear for 2012: LZ has the scoop...

Jacob Rathe has gone in one year from Jelly Belly amateur to stage winner in one of the toughest mid-level stage races in Europe. The 20-year-old Chipotle Development rider is set to move again in five months when he joins the top level of the sport with the Garmin-Cervélo ProTeam.