Road

RAVENNA, Italy (VN) – The Giro d’Italia peloton will be smaller at the start line Friday as sprinters are expected to leave the corsa rosa in droves.

RAVENNA, Italy (VN) – Alberto Contador (SaxoBank-Sungard) is getting comfortable after four days in the pink jersey. The Spaniard finished safely in the main bunch Thursday to carry a 59-second lead into three decisive stages looming in the Dolomites.

Quick Results

• 1. Mark Cavendish (GBR), HTC-Highroad , 4:17:25
• 2. Davide Appollonio (ITA), Team Sky, s.t.
• 3. Alessandro Petacchi (ITA), Lampre-ISD, s.t.
• 4. Roberto Ferrari (ITA), Androni Giocattoli, s.t.
• 5. Gerald Ciolek (GER), Quick Step, s.t.

GC

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain), SaxoBank-Sungard , 44:55:16
• 2. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Belarus), HTC-Highroad, at 59
• 3. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Liquigas-Doimo, at 1:21
• 4. Christophe Le Mevel (France), Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:28
• 5. Michele Scarponi (Italy), Lampre-ISD, at 1:28

RAVENNA, Italy (VN) - Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) grabbed his second stage win at the Giro d’Italia on Thursday, winning a drag race to the line against Sky’s Davide Appollonio and Lampre’s sprint star Allesandro Petacchi.

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• 1. Mehdi SOHRABI, (IRI) Petrochemical Tabriz Cycling Team, in 11:02:28
• 2. Hossein ASKARI, (IRI) Petrochemical Tabriz Cycling Team, at 24
• 3. Ghader MIZBANI IRANAGH, (IRI) Petrochemical Tabriz Cycling Team, at 25
• 4. Stefan SCHUMACHER, (GER) Miche-Silver Cross-Selle Italia, at 40
• 5. Davide REBELLIN, (ITA) Miche-Silver Cross-Selle Italia, at 1:04

Jesse Anthony’s Orbea Orca Silver

After questions on tire pressure and my favorite chain lube, the most popular question I’m asked is how to become a pro team mechanic.

CASTELFIDARDO, Italy (VN) — Several team managers met with Giro d’Italia officials before the start of Wednesday’s stage to express concern about the Monte Crostis descent set for stage 14.

CASTELFIDARDO, Italy (VN) – Two names are hovering in the top 5 going into the final decisive battleground of the 2011 Giro d’Italia. They would surpass expectations if they’re still there when the Giro ends in Milano, and each promises to go down fighting.

MODESTO, Calif. (VN) — Will Dugan will not start Wednesday's stage 4 in the Amgen Tour of California. Dugan (Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis) suffered a head injury in a crash late in stage 3 and a team spokesperson told VeloNews that he would return home to Vermont to recover.

Quick Results

• 1. John Gadret (FRA), Ag2r La Mondiale , 3:33:11
• 2. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Team Katusha , s.t.
• 3. Giovanni Visconti (ITA), Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli, s.t.
• 4. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (COL), Androni Giocattoli, s.t.
• 5. Alberto Contador Velasco (ESP), SaxoBank-Sungard, s.t.

GC

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain), SaxoBank-Sungard , 40:37:51
• 2. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Belarus), HTC-Highroad, at 0:59
• 3. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Liquigas-Doimo, at 1:21
• 4. Christophe Le Mevel (France), Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:28
• 5. Michele Scarponi (Italy), Lampre-ISD, at 1:28

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MODESTO, California (VN) - American Will Dugan and Jens Voigt are recovering from a frightening crash late in stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California.

A look at the bike of Ben Swift, the ATOC's first leader.

Thor Hushovd won stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California in Modesto, California. That was in 2009.

Bling's Rabobank Giant TCR Advanced SL

TERAMO, Italy (VN) – Mark Cavendish wasn’t about to leave the Giro d’Italia without winning at least one stage. But going into Tuesday’s short but fast 10th stage from Termoli to Teramo, time was running out. There were only two real chances left for sprinters and the pressure was on.

UCI president Pat McQuaid apologized to pro riders about a leaked list published in L’Equipe this week, but staunchly defended the biological passport program.

TERAMO, Italy (VN) – Controversy follows Mark Cavendish like a “marching band,” but it was more like a Mack truck Tuesday as riders accused him of taking tows on Mount Etna’s stage on Sunday.

When Alberto Contador lit his climbing after-burners on Mount Etna Sunday afternoon and streaked through the translucent Sicilian air toward his first-ever Giro d’Italia stage win (and a new grand-tour leader’s jersey), observers said the race was over. But Contador’s victory, only three seconds ahead of the enigmatic Venezuelan climber José Rujano and almost a minute ahead of his declared rivals, can be seen as a first salvo in a Giro that features six more mountaintop finishes and a couple of time trials before the checkered flag drops in Milan on May 29.

Stage 10

• 1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Highroad, in 4:00:49
• 2. Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi, Movistar Team, at s.t.
• 3. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre - Isd, at s.t.
• 4. Roberto Ferrari, Androni Giocattoli - C.i.p.i, at s.t.
• 5. Davide Appollonio, Sky Procycling, at s.t.

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco, Saxo Bank-Sungard, in 37:04:40
• 2. Kanstantsin Sivtsov, HTC-Highroad, at 59
• 3. Christophe Le Mevel, Team Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:19
• 4. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 1:21
• 5. Michele Scarponi, Lampre - Isd, at 1:28

HTC-Highroad's Mark Cavendish won his sixth career Giro stage on Tuesday, rising to the occasion despite allegations that he was towed up part of Sunday's final climb. The Manxster outkicked nemesis Alessandro Petacchi in the final meters of one of the last sprinter stages of this Tour of Italy.

ROME (AFP) — British sprint king Mark Cavendish has been accused by two Giro d'Italia rivals of being towed up Mount Etna in Sunday's stage.

2010 Giro d’Italia champion Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) avoided serious injury despite crashing hard during a training ride on Mount Etna on Sicily on Tuesday.

TERMOLI,Italy (VN) ─ Expect the Giro d'Italia peloton to get considerably lighter in the coming days as sprinters will begin to slowly fade out of the picture. With opportunities running out ─ and no final-day sprint stage waiting for them in Milan ─ sprinters will likely start to abandon or become time cut as the Giro turns north into the brutal climbs waiting in the Dolomites.

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4 bikes + cobbles + accelerometers + strain gauges = the new VN Bike Lab test

• 1. SWIFT Ben SKY GBR 2:47:02 00
• 2. *SAGAN Peter LIQ SVK 2:47:06 04
• 3. GOSS Matthew Harley THR AUS 2:47:08 06
• 4. LACOMBE Kevin CSM CAN 2:47:12 10
• 5. HAEDO Juan Jose SBS ARG

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (VN) - On Sunday Jim Ochowicz stood outside the BMC Racing bus in Stateline, Nevada, while a group of team directors and riders negotiated with race organizers over alterations made to the first stage of the Amgen Tour of California. Twenty-four years ago, Ochowicz stood atop the Passo Gavia in northern Italy, waiting to hand eventual race winner Andy Hampsten a new set of clothes as snow piled up during the queen stage of the Giro d’Italia.

Team Sky's Ben Swift won the opening stage of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California on Monday, coming off a long leadout train on a shortened stage from Nevada City to Sacramento.

A look at the on-bike cameras some teams are using.

Friday's invitational women's time trial roster set

NAPOLI, Italy (VN) — Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) on Monday expressed satisfaction about grabbing the pink jersey in Sunday's windy ride up Mount Etna, but suggested that the team might let it slip away if a breakaway of non-threatening riders makes a play for pink.

TERMOLI, Italy (VN) — The harrowing Monte Crostis descent will unfold as scheduled following a face-to-face meeting Sunday evening between the peloton's biggest riders and Giro d'Italia race director Angelo Zomegnan.

After a 23-year hiatus, Aspen, Colorado, will once again host international professional men’s cycling this summer, when the USA Pro Cycling Challenge comes to town. But two-time national champion and Aspen resident Jessica Phillips wasn’t content to simply watch the men. She wanted women to have a chance to race as well.

Steve Thomas checks in with the Classics King on the state of Irish cycling and his team.

Regardless of their backgrounds, the top stars of professional cycling all share one thing in common — a story of fulfilled promise.

Padded straps and a soft back panel make schlepping water and gear with the Reyes an exercise in comfort.

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Got any doubts about whether stage one of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California should have been canceled? Photographer Casey B. Gibson helps clear your thinking.

Just because the race didn't take place doesn't mean that team riders and staff got a big break. It was all systems go until seconds before the start.

Kenda-5 Hour Energy's Phil Gaimon knew he was in for a long day when the rumors began circulating: Portions of stage one would be neutralized, it would be shortened to a prologue, or he'd have to do the full race, and the lead moto would be replaced with a snowplow.

If you were planning on riding the trainer while watching Sunday’s opening stage of the Amgen Tour of California, you were disappointed. If you have other trainer sessions planned this year, you may want to check out the CTS DVD “Amgen Tour of California, The Workout,” which will play on your television regardless of the weather.

It's just DZ being ... well, DZ.

Whether the deciding factor was rider sentiment, weather forecasts or logistical concerns, in the end, the decision to cancel the stage was the right one.

Casey B. Gibson was among those denied a front-row seat at the Amgen Tour kickoff, which was canceled by inclement weather. He broke out the camera gear anyway.

The stage one that wasn't: Brad Kaminski was there.

Casey B. Gibson joined the rest of the Amgen Tour of California in prepping for a very chilly stage one.

Alberto Contador proved he's the man to beat on Sunday's extraordinary moonscape climb up Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe.

Garmin-Cervélo's Brett Lancaster discusses the difficulties of the 2011 Giro d'Italia and the Mt. Etna stage in particular.

Quick Results

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (ESP), SaxoBank-Sungard , 4:54:08
• 2. José Rujano Guillen (VEN), Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:03
• 3. Stefano Garzelli (ITA), Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo, at 0:50
• 4. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:50
• 5. Roman Kreuziger (CZE), Astana, at 0:50

GC

• 1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Sp), SaxoBank-Sungard , 33:03:51
• 2. Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr), HTC-Highroad, at 0:59
• 3. Christophe Le Mevel (F), Garmin-Cervelo, at 1:19
• 4. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas-Doimo, at 1:21
• 5. Michele Scarponi (I), Lampre-ISD, at 1:28

Stage one of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California looked to be getting off to a snowy start — if it gets off at all.

Tejay Van Garderen has been logging the miles in a pair of custom Pearl Izumi shoes.

Snow cancels the first stage of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California.

Alberto Contador entered the 2011 Giro d’Italia as the odds-on favorite to take his second overall victory in the race and on Sunday, he showed why, winning the ninth stage and taking the overall lead in impressive style.

Nick Legan snaps the pre-race prep' for the 2011 Amgen Tour of California.

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ST. LOUIS, Missouri – On a wet and windy day in St. Louis, riders at the Tour De Grove lined up to brave the elements at the second year of the event, an NRC race and the latest round of the USA Crits series.

STATELINE, Nevada (VN) - Tejay Van Garderen will be aggressive in chasing bonus seconds if the opportunity arises in the opening stages of the Amgen Tour of California.

STATELINE, Nevada (VN) – Christian Vande Velde said he went through a range of emotions Friday after learning of the leak to French publication L’Equipe of the UCI’s suspicious riders list from the 2010 Tour de France.

Gregg Bleakney provides his unique perspective on stage eight of the 2011 Giro d'Italia.

HTC-Highroad's Tejay Van Garderen hopes to ride his Specialized Venge to the top step of the podium at the Amgen Tour of California.