Road

SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR, Spain (VN) – Carlos Sastre stepped off the Geox-TMC bus Friday morning to be welcomed by a phalanx of cameras and fans for the 2008 Tour de France champion’s first race of the season.

SAN PEDRO DEL PINATAR, Spain (VN) – Alberto Contador started Friday’s first stage at the Vuelta a Murcia with modest hopes of winning on the bike while his legal team is expanding for the looming battle off the bike.

Ina Yoko-Teutenberg turned pro with Red Bull Frankfurt in 2000, 16 years after Alexi Grewal won his stunning gold medal in the Olympic road race in Los Angeles and left the amateur ranks. Both are in Merced, California, this week for the Merco Cycling Classic.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Amanda Miller is on a hot streak. The new HTC-Highroad rider scored her second win in a week Thursday in stage 1 of the Merco Credit Union Cycling Classic near Merced, California. A half hour later, Robert Britton led a Bissell podium sweep in the men’s race.

March 6, stage 1 Houdan - Houdan 154.5 km March 7, stage 2 Montfort-l'Amaury - Amilly 198.5 km March 8, stage 3 Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire - Nuits-Saint-Georges 202.5 km March 9, stage 4 Crêches-sur-Saône - Belleville 191.0 km March 10, stage 5 Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise - Vernoux-en-Vivarais 194.0 km March 11, stage 6 Rognes - Aix-en-Provence 27.0 km (ITT) March 12, stage 7 Brignoles - Biot 215.5 km March 13, stage 8 Nice - Nice 124.0 km

• 2010 Alberto Contador
• 2009 Luis Leon Sanchez
• 2008 Davide Rebellin
• 2007 Alberto Contador
• 2006 Floyd Landis
• 2005 Bobby Julich
• ...

Press Release: UCI President meets with AIGCP delegation

UCI president Pat McQuaid met with a delegation from the cycling teams association (AIGCP) on Thursday in Switzerland to discuss the race radio ban.

The varying roles for race follow cars, pros changing their own tubies, and Nick's favorite workstand, revealed.

MURCIA, Spain (VN) – Alberto Contador headlines the field at the three-day Vuelta a Murcia in what will be his second race since he was cleared by the Spanish cycling federation to return to racing.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Team RadioShack on Wednesday announced its teams for the Three Days of West Flanders (March 4-6) and Paris-Nice (March 6-13)

The organizer of the Quebec and Montreal one-day ProTour races is considering a stage race for the Boston area in 2012, AFP has learned.

Kenda-Geargrinder is set to become Kenda-5-hour Energy presented by Geargrinder with the announcement of the energy drink as a co-title sponsor Wednesday. General manager Chad Thompson said that the non-industry backing is a boon to his squad and its existing sponsors and that, yes, riders will be drinking from those tiny bottles on the road.

A few years from now, the team bus will be old news, and I’ll be calling shots in races. For now, allow me to share the new, the exciting, the hard, and behind the scene curiosities of this sport’s top level.

Hesjedal racing ‘white roads,’ then catching flight to start Paris-Nice next day

MADRID, Spain (AFP) - Tour de France winner Alberto Contador in an interview published Wednesday vowed to fight any attempt to re-impose doping sanctions.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Cadel Evans and George Hincapie get their seasons started this week in Italy. The BMC Racing veterans each delayed the starts to their 2011 campaigns to take advantage of warm weather training and remain fresh for midseason objectives.

UCI president Pat McQuaid will meet with representatives from the professional teams association Thursday to discuss the race radio ban, the association announced Tuesday.

Though Mark Cavendish has been relatively quiet so far this season, HTC-Highroad brass is confident that their ace sprinter is poised for a brilliant season.

New cyclocross and road gear from the component giant

Hutchinson explains why Lance's tires were probably UCI-compliant and Lennard answers more questions about stack-and-reach, Di2 brakes and more

Coach Neal Henderson answers a reader who wonders if, in the age of wattage meters, training by heart rate still makes sense.

No fewer than nine defending champions will line up for Australia at the world track cycling championships later this month in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Cycling Australia announced Tuesday.

Alberto Contador has reconfirmed he will make a run at the Giro d'Italia and is leaving the Tour de France in a wait-and-see posture for the time being.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

A look at some of the NAHBS award winners

The Women’s Prestige Cycling Series is back for an eighth season in 2011. The four-event series is the top women-only competition in the United States and will include the Redlands Classic, Tour of the Gila, Nature Valley Grand Prix and Cascade Cycling Classic.

George Hincapie feels better than ever. That’s saying a lot as the BMC veteran is on the eve of his 2011 debut – his 18th as a professional – at Montepaschi Strade Bianchi Saturday.

Sache White and his Vanilla and Speedvagen bicycles are a perennial favorite at NAHBS. This year was no exception.

Must Reads: Mosquera still in limbo, Armstrong campaigns for cig tax

Jens Voigt (Leopard Trek) admits that his chances of claiming a record sixth victory at Critérium International are slim, but at least he’ll be at the start line this year to have a shot.

Alberto Contador is already a pretty good time trialist, but his new boss at Saxo Bank-Sungard said changes in his TT position could take the Tour de France winner up another notch.

Classica Sarda Sassari - Cagliari

• 1. Brutt Pavel, (RUS) Team Katusha, in 4:50:26
• 2. Sella Emanuele, (ITA) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:02
• 3. Sagan Peter, (SVK) Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:05
• 4. Gavazzi Francesco, (ITA) Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 0:05
• 5. Gatto Oscar, (ITA) , at 0:05

Matteo Pelucchi delivers a morale-boosting win to Geox-TMC with a photo-finish victory in the Clásica de Almería.

Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) opens his account early this season with a rare, one-day race victory at the GP di Lugano.

Cyfac shows a beautiful custom carbon bike while Kent Eriksen brings a ti' cyclocrosser set up with disc brakes.

Roland Della Santa reveals the truth behind his chainstay decorations as Ric Hjertberg expounds on wheels past and future.

Grand Prix Regio Insubrica

• 1. Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli, 3:48:57
• 2. Jure Kocjan (Slo), Team Type 1, at 0:00
• 3. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita), Ag2r La Mondiale, at 0:01
• 4. Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col), Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at 0:01
• 5. Simone Ponzi (Ita), Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:01

Giro di Sardegna

• 1. Michele Scarponi (Ita), Lampre-Farnese Vini, 4:24:40
• 2. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col), Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:03
• 3. Damiano Cunego (Ita), Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 0:08
• 4. Peter Sagan (Svk), Liquigas-Doimo, at 0:11
• 5. Emanuele Sella (Ita), Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:14

Final overall standings

• 1. Peter Sagan (Svk), Liquigas-Doimo, 22:28:24
• 2. Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col), Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:03
• 3. Damiano Cunego (Ita), Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 0:07
• 4. Michele Scarponi (Ita), Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 0:18
• 5. Emanuele Sella (Ita), Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 0:32

Peter Sagan fends off some fierce attacks in the finale to secure the overall victory at the Giro di Sardegna.

Giovanni Visconti (Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli) sprints to victory in the Grand Prix Regio Insubrica.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Dutchman Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) won the 66th edition of the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (formerly Het Volk) as he outsprinted defending champion Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) in a tightly contested photo-finish.

Chris King built a custom Cielo for the NAHBS just to show what you can do with a handmade bike.

Taylor Phinney (BMC) is recovering at home in Lucca, Italy, after a training crash that left him with a mild concussion, his team announced Friday.

Red paint, chrome and curved steel brings back childhood memories for Nick Legan

At the NAHBS, Nick Legan scopes out a slick city bike from Naked and SPDs that jingle, jangle, jingle

Quick Step's Tom Boonen, Gert Steegmans and Sylvain Chavanel say they are ready for the start of the Belgian cycling season at Saturday's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

LEON, Spain (VN) — A protest this weekend appears to have been averted, but riders and teams promise to carry their growing frustration over the race radio ban to other upcoming events.

We can chose to take the Eeyore approach and dwell on the negative, or we can roll with the punches, remember why we fell in love with this game and enjoy the beauty of our sport with the knowledge that things are changing and good things are on the horizon.

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show gets underway in Austin.

The owners of the Quiznos sandwich chain and the Quiznos Pro Challenge stage race, have invested an additional $10 million in the event, they announced Friday.

Peter Sagan knows no rival – at least at the ongoing Giro di Sardegna.

American squad UnitedHealthcare will continue its European schedule Sunday with the Clasica de Almeria.

At least one team is breaking rank with the peloton this weekend and will sit out any protest of the UCI ban on race radios. BMC Racing general manager Jim Ochowicz said in a release Thursday that his team would not take part in any demonstration planned for the opening weekend of the spring classics in Flanders, Belgium.

Must Reads: Sanchez pledges to support Gesink, judo champ wins clenbuterol appeal

Stage 3:

• 1. Peter SAGAN, (SVK) Liquigas-Doimo, in 4:20:03
• 2. Jose Rodolfo SERPA PEREZ, (COL) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at s.t.
• 3. Damiano CUNEGO, (ITA) Lampre-Farnese Vini, at s.t.
• 4. Emanuele SELLA, (ITA) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 2
• 5. Ben HERMANS, (BEL) Team RadioShack, at 2

• 1. Peter SAGAN, (SVK) Liquigas-Doimo, in 13:16:36
• 2. Damiano CUNEGO, (ITA) Lampre-Farnese Vini, at 4
• 3. Jose Rodolfo SERPA PEREZ, (COL) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 6
• 4. Emanuele SELLA, (ITA) Androni Giocattoli-Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, at 18
• 5. Ben HERMANS, (BEL) Team RadioShack, at 22

There is a notable difference between amateur racing and the professional ranks, not just in the race style but also in the riders themselves. There are some riders in the peloton who seem to command respect, the ones who make their hardest efforts appear effortless, never showing the strain that their bodies are surely going through.

The bitter taste is subsiding and Henk Vogels will soon be back in the United States with a new-look V Australia team for 2011. Vogels revealed the squad’s roster Thursday and gave his thoughts on returning to race in the U.S. three months after Pegasus Racing collapsed.

Stage 5

• 1. Oscar FREIRE GOMEZ, (ESP) Rabobank Cycling Team, in 3:46:12
• 2. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, (ESP) Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 0
• 3. Jonathan HIVERT, (FRA) Saur-Sojasun, at 0
• 4. Davide APPOLLONIO, (ITA) Team Sky, at 0
• 5. Rigoberto URAN URAN, (COL) Team Sky, at 0

• 1. Markel IRIZAR ARANBURU, (ESP) Team RadioShack, in 16:27:21
• 2. Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK, (BEL) Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 1
• 3. Levi LEIPHEIMER, (USA) Team RadioShack, at 2
• 4. Jerome COPPEL, (FRA) Saur-Sojasun, at 3
• 5. Luis PASAMONTES RODRIGUEZ, (ESP) Movistar, at 8

What do mechanics do on long, boring stages? Will Boardman's hour record be broken? And more

MADRID (AFP) — RadioShack's Markel Irizar (Radioshack) secured overall victory in the Ruta del Sol Thursday after the fifth and final stage, won by Oscar Freire of Rabobank.

Experienced Australian Luke Roberts returns to Riis Cycling. Saxo Bank-SunGard also signs Polish talent Rafal Majka.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.