Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) rarely has the opportunity to catch up on the chit-chat in the latter kilometers of mountain stages. He did Tuesday, however, when a touchy stomach sent him looking for the gruppetto on the four-climb, 182km third stage at the Amgen Tour of California.
With each passing stage, lexander Vinokourov is quietly gaining confidence that he can win the Giro.
If there's a single lesson to be gleaned from the Giro d'Italia, it is to expect the unexpected.
After two tough stages with categorized climbs close to the finish line, on Wednesday the Amgen Tour of California peloton will embark on a day that looks, on paper, reserved for the sprinters.
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Replay: Live coverage of stage 3 of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California
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Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Transitions) scored a dramatic stage win ahead of Levi Leipheimer and Mick Rogers on Tuesday's stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California, the 113.3-mile leg from San Francisco to Santa Cruz.
Most racers have their own names on their bikes. The RadioShack team is running the names of people battling with cancer on their machines.
Brett Lancaster of the Cérvelo TestTeam has become one of Thor Hushovd’s most trusted leadout-men, helping his team to victories in the Tour de France and Volta a Catalunya last year. But Lancaster can win in his own right too, as he proved in Santa Rosa on Monday.
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 10 results
Tyler Farrar’s tightening grip on the red points jersey could keep him in the Giro d’Italia longer than expected, maybe even through the race's challenging final week.
Garmin-Transitions’ Tom Peterson took the start Tuesday morning at the Amgen Tour of California field with fond memories. Last year, Peterson won a similar stage in Santa Cruz after ended up off the front with Levi Leipheimer. In the 2010 edition, stage 3 starts in San Francisco and again heads south along the coast, taking riders up and over the Bonny Doon climb that proved decisive in 2009.
Replay: Live coverage of stage 10 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
2010 Giro d'Italia stage 10 photos
Farrar takes his second win of the 2010 Giro d'Italia with a blistering sprint into Bitonto.
2010 Amgen Tour of California stage 2 photos
American Tejay Van Garderen is racing the 2010 Amgen Tour of California for HTC-Columbia in support of Michael Rogers. It is a vastly different experience than the last time he did the race — in 2007 with the U.S. national team.
Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) would like to hit the repeat button and do the entire first week of the 2010 Giro d’Italia all over again.
The only thing falling harder than rain on the roads of Napa and Sonoma Counties Monday afternoon were the bodies of riders as they crashed on the technical descents of the Oakville and Trinity Grades. The technical stage 2 route of the Amgen Tour of California claimed more than 30 victims on the day, including Andrew Pinfold (UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis), who abandoned after his second touch down in two stages.
VeloNews.com's panel of Amgen Tour of Colorado racers analyze Tuesday's stage 3.
2010 Amgen Tour of California stage 2 results
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Replay: Live coverage of stage 2 of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California
The Cervelo TestTeam rider takes the sprint from a select group that formed in the hills outside Santa Rosa.
A look at Garmin-Transitions' Ryder Hesjedal's Felt DA TT machine for the Amgen Tour of California
2010 Giro d'Italia stage 9 photos
In 2005, former All-American 800-meter runner Paul Mach showed up to his first group ride in Davis, California. Five years later, he returns to City Park Monday morning wearing the red and yellow King of the Mountains jersey at the Amgen Tour of California.
The young Australian ride the HTC-Columbia leadout train to victory, as the sprinters' teams end the streak of breakaways
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 9 results
Replay: Live coverage of stage 9 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
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Casey B. Gibson captures the scene on the Nevada City to Sacramento stage
Singletrack.com Bike Test: With a one-inch difference, are there four-inch XC bikes that can hang on the trail or five-inch trail rigs that can go out and race? We tested a bunch of bikes in search of a few cross-over rigs.
Replay: Live coverage of the 2010 Amgen Tour of California stage 1
2010 Amgen Tour of California stage 1 results
Mark Cavendish starts off his 2010 Amgen Tour of California with a stage win in Sacramento
Five Amgen Tour of California riders preview Monday's second stage.
Coryn Rivera (Peanut Butter & Co.-Twenty12) strung her junior gears out in front of the capitol building as she bested a top field in the Sacramento Grand Prix Sunday. Fresh off a European stint with the U.S. National Team, the second-year pro stole the bunch sprint on the finishing circuits of stage 1 at the Amgen Tour of California.
Ben Swift (Team Sky) did not contest the final sprint of the Tour de Picardie in France, because he didn’t have to.
Cervélo TestTeam's dominance at the Tour de l’Aude continued Sunday as the squad ran away with the team time trial in the second stage, but lost the leader’s jersey with an ill-timed puncture.
2010 Giro d'Italia stage 8 photos
A look at the Manx Missile's Scott Addict
Replay: Live coverage of stage 8 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 8 results
Saxo Bank's Chris Sorensen rides away from a 17-man breakaway on the final climb to win the first real mountain stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia.
Start List: Amgen Tour of California
After all the pre-race pomp and circumstance, the fifth edition of the Amgen Tour of California rolls out of gold-mining town Nevada City at 11:45 a.m. Sunday morning, finishing in Sacramento roughly four hours later. Here is a look at the course.
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Results from the 2010 Tour de l'Aude.
Elisabeth Armistead scores the second victory in a row for Cervélo TestTeam in the Tour de l'Aude’s first road stage.
Kiel Reijnen will make an emotional return to Nevada City for the start of stage 1 at the Amgen Tour of California Sunday. The second-year pro and his Jelly Belly-Kenda teammates will don purple wristbands and raise funds in remembrance of Reijnen’s aunt, who was murdered in neighboring Grass Valley in 2005.
Replay: Live coverage of stage 7 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
Results from the 2010 Tour de Picardie.
Team Sky's Ben Swift leads the Tour de Picardie after winning stage 2.
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 7 results
Rewind to one of the most epic Giro stages ever when the 2010 edition tackled the grime and mud of the white roads of Tuscany, and heralded a new generation of GC kings.
Euskaltel-Euskadi's Mikel Astarloza announces that he has been suspended for a positive doping control, but plans to appeal.
Seven-time Tour champ admits nothing is guaranteed, but adds that he believes he can win in July
Flanked by compatriots Lance Armstrong and Dave Zabriskie, RadioShack’s three-time Amgen Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer sat front and center at a pre-race press conference Friday afternoon in Sacramento, stating that he was prepared to defend his title against a world-class field competing in America’s biggest race.
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The Amgen Tour of California is two days from its start in Nevada City, Calif. and race organizers have pleaded for cooperation from fans in keeping the roads paint-free. According to technical director Chuck Hodge, the tour risks permit losses going forward if the traditional practice of road painting continues.
Regina Bruins (Cervélo TestTeam) darted to victory in the opening prologue Friday at the 10-day Tour de l’Aude in France.
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 6 results
Breakaway again: Australian Matthew Lloyd wins Giro d'Italia stage 6 solo after attacking his breakmate on the final climb. Nibali retains overall lead.
2010 Giro d'Italia stage 6 photos
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It's all California
On the eve of the fifth Amgen Tour of California, a pair of American overall favorites — three-time winner Levi Leipheimer and two-time runner-up Dave Zabriskie — spoke with VeloNews, assessing the riders most likely to win America’s biggest race, including each other.
Thor Hushovd — the defending Tour de France green jersey champion who broke his collarbone during a training ride in Italy on Sunday — underwent a successful operation Monday.
From climbing to cornering to accelerating, the Top Fuel 9.8 wants to race.
2010 Giro d'Italia, stage 5 results
The third part in our series on training for Grand Fondos and other long rides. This week's subject: climbing.
Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) won Thursday's fifth stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia after working a nearly day-long four-man breakaway and outlasting the chase pack by seconds.
2010 Giro d'Italia stage 5 photos
Replay: Live coverage of stage 5 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
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Peanut Butter & Co's Mara Abbott takes the lead of the series after her overall win at the SRAM Tour of the Gila.
Replay: Live coverage of stage 4 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia
Having the Giro begin in Amsterdam was like mixing opera with Ska.