Road

Columbia-HTC's Edvald Boasson Hagen won the Eneco Tour on Tuesday after winning the final stage, a 13.1km individual time trial in Amsfoort, the Netherlands. The 22-year-old Norwegian finished ahead of France's Sylvain Chavanel in the overall standings after the Frenchman clocked the fourth fastest time in the time-trial in the seven stage ProTour race through Belgium and the Netherlands. American Tyler Farrar, second in the overall standings, withdrew ahead of the final stage, saying he hoped to rest up for this weekend's start of the Vuelta a España.

Australian Allan Davis will have the chance to make amends for missing the Tour de France in July after he was named in Quick Step's squad for the upcoming Vuelta a España. Davis, a sprinter, was Quick Step's “tenth man” for the Tour in July, but missed out on a place after teammate Tom Boonen was given 11th hour clearance to race despite having tested positive for cocaine, for the second time in his career, two months previously.

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) will take a pass on Tuesday’s final time trial at the Eneco Tour despite sitting second overall just 21 seconds out of the lead. With three stage victories in the bag and the ever-important Vuelta a España looming ahead this weekend, the American sprinter decided that it was better to rest for more important goals in his third grand tour of the year.

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Ivan Basso is taking aim at nothing short of overall victory for the 64th Vuelta a España, which clicks into gear Saturday in Holland. The Italian said he’s better prepared for the Vuelta than the Giro d’Italia earlier this season, where he finished fifth overall. “I trained myself in the best way without any stress,” Basso said in a team statement. “The final victory is a concrete goal.”

Should I rebuild my Campy 8-speed shifter, or switch to 10-speed?

Six-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita - Sutter Home) is ending her career with a bang as she outsprinted Tibco's Lauren Tamayo and Brooke Miller at the Marion Classic Two-Bridge NRC Criterium in Indiana on Sunday. It was a double-win weekend for Pic's team as Luis Amaran solo'd to a classic win in the men's race, holding off a late charge by OUCH-Maxxis' Karl Menzies.

Technical course

Team Columbia-HTC believes powerful German sprinter André Greipel can help continue its impressive 2009 season once the Vuelta a España clicks into gear this Saturday. Mark Cavendish's stunning haul of six stage wins from this year's Tour de France took his tally to 10 in two participations, and was the highlight of a hugely successful season for the American outfit so far.

Alexander Vinokourov is now officially part of the Astana team and is set to ride the Vuelta a España. The back-room wrangling over the return of Vinokourov went down to the wire, but team officials reached an agreement Monday to ease the way for his return to the Kazakh-backed team. Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel and Rinus Wagtmans, the authorized representative for the Kazakh sponsors, hammered out an agreement Monday. Vinokourov will be immediately welcomed into the Astana team and has a contract to race through the 2010 season.

There won’t be a late-hour bid to include Michael Rasmussen in the 64th Vuelta a España. At least Rasmussen isn’t expecting one. “All I can say regarding the Vuelta is that the team did not register me in time and that Unipublic did not want to make an exception by letting me in,” Rasmussen told VeloNews via e-mail. “They did, though, make exceptions with three Lotto riders that were not on the preliminary start list. Anyways — no Vuelta.” Rasmussen did not disclose the name of the team.

UCI president Pat McQuaid told Reuters on Sunday that there were no positive tests at this year’s Tour de France. Based on controls taken so far, McQuaid said he is optimistic about the future of the sport. "At this point in time I haven't heard of any positive tests at this year's Tour de France or that we're checking samples to confirm positives,” McQuaid told Reuters’ Stephen Farrand. "It's looking like the Tour de France will not have any positive tests for a number of years.” McQuaid spoke to reporters Sunday during the final stage of the Tour of Ireland.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) consolidated his lead in the Eneco Tour by beating some of the more specialist fast men in a sprint for the finish of Monday's sixth stage. Boasson Hagen grabbed precious bonus seconds for the win, extending his lead over American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) to 21 seconds going into Tuesday’s final 13.1km individual time trial. Farrar, the winner of three stages so far here and the leader until Boasson Hagen took over on Sunday, finished third on the stage, just behind Australian Matthew Goss (Saxo Bank).

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde will lead Caisse d'Epargne at this year's Vuelta a España, the team announced on Monday. The 29-year-old, who finished second in the 2006 Vuelta, did not compete in this year's Tour de France after being banned from competing in Italy for two years by the Italian Olympic Committee after he was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal. The decision, which Valverde has contested, kept him out of the Tour, the 16th stage of which passed through Italy. The Vuelta takes place from August 29 to September 20.

Cadel Evans will lead Silence-Lotto at the 64th Vuelta a España with hopes of reaching the podium in the season’s final grand tour. Evans struggled through the recent Tour de France, finishing out of the top 10 for the first time, but will be riding to make amends for a frustrating performance in July with something big at the Spanish tour. The Aussie all-rounder has raced the Vuelta three times, abandoning in 2004, finishing 60th in 2004 and just missing the podium with fourth in 2007.

Interchangeable lenses are nothing new to performance eyewear. But historically, removing and replacing the lenses required a clenched jaw and careful application of force. Often, flexing the frame to pop out a lens felt like the frame was about to break. A revolution in sunglass technology has changed all that, to the point that a number of novel solutions to lens interchangeability now share space in the marketplace. We’ve assembled several sunglasses to look at their approach to lens removal and replacement.

Health, government and corporate officials from around the world met Monday in Dublin for the LiveStrong Global Cancer Summit. The Lance Armstrong Foundation held the three-day, international conference to facilitate collaboration among the various groups battling the widespread disease.

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Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Simon Gerrans – the popular Aussie rider left out of the Tour de France by his Cervélo team – got his revenge Sunday. Gerrans became the first Australian to win the GP de Plouay, the 14th race in the season-long ProTour calendar, held on a hilly course in western France. Gerrans won ahead of defending champion Pierrick Fédrigo (Bouygues Telecom) and Germany’s Paul Maertens (Rabobank).

Bernie Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) overtook the OUCH-Maxxis sprint train roaring out of the final corner of the Downtown Salt Lake Criterium on Sunday to win the bunch sprint in final stage of the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Sulzberger powered away from U.S. criterium champion John Murphy (OUCH-Maxxis) and Chris Barton (BMC Racing Team) in the final 200 meters to take the win.

The Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show kicked off its second year on Saturday at Denver’s National Western Complex. Eye candy abounded, and a steady stream of visitors kept the 70 or so exhibitors busy talking most of the day. Free microbrew samples ensured that spirits were high, and the relative coolness of the vast hall sheltered visitors and exhibitors alike from the 96-degree heat outside.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the leader's jersey from Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) after placing second in Sunday’s fifth stage of the Eneco Tour behind Lars Bak (Saxo Bank). Bak made his dash for the line 5km out to edge Boasson Hagen by two seconds with Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-N.G.C.) third. Farrar missed out in the late breakaway and came in 30 seconds adrift to see Hagen pass him overall by 15 seconds following the 204.3km stage to Sirrard in the Netherlands.

Russell Downing (Candi TV) stuck it to the ProTour squads at the Tour of Ireland Sunday, escaping on the weather-shortened circuits of Cork to take the overall win and second on the stage behind Norway’s former road and cross-country champion Lars Petter Nordhaug (Joker-Bianchi). Saxo Bank animated the rain-drenched stage from Bantry along the southern coast to Cork. With five riders within shooting distance of the GC, the Danish ProTour team stacked many of the day’s early breaks and pushed the pace.

Tour de France stage-winner Juan Manuel Garate will be part of Rabobank’s starting nine for the upcoming Vuelta a España. Garate, who won atop Mont Ventoux ahead of Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC), crashed during the Clásica San Sebastián earlier this month and broke a finger. He’s been able to recover in time and will be at the start line Saturday in Assen, Holland for the commencement of the 64th Vuelta. The presence of the veteran Spanish climber brings added firepower to the strong Rabobank squad for the season’s third and final grand tour.

Martin Reimer isn’t a household cycling name. Yet. The 22-year-old Cervélo TestTeam rider captured his first pro win in his rookie year at the German national championships in June. This weekend he’s riding in the Tour of Ireland, where on Saturday he placed sixth on stage 2 behind Mark Cavendish. As with the other Cervélo riders in Ireland, Reimer hopes to help teammate Philip Deignan win a stage or climb up the general classification. After placing fourth on stage 1, Deignan sits fourth overall headed into the final stage Sunday.

Veteran Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi has penned a two-year deal to join Lampre. That’s according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, which reported that the 35-year-old from La Spezia is set to jump back into the ProTour ranks for 2010-11 with the Lampre squad. The move is significant for Petacchi because it will allow him back into the most important races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, which he hasn’t raced since 2003.

Felt-Holowesko's Alex Howes has a unique way of signaling attack, but riders might take note in the future if the reigning U23 road champion opts for unusual nutritional choices near the finish of a race. On Sunday, near the end of the tough 153km fourth stage, Howes bit off a hunk of hot dog and shot away from the day's long breakaway to take his first NRC win on the mountaintop finish at Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort at the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. [nid:96996]

Liquigas-Doimo heads to the 64th Vuelta a España with a strong team and even stronger ambitions. Led by GC threats Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas will start the Spanish tour with high hopes for a shot at overall victory as well as stage victories with the likes of Daniele Bennati and Manuel Quinziato.

British rider Emma Pooley (Cervélo) won Saturday’s GP de Plouay in a solo move in the ninth round of the 10-race World Cup series. Pooley won 2:30 ahead of the nearest rival after leaving the pack behind in a lone breakaway of more than 50km. The Olympic time trial silver medalist was surprised she hung on to win. Nicole Cooke gave chase on the last lap at the Cote de Kerihuel, but the Olympic champion couldn’t hold the pace, and Pooley stayed clear to claim her second World Cup win of the year.

Lance Armstrong isn’t the only man racing at the Tour of Ireland who has already retired once from the sport. British rider Malcolm Elliott came back in 2003 at the age of 41, and he doesn’t intend to quit after this season, either. Elliott turned pro in 1984 with Raleigh-Weinmann. He came to the attention of American cycling fans in 1993 when he joined Chevrolet-LA Sheriffs.

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) did what he does best at the end of stage 2 of the Tour of Ireland. After a fast, slightly downhill leadout from his man Bernie Eisel, Cavendish turned on the afterburners to take the victory ahead of Rabobank’s Michael Van Staeyen and Saxo Bank’s Stuart O’Grady. “It’s great to win,” Cavendish said. “It was a tough circuit but once the peloton came back together we took control with 2km to go.”

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) won the fourth stage of the Eneco Tour on Saturday, his third victory of the stage race through the Benelux countries. Farrar, further secured his hold on the overall leader’s jersey, outsprinting Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia) and Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre). Farrar also won the first and second stages. Sunday’s fifth stage covers 204.3 kilometers over many of the same roads included in the Amstel Gold Race. The Eneco Tour ends Tuesday, with a 13.1km time trial in Amersfoort, in Holland.

If money hadn’t been tight at this year’s Tour of Ireland, Lance Armstrong and the other notables in the field would have been tracing the wheelmarks of Irish legends Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche in a historic time trial. But the world’s economic downtown forced the organizers to shorten their race from five to three days. “Our biggest regret was cutting the time-trial stage,” race development director Darach McQuaid toldVeloNews. “We were going to repeat the famous time trial from Carrick-on-Suir to Clonmel.”

The top ten of the general classification at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah after the stage 3 individual time trial is filled with familiar names – Mancebo, Baldwin, Bookwalter. One name in that top ten is making waves in the Beehive State this week – that of fifth-place Kelly Benefit Strategies rookie Matthew Busche.

From the August, 2009, issue of VeloNews magazine: Five months into the season, Floyd Landis has made little impact on domestic racing

The blistering heat that has marked the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah gave way to blistering times Friday night as the stage 3 individual time trial rolled onto the grand prix track at the Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele, Utah. Tom Zirbel (Bissell) redeemed his sub-par performance in Tuesday’s prologue and returned to the form he has exhibited for most of 2009. Zirbel punished his cranks for 14.5 km to put in the fastest time of the night in 17:00, 14 and 19 seconds ahead of BMC teammates Ian McKissick and Brent Bookwalter, respectively.

Press Release

Media and fans swarmed Lance Armstrong before the start of the Tour of Ireland, which kicked off at the Ritz-Carlton in Powerscourt, just south of Dublin. The hundreds of people pressing in on the Tour de France star confirmed what Leadville Trail 100 organizers already knew: Armstrong brings the crowds. Tour of Ireland project director Darach McQuaid said Armstrong’s presence means a lot to the organizing committee.

Romain Feillu (Agritubel) snatched the sprint in Friday’s finale at the 42nd Tour du Limousin as the main bunch roared into Limoges for the fourth and final stage. Feillu out-kicked Perrick Fedrigo (BBox) to claim the 180.1km stage from Chalus to Limoges to wrap-up the four-day stage race across western France. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) finished safely in the pack to claim the overall victory, the first stage-race win of his young professional career.

Russell Downing (CandiTV) outkicked two Saxo Bank riders out of a small group to win the first stage of the 2009 Tour of Ireland. Astana and Saxo Bank drove the peloton hard up and over the day’s categorized climbs, shattering the field and setting a group of 23 riders free with just under 40km to go. Alexander Kolobnev and Matti Breschel (both Saxo Bank) finished second and third ahead of Philip Deignan (Cervélo) on the 196km stage from Powerscourt to Waterford.

Tom Boonen (Quick Step) won the third stage of the Eneco Tour at Hasselt, Belgium, on Friday, edging out overall leader Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Slipstream in a sprint finish which saw Italian Francesco Chicchi take third spot. "I had earmarked this stage and it's super to have won it," said Boonen. "It was really nice today to have been riding in my home region. We went right past my parents' place and my village, my house, my training ground."

Française des Jeux’s Yoann Offredo has been ruled out of next week’s Vuelta a España, after suffering injuries in the Eneco Tour. The 22-year-old Offredo crashed in the second stage of the Eneco Tour on Thursday and suffered a collarbone fracture. Offredo had been listed on Française des Jeux’s preliminary start list for the Vuelta.

It was nearly déjà vu in the finale of stage 2 at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah Wednesday as Darren Lill (Team Type 1) sped away from a select group of chasers on the climb to Mt. Nebo. Lill was not to be denied the stage win as he was by Garmin’s Blake Caldwell in stage 2 in 2008, staying away on the slopes of the highest point in the Wasatch for the solo win.

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Heading into the Tour de France, Garmin-Slipstream’s Christian Vande Velde didn’t know what to expect. After a breakthrough ride in 2008, where he finished as the top American in fourth place, Vande Velde started the 2009 season as the team’s primary GC hope at the world’s biggest bike race.

In just a few years on the US market, Shimano’s PRO component line has already achieved good visibility. Lately prominent on the bikes of Columbia-HTC riders and of course those of Skil-Shimano, PRO bars, stems, and other parts appear destined for reasonably broad acceptance.

The Irish National Team will begin the Tour of Ireland with one rider missing from the roster. Paul Healion, who won the sixth stage of the FBD Insurance Ras this year, was killed in a car crash Sunday. His funeral was Thursday, the day before the Tour of Ireland kicked off. There will be a minute of silence for him at the start of stage 1. “It’s difficult to go to his funeral the day before the race,” said Mark Cassidy of Sean Kelly’s An Post squad. Healion was 31, and recently married. No others were involved in the single-car crash.

At any given pro bike race, there are hundreds of hard-life stories that line up at the start every day. The story of Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade), however, is unusual among them. Coming from Rwanda, where six of his brothers were killed in the 1994 genocide, Niyonshuti got a pro contract for this year after winning the 2008 Tour of Rwanda. Now Niyonshuti is about to start his first pro European event at the Tour of Ireland. [nid:96865]

American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) won the second stage of the Eneco Tour on Thursday, further consolidating his hold on the overall lead. Farrar won a field sprint at the end of a 178.1km stage from Ardooie to Brussels, adding to the sprint win he earned in stage 1 on Wednesday. Farrar outsprinted Yauheni Hutarovich (Française des Jeux) and Columbia-HTC’s Edvald Boasson Hagen for the win in Brussels. The stage was marked by several breakaway attempts, the last of which was reeled in just 500 meters from the line.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Felt Bicycles has issued a voluntary recall of about 1450 2007/2008 F1X Cyclocross bicycles. The bicycle’s fork steerer tube can break, causing the rider to lose control, fall and suffer injuries. There have been six reports of these forks breaking with minor injuries reported in two of the incidents. The recall includes all 2007/2008 Felt F1X Cyclocross Bicycles. These bicycles are available in Semi-Matte Black and have aluminum frames with carbon fiber forks with aluminum steerer tubes.

Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will not race this weekend at the GP Ouest France-Plouay. According to Astana spokesman Philippe Maertens, Contador has come down with a cold and will not participate in what was expected to be his final major race of the 2009 season. “He has a cold. He has no voice. He was not on the bike for a week,” Maertens told VeloNews. “It would be useless for him to start.”

There only thing certain about Alexander Vinokourov’s immediate future and whether or not he’ll race the Vuelta a España is that it is all far from certain. Despite some reports that Vinokourov has the go-ahead to start the Vuelta next weekend with Astana, nothing is settled yet for the returning Kazakh rider. According to Astana team spokesman Philippe Maertens, paperwork that would ease the way for Vinokourov’s return to the Astana fold is complete, but there’s still no final agreement between all the major players.

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Recent injuries have put GC-threat Juanjo Cobo's Vuelta a España in doubt. The 28-year-old Fuji-Servetto leader crashed during training last week ahead of the Trittico Lombardo, resulting in serious abrasions and bruises to his arms and hands. Later X-rays revealed a fracture in the Spaniard's right shoulder. Despite doctors’ orders to stay off the bike for three weeks, Cobo is still hoping to start the Vuelta. Team manager Joxean Fernández included Cobo as part of the starting nine for the Vuelta, with Iker Camaño as the first replacement.

Last year Team Columbia dominated the Tour of Ireland, taking four stages and the overall title. Shortened from five to three days this year, the Irish tour will again host Columbia’s powerhouse squad, with star sprinter Mark Cavendish, world time trial champion Bert Grabsch, 2008 race winner Marco Pinotti and American Craig Lewis among those taking the start.

Francisco Mancebo and Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) pulled off a one-two finish in the first stage of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah on Wednesday. The tandem sprang away from the fadiing peloton on the climb above East Canyon Dam and extended their lead to a maximum of 35 seconds before coming through the finish on the outskirts of Salt Lake City together, 25 seconds ahead of a disorganized chase group that contained overnight leader Brent Bookwalter (BMC). The result vaulted Mancebo into the overall lead over Sevilla by 9 seconds.

Cervelo is bringing three crowd-drawing racers to the Tour of Missouri: Tour de France green jersey winner Thor Hushovd, Tour stage winner Heinrich Haussler, and up-and-coming American stage racer Ted King. Haussler and Hushovd are sure to battle with Columbia's Mark Cavendish for stage wins in Missouri.

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) sprinted to victory in the 184km first stage at the 5th Eneco Tour on Wednesday in Belgium. A major crash marred the finale into Ardooie, Belgium, sending scores of riders somersaulting to the ground in a high-speed melee. Farrar avoided the mishap and darted to victory, sprinting ahead of Tom Boonen (Quick Step), with Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) coming through third.

Dutch classics rider Servais Knaven isn’t done yet. The 38-year-old signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him in a Milram jersey through the 2010 season. “I am looking forward to the coming year. I thank the Team Milram and manager Gerry Van Gerwen for the trust they have in me,” said Knaven. “I enjoy riding on this team. You can feel the great (talent) and I want to do my part to contribute to the team’s success.”

Start List – 2009 Tour of Ireland

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Defending champion Jeff Louder's BMC Racing Team put a resounding stamp on the first day of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah in Tuesday evening's prologue, placing four riders in the top ten with Brent Bookwalter taking the win beneath the Utah State Capitol Building. Bookwalter blazed through the foothills above Salt Lake City to win the 2.8-mile prologue with a time of 6:12. Garmin-Slipstream’s Dave Zabriskie stopped the clock two seconds off Bookwalter’s pace in 6:14. Ian McKissick (BMC) rounded out the podium less than half a second outside of Zabriskie’s time.

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How do the big races produce custom leaders' jerseys so fast?

Why does my bike 'autoshift'?

Why is my bottom bracket noisy?

Can I retrofit QR15 legs on my SID fork?

Over the years Jeff Louder (BMC) has been a pretty noticeable guy at The Bend Memorial Clinic Cascade Cycling Classic – he’s been on too many stage podiums to count, and has finished in the top three overall five times, including third overall at the 2009 race, which concluded July 26. At this year’s race, he stood out in another way – he had an odd circular pink and black object stuck to the top of his helmet.

When Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) says he’s on good form, you better believe him. Fresh off sprinting to victory in Sunday’s Hamburg Cyclassics race in Germany, Farrar came within a whisker of winning the opening prologue at the Eneco Tour, which clicked into gear Tuesday with a 4.4km course.

Start List – 2009 Tour of Utah

BMC Pro Cycling Team
• 1. Jeff Louder
• 2. Brent Bookwalter
• 3. Steve Bovay
• 4. Jonathan Garcia
• 5. Ian Mckissick
• 6. Jackson Stewart
• 7. Chris Barton
• 8. Chad Beyer

Garmin/Felt
• 11. Peter Stetina
• 12. Peter Salon
• 13. Raymond Kreder
• 14. Taylor Shelden
• 15. Walker Savidge
• 16. Kirk Carlsen
• 17. Alex Howes
• 18.

The National Racing Calendar rolls into Salt Lake City Tuesday evening as the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah returns in 2009 to challenge the mountain goats of the North American peloton. The five-stage race covers 325 miles and features many of the most demanding climbs in northern Utah.

Gary Fisher is best known for producing innovative, race winning and fun-to-ride mountain bikes. That’s all about to change. With the introduction of the Gary Fisher road bike line in 2010, you can expect to associate the Fisher brand with both the dirt and the tarmac. Already, the Kelly Benefit Strategies pro team has ridden the Gary Fisher Cronus to major wins with the Tour de Beauce, by Scott Zwizanksi and most recently the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium by David Veilleux.

Tyler Farrar notched the most important victory of his career this past Sunday in the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany. The classic win capped a break-out year for the 25-year-old Garmin-Slipstream rider, who’s won a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, the overall at the Delta Tour Zeeland and five top-5s at the Tour de France so far this season. And he’s not finished yet.

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Lance Armstrong says he'd bet on a professional stage race returning to Colorado in 2011, in part because Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is "motivated and eager" to make it happen. Armstrong, speaking to reporters after winning the Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday, also said he hasn't decided whether to race in the 2010 Tour of California, which has been moved back to May and now conflicts with the Giro d'Italia. On the Colorado tour, Armstrong says he remains in close touch with Ritter.

Knee pain has forced Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen to pull out of what was to have been his comeback race, the Eneco Tour, his Katusha team announced Monday. McEwen suffered several injuries, including a fractured tibia, in a crash on the Tour of Belgium at the end of May. But despite hoping to make a comeback at the Eneco Tour, the 12-time Tour de France stage winner has been advised to wait. "Doctors can't guarantee him that his knee will support the intense, repetitive efforts of racing," one of his team managers, Bart Leysen, said.

Wet and wild would not even begin to describe the conditions for Sunday’s U.S. criterium national championships in Downers Grove outside Chicago. Torrential rains soaked the elite amateur men's field and thunderstorms delayed the pro men's race by an hour. The slick course caused crash after crash, turning the races into survival contests and dashing the hopes of favorites.

After a relatively quiet week last week, things are cracking across Europe. There’s stage racing in France, Ireland and Holland, a women’s World Cup and the Trittico Lombardo across northern Italy. 5th Eneco Tour (Ned, ProTour) August 18-25 Now in its fifth year, the Eneco Tour was born for the ProTour to bring the series to the important Benelux market, one of bike racing’s hotbeds. Bobby Julich won the inaugural edition in 2005 and José Ivan Gutiérrez (Caisse d’Epargne) is the two-time defending champion.

Colombian climbing ace Maurcio Soler will leave Barloworld to ride for Caisse d’Epargne in 2010. That’s according to the Spanish wire service EFE, who reports Soler will join the Spanish team run by manager Eusebio Unzue. The 26-year-old Colombian burst onto the scene in 2007, when he won a stage and the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey.