Road

The days are numbered on her racing career, but Kristin Armstrong was not feeling nostalgic Wednesday in her last major time trial of her career. Racing with the same intensity that delivered her the Olympic gold medal last year in Beijing, Armstrong powered to the rainbow jersey in the elite women’s time trial world championship Wednesday in Mendrisio, Switzerland. The reigning Olympic time trial gold medalist ripped the 26.8km course in 35 minutes, 26 seconds (45.4kph) to claim her second world title in four years and her fourth career worlds competition medal.

Graham Watson was on course and shooting during the under-23 men's time trial world championships in Mendrisio.

Oh yeah! Santa Cruz and Fisher's carbon, dually 29ers are the current supermodels of the mountain bike world, but what are you overlooking when you lust over these sexy beasts?

None other than Lance Armstrong tips Jack Bobridge as a name to watch for the future. The 20-year-old Aussie railed to the U23 men’s time trial world title Wednesday in Mendrisio to prove that Armstrong’s endorsement is deserved. “You couldn’t ask for much more than that for Lance to mention your name as an up-and-comer,” Bobridge said after dominating the 65-rider field. “It gives me extra motivation. I think I caught his eye a little bit and he’s been following my progress. I met him at the Tour Down Under this year and we had a chance to train together.”

No one can ever accuse Spanish veteran José Vicente "Chente" García Acosta of being a slacker. The Caisse d’Epargne rider completed his 25th grand tour Sunday with the conclusion of the 64th Vuelta a España. And that number is just from racing the Vuelta a España and the Tour de France. Somewhat surprisingly, García Acosta has never raced a Giro d’Italia since turning pro in 1995.

Alejandro Valverde doesn’t want any surprises from the Italians and will not sleep in Italy during this week’s world championships as planned. According to the Spanish daily AS, Valverde and possibly other members of the elite men’s road team will sleep in a hotel in Switzerland rather than with the rest of the Spanish national team at a hotel already reserved in Italy.

A special request by Cannondale pulled several of us out to Interbike’s Outdoor Demo at an uncomfortably early hour on Monday and then to a “secret location” billed Area 88 — actually a local self-storage unit — via vintage Mercedes Unimog to see a “proof of concept” prototype of the manufacturer’s Simon suspension fork. The Simon is a computer-controlled, electronically damped suspension fork, a project without a specific release date. Cannondale engineer Stanley Song has poured five years of undivided attention into the project.

After a day of riding road bikes at the Interbike Outdoor Demo on Monday, I hit the dirt on Tuesday to check out some new innovations on the mountain bike side. The Santa Cruz Tallboy is big 29er news, as it is a completely carbon full suspension 29er with 100mm (four inches of travel) and the frame weighs only five pounds (size M). Tallboys cost $2350 for the frame ($4700 for the SPX model with Shimano XT that I tested) and come even in an XXL size that fits me with a nearly 26-inch top tube.

USA’s Jeff Louder is a last-minute scratch from the U.S. world championship team because he has come down with the swine flu H1N1 virus. The BMC racer didn’t feel well and visited a doctor, who confirmed the diagnosis.

Küat, Lezyne and Trigon may not be huge names in the bike industry, but they've got some cool stuff. We checked out the latest at Outdoor Demo.

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From Banshee Bikes and Bell Sports to WTB and Xtracycle, more than 120 companies exhibited their wares at Outdoor Demo in the two days preceding Interbike. In the desert heat of Boulder City, just east of Las Vegas, thousands of bike shop owners and their crews wandered from pop-tent to pop-tent, scoping out the latest and greatest to take out for test rides on the singletrack and roads. Most of the bikes and gear on display fell within the standard confines of road and mountain. But, being a bike show, there is always some tomfoolery afoot, and the odd vendor hawking a unique product.

The UCI's world time trial and road championships are slated to begin on Wednesday in Mendrisio, Switzerland, but riders from all over are already plying the roads in preparation.

Photographer Casey Gibson spent Tuesday on the time trial course as riders tested their legs and adjusted their bikes for two days of racing against the clock.

Elite women and U23 men will race Wednesday, with the elite men taking center stage on Thursday.

Road racing begins Saturday with the elite women and U23s, and the elite men’s road race wrapping up events on Sunday.

The

When American Tejay Van Garderen rolls out of the start house at the under-23 world time trial championship on Wednesday in Mendrisio, Switzerland, he’ll do so as a medal favorite. The Colorado native, who spent 2008 and 2009 riding with the Rabobank Continental Professional team and will join Columbia-HTC next year, is fresh off a second-place overall finish at the Tour de l’Avenir (the “tour of the future”), the under-23 stage race run by Tour de France organizers ASO and viewed by many as a precursor to future grand tour contenders.

Alejandro Valverde faces an uncertain future following his breakthrough win at the Vuelta a España on Sunday in Madrid. Known as El Imbatido (the unbeaten one) since his amateur days, Valverde finally won a grand tour after finishing second, third, fourth and fifth in the Vuelta. But the victory that should lead the way to more success could simply be an empty triumph ahead of what is anything but clear sailing for the 29-year-old Spanish rider.

I was amazed to see the expansion of Las Vegas’s bike trail system; you can rely on bike paths most of the 40km from The Strip to Boulder City, the site of Interbike’s pre-show Outdoor Demo. The trail is longer than that, even, meandering down to Lake Mead, much of it in drainage sluices for a skate-park-like ride. It then continues unabated along the lake in a giant complete loop back on itself to eastern Las Vegas. Amazingly progressive, it is an enormous investment in bicycle infrastructure.

Patrick Lefevere, the general manager of QuickStep, said Tuesday he is in "constant contact" with Alberto Contador, discussing the possibility that the Tour de France winner might ride for the team in 2010. "For now we are waiting,” Lefevere told the Belgian newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen. “We really have to see if the Union Cycliste Internationale takes any action on the ProTour license of the Astana team. If the team’s license is revoked, there is a good possibility that we can recruit Contador."

Glaring sun, hot temperatures and a stiff wind didn’t snuff enthusiasm for the opening day of the Interbike On Dirt Demo. I managed a couple of mountain bike rides, but spent most of my time checking out road gear. Here are some highlights of the day, which are by no means comprehensive, but stay tuned — we have a whole week of tech reporting still to come. For more on some of the mountain bike finds by my colleague Matt Pacocha, check out Singletrack.com.

BMC teammachine SLR01

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After a few years of erecting one of the larger tents at Interbike’s Outdoor Dirt Demo but largely forgoing a presence at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, Cannondale and the rest of the Dorel Industries Cycling Sports Group (which includes Schwinn, GT and Mongoose) will have a 30-by-30-foot display this year. “For the past three years we’ve not been in the halls of the show, so we’re excited to be back on the floor,” said marketing manager Bill Rudell.

Fans who have followed the Vuelta a España for the past three weeks must have been wondering why so many riders were dropping out. Of the 198 starters, only 139 finished the race in Madrid on Sunday. Many quit because of injuries suffered in the overly frequent crashes, but the majority never planned to finish. The common refrain was: “I was just using the Vuelta to prepare for the world championships.” And who could blame them?

It’s here! Interbike: everyone’s favorite tradeshow, after-hours party, celebrity sighting, and schmooze-fest, all rolled in to one grand, cacophonic riot under the hot sun of Sin City. We’re planning to have six editors on the ground to bring you all the action, but before we even got to the airport, press leaks started rolling in. Here’s an assortment to whet your appetite, in no particular order.

GURU Cycles to launch two new bikes

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Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) and Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) claimed wins at the Rad Racing Gran Prix of Cyclocross in Lakewood, Washington, on Sunday, on the second day of racing in the Seattle area.

There were no surprises in Sunday’s finale at the 64th Vuelta a España: André Greipel kicked to his fourth stage victory to dominate the sprints and Alejandro Valverde secured the grand tour victory that eluded him up to now in his otherwise prolific career. Columbia-HTC dominated the final charge to the line in the 110km stage from Rivas Vaciamadrid to seven circuits in downtown Madrid to stick a fork in the 2009 Vuelta. Greipel made easy work of Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) to win his fourth stage and the team’s fifth during the Spanish tour.

Davide Frattini and Laura Van Gilder won elite races at the UCI C2 Nittany Lion Cross at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (a.k.a. T-Town Velodrome) on Saturday.

Swiss national champion Christian Heule (Rendementhypo) won the elite men’s race and British national champion Helen Wyman (Kona) won the elite women’s race at the 2009 FSA Star Crossed in Redmond, Washington, Saturday evening. Defending 2008 Star Crossed champions Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) each finished second in their respective races.

Evald Boasson Hagen secured his overall victory in the Tour of Britain Saturday, safely finishing in the peloton at the end of the final stage in London. Barloworld's Michele Merlo win the final field sprint of the race, followed by Koldo Fernandez (Euskatel Euskadi) and Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream). Sutton, who won one stage of the race, finished second overall, 23 seconds behind Boasson Hagen, who won four stages.

Saturday’s 27.5km time trial at the Vuelta a España was several races within one. In the battle for the stage, David Millar had enough in the tank to fend off some late challenges to win Garmin-Slipstream’s third stage during this year’s Vuelta and claim his first win since 2007. Millar stopped the clock in 35:53 (46.484kph), five seconds faster than Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi ) and nine seconds faster than Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto).

Start Times – Stage 20 Time Trial

• 1. Damien Gaudin Bbox Bouygues Telecom - starts at 2:29 p.m.
• 2. Jens Mouris Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team - starts at 2:30 p.m.
• 3. Martijn Maaskant Garmin-Slipstream - starts at 2:31 p.m.
• 4. J. Vicente García Acosta Caisse d’Epargne - starts at 2:32 p.m.
• 5. Frantisek Rabon Team Columbia-HTC - starts at 2:33 p.m.
• 6. Timothy Gudsell Française Des Jeux - starts at 2:34 p.m.
• 7. Massimiliano Mori Lampre-NGC - starts at 2:35 p.m.
• 8.

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Clink. At the lobby bar of Dallas’ W Hotel on Thursday evening, pro bike racers and bike racing fans alike held their champagne glasses high in toast of Team Hotel San Jose’s Heath Blackgrove, who scored his second consecutive victory at the TX Tough Grand Prix by out-sprinting a breakaway group of five riders. “We missed two big moves and were able to bring them back. It really speaks to the strength of our squad,” said Blackgrove, who placed in front of OUCH-Maxxis’ national criterium champion John Murphy.

Ben Swift (Katusha) took a hugely popular first professional win in Friday's seventh stage to become the first British stage winner in the Tour of Britain since Paul Manning in 2007. The Katusha rider sprinted to victory ahead of teammate Filippo Pozzato, with race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) in third. Boasson Hagen extended his overall lead ahead of Rabobank’s Kai Reus to 23 seconds and retained points jersey.

Another cold, rainy day seemed to take the spark out of the Vuelta a España in the last mountain stage going into this weekend’s finale. Juanjo Cobo (Fuji-Servetto) won out an elite, eight-man group to make it clear over the Cat. 1 Puerto de Navacerrada late in the four-climb, 179.8km 19th stage from Ávila to La Granja while Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) all but secured his first overall victory in a three-week grand tour.

The future of two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador is still far from certain, but Garmin-Slipstream remains a top option if he can break his remaining year contract with the troubled Astana team. Contador said Garmin would be an attractive choice if can reach an agreement with Astana officials to exit the Kazakh-backed team. “(Garmin) is a very interesting option. It’s an interesting team, a strong team, an experienced team,” Contador said Friday. “They did a great job at the Tour this year and it would be a good option for me.”

Recently-crowned Tour of Portugal champion, Nuno Ribeiro, tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO before the race, the rider said confirmed Friday after being notified by cycling's world ruling body. Ribeiro also won the race in 2003 but his recent victory is now under a cloud after the results from doping control prior to the race, on August 6, were officially released Friday. The 32-year-old's Liberty Seguros team announced Friday that two other riders with the team, Spaniards Hector Guerra and Isidro Nozal, had also tested positive for EPO.

Despite reports to the contrary, Garmin-Slipstream team manager Jonathan Vaughters says Bradley Wiggins will continue to ride in blue-and-orange argyle in 2010. Responding to a story in Friday’s edition of the British newspaper The Guardian that described a Team Sky buy-out of Wiggins’ contract with Garmin for 2010, Vaughters told VeloNews via email, “It’s just untrue. There is no agreement in existence like this.”

Garmin-Slipstream lost three riders in Thursday’s 18th stage at the Vuelta a España, leaving the squad with just four going into the final weekend of the race. Ryder Hesjedal and Christian Meier did not start and Tom Danielson abandoned early in the stage from Talavera de la Reina to Ávila. Hesjedal’s exit was planned to allow him a few days’ recovery ahead of the world championships next weekend while Meier suffered a death in his family.

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Many were surprised to see Dave Zabriskie’s name absent from the list of riders on the U.S. national squad headed to the world championships next week in Switzerland. A two-time worlds time trial medalist, Zabriskie said he’s feeling the wear and tear of a long racing season. “My body is pretty beat up. My Achilles is acting up and I’ve done worlds the last four or five years,” Zabriskie wrote VeloNews in an e-mail. “I need one off every now and then.”

It’s been a long time since an Irishman won a stage at a grand tour. You have to go all the way back to the glory days of the Roche-Kelly golden era, with Stephen Roche taking the last win for Ireland in the 1992 Tour de France. Since then, there have been some close calls, but it’s mainly been a famine as Irish fans have patiently waited for a new crop of Irish riders to come through the ranks.

Columbia-HTC's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a fourth successive stage win to stretch his lead in the Tour of Britain standings to 19 seconds with two stages left to race. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish at the end of the 183.7-km sixth stage in England's west country and he will now expect to hold off second-placed Kai Reus over the course of Friday's penultimate stage and the 92.5-km race to the finish in London on Saturday. Boasson Hagen hit the front at 300 meters to go and nobody was able to pass him. Martin Reimer was second and Russell Downing was third.

Pearl Izumi is one of those companies that pushed to have a few 2010 products ready to show in July, for early looks. In Monaco we had a quick look at some clothing and high-end shoes. But now that fall tradeshow season is in full swing, Pearl has the entire line on display, and by the looks of things, Pearl is not resting on past success. Along with consistently innovative clothing, Pearl is charging ahead with shoe development, and has packed their high-end shoes with features that happily trickle down to mid-priced levels affordable by average riders.

Press Release

How can I route the Ergopower shift cable without kinking it?

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Where else but in Europe can Europe's "Final Countdown" be blared at high decibels without a hint of corniness? Let Adam Craig explain.

What started off as a snoozer ended up as a fairytale, at least for 22-year-old French rider Anthony Roux. With the chasing peloton breathing down his neck, the second-year pro from FDJeux took a huge dig with 2km to go to drop the remnants of the day’s main five-man break, reel in the attacking Martin Maaskant (Garmin-Slipstream) with 1km to go, flick him and then squirt across the line just a few bike lengths ahead of the hard-charging pack.

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a third successive stage win to move into the overall lead of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish ahead of Italian Filippo Pozzato and Britain's Russell Downing to claim his sixth Tour of Britain stage victory in two seasons. He now leads Dutch rider Kai Reus by nine seconds. In third place is Australia's Chris Sutton, who believes his hopes of winning the Tour may have gone as a result of Garmin-Slipstream teammate Bradley Wiggins' decision to quit the race.

Alejandro Valverde, Oscar Freire and Samuel Sanchez will lead Spain's bid to win the men's road race title at the world cycling championships next week in Mendrisio, Switzerland. All-rounder Valverde is the current Tour of Spain leader and has in the past narrowly missed out on winning cycling's coveted rainbow jersey, a feat achieved by Freire a record-equalling three times. Sanchez, who is currently ranked third in the Tour of Spain, is the reigning Olympic road race champion who like Valverde excels on hilly, selective courses.

Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushroom) lead the 2009 USA CRITS Series after four events. The season-long series holds its penultimate event this Thursday night in Dallas, the TX TOUGH criterium. The finals are a week later during the Interbike show in Las Vegas. Keough is also leading the Champion System’s Best Young Rider (U25) Competition, while BMW-Bianchi’s Erica Allar is in the lead on the women’s side. Battley Harley Davidson’s Russ Langley and Colavita Sutter Home’s Cath Cheatley still holds the Storck Most Laps Led jersey.

During the middle part of the 2009 racing season the Subaru-Gary Fisher team gave Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, a racer with a preference for hardtails, a new full-suspension bike. To the surprise of many he raced it in some of the biggest events during the second half of this season. JHK rode Fisher’s new Superfly 100 in two world cups, the marathon national championships, which he won, and the last two stops of the Pro XTC series (where he won the overall series).

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen of Columbia-HTC won a second consecutive stage in the Tour of Britain Tuesday to move within one second of overall race leader, Kai Reus of Rabobank. "We're close now and so we have to try and win overall," said Columbia team coach Valerio Piva. "Edvald is on form, we've got a strong team here, and so why not? We've done it before." Australia's Chris Sutton also moved within striking distance of the overall lead with his fourth consecutive top three finish in the 148-km circuit stage around the Forest of Bowland.

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The leader of next year's Vuelta a España will wear a red jersey instead of the current gold to mark the 75th anniversary of the event, organizers announced Tuesday. The colour of the leader's jersey has changed several times since the event began, with red being used only once, in 1945, Spanish media said. It was orange for the inaugural event in 1935, a color that was also used in 1936, 1942 and 1977. It was white just once, in 1941, and white with a horizontal red line between 1946 and 1950.

Everyone knew Tuesday’s long, tedious 16th stage at the Vuelta a España was going to end up in a bunch sprint. Despite some of the top sprinters leaving the race early, including Tyler Farrar and Tom Boonen, there was still enough fight left in the bunch to make it interesting in the closing kilometers. Despite efforts by Milram and Liquigas, the result was much of the same, with André Greipel easily winning his third stage victory of the Vuelta and Columbia-HTC’s fourth. [nid:97891]

The German bicycle brand Storck continues to turn heads, even without a sponsored ProTour racing team. That doesn’t mean that the company intends to sit back and languish as others grab the spotlight. Company founder Markus Storck has aggressive goals for his brand in the competitive road and triathlon arenas — to cite one example, at the Eurobike trade show two weeks ago, he said that he aims to have 100 bikes raced in the prestigious Hawaii Ironman triathlon within five years.

Basque climber Iban Mayo says he won’t mount a professional comeback despite having served out his two-year racing ban for an EPO positive in 2007. Now 32, the once-feared climber called his controversial doping case a “witch hunt” and told the Bilbao daily El Correo he will not try to return to the professional ranks.

Ever since the father of the quick-release skewer, Tullio Campagnolo, founded it in 1933, Campagnolo SPA has been making highest-quality cutting-edge bicycle products in Vicenza, the leather-working capital of Europe.

USA Cycling released its complete roster of 22 elite and U23 athletes that will represent the United States at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships, September 23-27 in Mendriso, Switzerland. Representing the U.S. in both the elite men’s road race and time trial will be Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream). In the time trial, Danielson will be joined by his future Garmin teammate Tom Zirbel (Bissell), the silver medalist from this month’s USA Cycling Professional Time Trial Championships.

Cadel Evans vows to keep fighting in this Vuelta a España, but he will probably lose sleep when he thinks about his ill-timed puncture in Saturday’s decisive climbing stage to Sierra Nevada. The Aussie’s chances of overall victory were shattered when he punctured near the Cat. 1 Monachil summit. A botched wheel change froze the Silence-Lotto rider neat the top of the climb just as his rivals were barreling down the other side.

Gale Bernhardt, USA Cycling and USA Triathlon coach, and author of numerous books, including Training Plans for Cyclists, has some fitness tips for flatlanders looking to head to the high country.

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Australia's Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor) saw his bid for glory falter as a fast-finishing Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Monday. Lapthorne was part of a four-man breakaway that dominated the 153km Scottish border stage between Peebles and Gretna Green but was caught with 15km from the finish.

Race leader Alejandro Valverde and his Caisse d’Epargne team declared an unofficial rest day as Lars Boom (Rabobank) won stage 15 out of a 13-rider break. Boom attacked a large breakaway on the second of two trips up the Category 2 Alto de San Jeronimo and soloed in for the victory more than 90 seconds ahead of David Herrero (Xacobeo Galicia) with Dominik Roels (Milram) third. "This is something special and important because it is a major tour," Boom said.

Cycling's world governing body on Monday suspended Italian Maurizio Biondo (Ceramica Flaminia) after a Swiss lab reported that he had tested positive for the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). Biondo won the time trial at last month's Tour of Denmark, where he finished second overall.

Will there be a Tour of Missouri in 2010 and beyond? State funding for the 3-year-old race is in jeopardy as Missouri struggles with shrinking tax revenues, making it increasingly likely that a private title sponsor will have to step in to augment the state tourism board’s support. "We'd love to get the title sponsor who comes in with the big bucks ... " Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder told VeloNews in front of the state Capitol in Jefferson City.

Three Ukrainian riders, who participated in the Tour de l'Avenir, have been indicted for possession and use of doping products a court official in Besan reported on Monday. The three were arrested Saturday and later acknowledged having used seized equipment for blood transfusions, said deputy prosecutor Margaret Parietti. The three were indicted on Sunday evening and have been released on bail. The riders were competing in the Tour de l'Avenir, a French stage race that features young riders and is contested by national teams.

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David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) won the 2009 Tour of Missouri on Sunday as Canadian Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) sprinted to victory in the final stage, a hilly 72.3-mile circuit race in Kansas City. It was the first stage race title in Zabriskie's nine years as a pro. And it didn't come easily for him or his team. Garmin was already a man down (due to Christian Vande Velde's broken hand from a stage 1 crash) when Zabriskie donned the yellow jersey after the stage 5 time trial.

Yuri Metlushenko never stuck his nose in the breeze on Sunday — until the 200 meters when it mattered the most. The powerful Ukrainian sprinter capped a perfect weekend for his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates team, winning his second consecutive Univest Criterium in a field sprint. With the victory, Amore and Vita completed a sweep of the Univest Grand Prix’s three events.

Damiano Cunego’s second stage victory at this year’s Vuelta a España shows he’ll be one of the riders to beat at the world championships later this month at Mendrisio. His dramatic win up the steep La Pandera climb ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) only fuels his ambitions ahead of the worlds. “The worlds is the top goal for me and the Vuelta is ideal preparation,” Cunego said. “These victories at the Vuelta confirm that I am enjoying good form right now and I will carry that into the worlds.”

American Tejay van Garderen wrapped up an excellent Tour de l’Avenir with second place overall in the nine-stage U23 race across northern France. Despite a challenging circuit in Besançon in Sunday’s final stage, there was no shaking race winner Romain Sicard (France A). Dutch rider Van Winden won the stage. Van Garderen’s second overall was the best U.S. result at the prestigious Avenir race since Kevin Livingston was second to Frenchman Laurent Roux in 1997.

Dutch rider Marianne Vos clinched the overall title in the women’s World Cup after finishing sixth in the season finale at the Tour de Nuremberg. Compatriot Kirsten Wild won the sprint and Vos only needed to finish with the favorites to lock up her second World Cup crown of her career. The 26-year-old Wild won the 129km race ahead of Rochelle Gilmore, with Germany’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg crossing the line third. Emma Johannson was the only threatening rider to Vos, but couldn’t get ahead of Vos and crossed the line 13th to finish second overall in World Cup points.

Australia's Chris Sutton surrendered the yellow jersey at the end of the second stage of the Tour of Britain on Sunday but still insisted his weekend could not have gone any better. The Garmin-Slipstream rider followed-up his first stage win with ninth place on day two from Darlington to Gateshead as Dutchman Kai Reus (Rabobank), a former junior world champion, won his first stage since a 2007 crash that left him in a coma. Reus' comfortable nine-second margin of victory was enough to earn him yellow and Sydney's Sutton admitted his opening exploits in York had taken their toll.

Damiano Cunego (Lampre) collected his second win of the 2009 Vuelta a España on Sunday atop the Alto Sierra de la Pandera. Cunego jumped away from a crumbling nine-man break to climb the Pandera alone to victory as the battle for the overall was fought behind him. Fellow breakaway Jacob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) hung on for second at 2:23, with a resurgent Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) third at 3:08.

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A teammate might have been wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, but Volodymyr Starchyk knew he was the strongest at the Univest Grand Prix on Saturday. The Ukrainian attacked a leading group of six — including his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates teammate, German Philipp Mamos — on the last of 10 three-mile finishing circuits, then hung on to take the race victory and the overall title in the two-day UCI event.

Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) came from behind on Saturday to win a bunch sprint in stage 6 of the Tour of Missouri, sweeping around Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) and Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita) in the final meters to win a Missouri stage for the second year in a row. Garmin-Slipstream's Dave Zabriskie "rode a wave of attacks" to preserve his overall lead headed into what race organizers promise is a difficult final stage on Sunday in Kansas City.