Road

Alberto Contador doesn’t have a home for 2010, but he’s not worried about it, at least not yet. The two-time Tour de France champ says he methodically considering his options as he looks to secure his future following a tension-filled run at Astana this season. “I have various possibilities, and some of them are quite attractive, and I am analyzing them with without a great deal of stress at this point,” Contador told the Spanish wire service EFE. “The offers might be abundant, but firm offers there aren’t so many.”

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Other than the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, few countries award a national championship jersey for criterium racing. The UCI does not even recognize it as an event and, therefore, does not recognize the national championship, but at least it kindly looks the other way, because criteriums are the most popular form of racing in these countries. In the U.S., criteriums dominate the racing calendar over road racing, culminating in the middle of August for the past 17 years in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove for the U.S. national criteirum championships.

Former Gerolsteiner rider Bernard Kohl said Friday that scientists working in laboratories accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) were bribed by his former manager, the alleged head of a doping network. Austrian Stefan Matschiner, who managed the careers of several top Austrian athletes including Kohl, is accused of organising an elaborate doping network which helped top athletes in Europe to cheat by using performance-enhancing drugs and methods.

Evelyn Stevens (New York, N.Y.) pulled off her first major European road stage race victory with a win in stage four of La Route de France on Thursday. Riding for the USA Cycling Women’s National Team, Stevens out sprinted fellow American Kim Anderson (Santa Barbara, Calif./Columbia-HTC) to take the stage win and second place in the general classification.

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Tom Danielson was back in the winner’s column last weekend with victory in the individual time trial at the five-day Vuelta a Burgos in Spain. It marked Danielson’s first European victory since 2006 and the end of a long comeback from the injuries that nearly derailed his career. The Garmin-Slipstream rider ended up third overall at Burgos, a promising result that indicates the worst is behind Danielson as he turns his attention next to the Vuelta a España, a race in which he’s already twice finished in the top 10.

Reigning Olympic road race champion Samuel Sánchez will wear the No. 1 bib for the upcoming Vuelta a España in the season’s third and final grand tour, August 29- September 20. With none of last year’s top-3 podium finishers back for the 2009 edition, race organizers released a preliminary start list Thursday that includes the Euskaltel-Euskadi leader with el número uno.

Preliminary Start List – Vuelta a España 2009

• 
  EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) - ESP
  Race Numbers 1- 09
• SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel (ESP)
• ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor (ESP)
• MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi (ESP)
• PEREZ LEZAUN Alan (ESP)
• PEREZ MORENO Ruben (ESP)
• ISASI FLORES Inaki (ESP)
• HERNANDEZ GUTIERREZ Aitor (ESP)
• IRIZAR ARANBURU Markel (ESP)
• TXURRUKA Amets (ESP)
• • Reserve Rider - URTASUN PEREZ Pablo (

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The winner of the 2009 Tour de France mountain competition will start the Tour of Missouri next month. Team Liquigas has announced that Franco Pellizotti will be on its Missouri squad, as will Francesco Chicchi, who won the final stage of the 2008 race. “It is a great sign for the race to have the current King of the Mountain champion from the Tour de France and also a podium finisher from the Tour of Italy come to race in the United States,” said Jim Birrell, the Tour of Missouri’s race director.

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Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) won the final stage of the four-day Tour de l'Ain on Wednesday, snatching overall victory from Astana’s Chris Horner. Taaramae rode off to stage victory on the summit of the Grande Colombiere climb to finish ahead of teammates David Moncoutie and Damien Monier. Horner had started the 128.2km fourth stage in Belley with a 22-second lead on Taaramae but the American failed to defend his lead, finishing 37-seconds behind his Estonian rival on the stage.

Late in the riding season, the best ways to dress up your bike and make it feel like new include new cables and housing, new bar tape or grips, a new chain, and new tires. If you can’t afford new wheels or other components, there are little things that can make a big difference. It’s especially true for shifter and brake cables and housing. Aside from just improving the feel at the levers, actual shifting and braking performance will improve as well.

Caisse d’Epargne has one Tour de France champion who might not be coming back and another they’d love to sign up. So it goes for French-sponsored, Spain-based Caisse d’Epargne as it considers its immediate future. Óscar Pereiro and Alberto Contador are the names that Caisse d’Epargne boss Eusebio Unzue is contemplating right now.

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Time waits for no one, especially in silly season when contracts are up for grabs and riders are scrambling to secure jobs. That appears to be the case with Portuguese rider Sergio Paulinho, who was supposedly Alberto Contador’s right-hand man at Astana during July’s tumultuous and divided Tour de France.

Lance Armstrong’s growing love affair with Colorado could result in the return of big-time stage racing to the central Rockies by 2011. Armstrong has been in discussions with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for the past few months to explore the possibility of creating a stage race that would hearken back to the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, when Colorado boasted the Red Zinger and the Coors Classic. Armstrong met with the governor Saturday for two hours over lunch to continue the dialogue.

Chris Horner (Astana) surged into the overall lead at the Tour de l’Ain in Tuesday’s 8.8km individual time trial won by none other than Alexander Vinokourov. Racing with the Kazakh national team, Vinokourov is back in the winner’s column for the first time since his two-year racing ban for blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France. The 35-year-old Kazakh was fastest on the hilly course, and showed glimpses that he’s back in fighting form. “Vino” covered the course in 9 minutes, 50 seconds; 10 seconds faster than Michiel Elijzen (Silence-Lotto).

Can I combine SRAM mountain and road components to produce hillclimb gearing?

What road wheels do you recommend for a 250-pound rider?

Can I get a Trek Madone seatcap with more setback?

Can I put a 105 compact crank on my Dura-Ace bike?

Why should I always put a spacer above my stem?

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SRAM, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, has announced a voluntary recall of the SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links. SRAM reports that the PowerLock outer connector plate could crack during installation or early use, causing the chain to separate and leading to loss of bicycle control and possible injury. For this reason, SRAM is recalling and replacing all affected SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links.

American Chris Horner (Astana) narrowly missed a stage victory Tuesday morning at the Tour de l’Ain in France, but positioned himself to make a run at the overall title in the four-day French race. French rider Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) won the morning sector of Tuesday’s two-stage schedule in a busted up sprint, just nipping Horner for his first victory of the season in the hilly stage into Lélex over the Jura Mountains. Horner crossed the line second, one second ahead of the chasing David Moncoutie (Cofidis).

Achilles had his heel, and Amber Neben has her index finger. The reigning time trial world champion, who lives in Irvine, California, has spent the last month recovering from injuries suffered July 8 at Italy’s Giro Donne, otherwise known as the women’s Giro d’Italia. The day after taking the leader’s jersey, Neben crashed on the third stage of the 10-day race while speeding down a descent at 60 kilometers an hour. The pileup resulted in a torn rotator cuff, as well as the usual cuts, bruises and road rash. Neben’s right index finger, however, took the worst battle damage.

Any tips for traveling with bikes with tubeless tires?

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It’s been a long time coming for José Rojas, but persistence paid off — the Spanish sprinter finally won his first race of 2009, taking stage 2 at the Tour de l’Ain. The oft-injured Caisse d’Epargne fastman finally got into the winner’s column in Monday’s 146.5km stage, out-kicking Belgian bomber Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) with French rider Maxime Bouet coming through third.

Should I re-glue my tubulars annually?

Following his victory this weekend at the Vuelta a Burgos, Alejandro Valverde now has his eyes set on the overall title at the Vuelta a España. On Sunday, Valverde did what he needed to on the climbing stage to the Lagunas de Neila to bounce ahead of Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) and claim the overall at the 31st Burgos tour. It marked Valverde’s seventh win on the 2009 season.

For pro mountain bike racer Barry Wicks, it's all about getting back to Santa Cruz and hitting the road after being on it.

This week’s European cycling menu consists primarily of events that are already under way. The Tour of Portugal and the Tour de l’Ain and the Route de France Féminine, both in France, kicked off last week and wrap up later this week. Then this weekend, the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg brings big-time cycling back to Germany. 21st Tour de l’Ain (Fra, 2.1) August 9-12

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Aldo Ino Ilesic (Team Type 1) and Brooke Miller (Tibco) both took wins at the 22nd annual running of the Hanes Park Classic on Sunday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was the second consecutive Hanes Park win for Miller and the second win of the weekend for the U.S. national criterium champion. For Ilesic, the win was sweet retribution for his heartbreaking second-place finish during the previous evening’s NRC battle 80 miles south at the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte.

Canadian Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) and Czech Katerina Nash (Luna) won Sunday's short-track races at the U.S. Cup/PROXCT event at Mt. Snow, Vermont. Kabush's win — following victories in Saturday's cross-country and last week's World Cup at Bromont, Quebec — confirmed his wave of good form, which he's hoping to ride into the world championships in Australia next month.

Portugal's Joao Cabreira (Loulé-Louletano) won Sunday’s fourth stage of the Volta a Portugal, while Nuno Ribeiro (Liberty Seguros) finished second to take the leader’s yellow jersey André Cardoso crossed third in the 158.1km stage from Trancoso to Mondim de Basto. In the overall standings, Ribeiro leads Cabreira by two seconds with David Bernabeu third at 46 seconds. After a rest day Monday, the race resume Tuesdays with a 184.6km stage from Felgueiras to Fafe.

Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis) won the first stage of the Tour de l‘Ain on Sunday. Remi Cuzin (Agritubel) and Floris Goesinnen (Skil-Shimano) finished second and third in the 146.5km stage from Bourg-en Bresse to Saint-Denis-les-Bourg.

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) won the Tour of Burgos on Sunday. Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) won the fifth and final stage, raced over 155km between Vilviestre del Pinar and Laguna de Neila. Valverde went into the finale in third overall, one second behind Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream) and five behind Pate’s teammate Tom Danielson, winner of the stage-4 individual time trial. But the Spaniard leapfrogged both men to take the final overall. Danielson fell to third at 12 seconds back, while Pate plummeted to 45th at 9:27.

Lance Armstrong has another championship jersey to add to his collection — this one for winning the Colorado state pro men’s cross-country championship at Blast the Mass on Saturday in Snowmass Village. Jay Henry (Tokyo Joe’s) finished second with Len Zanni (Honey Stinger-Trek) third.

Canadian David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Tibco’s Brooke Miller scored solid wins in the sixth annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina, Saturday. Veilleux rolled the dice during the final laps of the men’s race on Saturday night and came up a winner. Veillieux leapt off the front of a strong 10-man breakaway, where he was the sole Kelly rider, to hold a 14-second gap throughout the remaining three laps of racing.

Canadians don't often get a chance to race at Mt. Snow, since the venue is so often used for the U.S. national championships. But when they get a chance they make the most of it, as they did Saturday when Canada's men's and women's national champions came south of the border to score wins at the Kenda Cup East/PROXCT event.

France’s WADA-certified anti-doping laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry have confirmed positive test results from two of Danilo Di Luca’s B samples from this year’s Giro d’Italia. Di Luca twice tested positive for the the third generation of EPO, called a Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA), during the Giro in May. Di Luca has denied doping and is likely to challenge any suspension that results from the confirmed tests. Di Luca’s attorney has already publicly challenged laboratory procedures at the French lab.

Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) has moved into the overall lead in Spain’s Tour de Burgos, after winning the 15km fourth stage time trial on Saturday. Danielson covered the 15km course in 17:09, edging out teammate Danny Pate by 10 seconds. Pate is now in second place in the overall standings, trailing Danielson by four seconds and one second ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne). Stage 4[nid:96487] 1. Tom Danielson (USA), Garmin-Slipstream, 15km in 17:09 2. Danny Pate (USA), Garmin-Slipstream, at 0:10 3. Alexei Markov (RUS), Katusha, at 0:16

World champion Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) won the 66th edition of the Tour of Poland on Saturday after the seventh and final stage. The 136km stage, from Rabka to Krakow, was won by Germany's André Greipel of the Columbia-HTC squad. Ballan wasn't assured of victory before Saturday's mountainous finale having only an 11-second lead over closest rival Advald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC), who had won the two of the earlier stages of the race.

TIME teases a new pedal, pre-Eurobike

Race simulations are a great weapon to have in your belt. Try these training tips and you'll be plenty prepared for exploding off the start line and getting a jump on the competition.

Taylor Phinney has reported that injuries he suffered in a crash during last month’s Cascade Classic were more serious than originally suspected. Phinney, who was hospitalized after a crash in the fourth stage of the Oregon stage race, said that follow-up x-rays revealed a fracture of the dorsal surface of his C5 vertebra. Phinney was originally treated for a serious concussion. "So...turns out I broke my dorsal spine of my C5 vertebra,” Phinney announced on his Twitter account. “Explains a lot. No Tour of Utah for me!"

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia) won a sprint finish for the sixth and penultimate stage of the Tour of Poland in Zakopane on Friday. Hagen crossed ahead of Italians Alessandro Ballan (Lampre), who holds the overall race leader's yellow jersey, and Marco Marcato after the 162km run between Kroscienko and Zakopane. "The stage was very tough. It wasn't possible to take the yellow jersey from Ballan, but tomorrow I'm going to do everything I can to take it from him and win," warned Hagen.

No rest for the weary. Ryder Hesjedal, fresh off finishing his second Tour de France, is roaring into the second half of the 2009 season. The Garmin-Slipstream rider posted a strong fifth place at last weekend’s Clásica San Sebastián and now sets his sights on a run at the overall classification at the Vuelta a España later this month before the world championships in Mendrisio. That heavy load is typical for 28-year-old Canadian, who is on the verge of major breakthrough victory.

You’ve seen it, we’ve reported on it and everyone expected it to eventually be offered for sale and now it’s finally official: Adam Craig’s Anthem X Advanced SL carbon racer will be included in Giant’s 2010 mountain bike line. The new World Cup-worthy full-suspension carbon race bike will be accompanied by a ground-up redesign of the Trance composite platform, which was absent from the line in 2009, but will be offered again in 2010 as the Trance X Advanced SL.

Anthem X Advanced SL

Utah Jazz point guard Deron Williams and Floyd Landis (OUCH) will challenge one another in their respective sports at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah, on Friday, at 6:30 p.m. Landis will school Williams on the intricacies of a time trial and Williams will then challenge Landis to a three-point shoot out. Both media and the general public are invited to attend the event. Admission is free. The challenge is a promotional event in advance of the 2009 Tour of Utah, scheduled from August 18-23 throughout central Utah.

American Lawson Craddock (Hot Tubes) earned the silver medal in the time trial at the UCI Junior Road World Championships in Moscow, Russia on Friday. Craddock recorded a time of 32:54.45 on the 25.8-kilometer course, narrowly missing the world title. The Texan finished only 2.2 seconds behind Australia's Luke Durbrige who scored a time of 32:52:23. Lasse Norman Hansen of Denmark earned the bronze at 33:03.01. The only other American contesting the event, Nathan Brown (Covington, Tenn./Hot Tubes) was 34th at 34:42.62.

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We ran out of time during the Tour to cover every bit of the latest and greatest. But never fear, we saved some of the best for last.

Giant Bicycles announces production model aero bike

Spanish puncheur Joaquín Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne) knew he had a good shot at stage victory when he saw the short but steep third-category finish-line approach in Thursday’s second stage at the Vuelta a Burgos in northern Spain. Known for explosive ability that’s helped him win, among other victories, the hilltop stage at Tirreno-Adriatico to Monte Lupone two years in a row, Rodríguez turned on the gas Thursday to win the 153km second stage and take the leader’s jersey at the five-day Burgos tour.

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The Intermontane Challenge wrapped up last week with a 30-kilometer time trial, providing a chance for Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz-WTB-FOX) and Sue Butler (MonaVie-Cannondale) to cement their overall wins in the week-long stage race. Neither winner faced significant threats to their overall race leads, and both protected their positions by riding carefully on the sinewy singletrack of Kenna Cartwright Park just on the edge of Kamloops.

Team Type 1's Alison Powers has wrapped up her overall win of the Women's Prestige Cycling Series with a solid performance at the final event, last week's Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon. Powers held onto the lead she established at the series' first two events, the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Joe Martin Stage Race. While Powers' lead was insurmountable after the first few events, the series' team competition went down to the wire, with Team Tibco eventually taking the lead ahead of Powers' Team Type 1 and the Webcor team.[nid:96375]

World champion Allesandro Ballan (Lampre) won a sprint finish for the fifth stage of the Tour of Poland under the rain on Thursday. Ballan's success on the 163km stage from Strzyzow to Krynica Zdroj also gave him possession of the race leader's yellow jersey. Ballan finished ahead of Spaniard Daniel Moreno and Dutch rider Pieter Weening, who are second and third in the overall standings respectively. "I promised to fight in the Tour of Poland and I kept my word," said Ballan after crossing the finish line in a bunched sprint.

Disgraced cyclist Alexander Vinokourov continues his return to competitive cycling this week hoping to show he has not lost too much form over his two-year ban for doping. Once one of the peloton's toughest competitors Vinokourov was revealed as a cheat in 2007 when he tested positive for homologous blood doping (the injection of red cells from a donor) at the Tour de France. The scandal led to the expulsion of his team Astana from the race, and a two-year ban left his career in tatters.

Lance Armstrong might be training up in the Colorado mountains for next weekend’s Leadville 100, but backers from his new RadioShack team are already working hard behind the scenes to prepare the squad for a high-profile entrance into the elite ranks of the sport. Officials from RadioShack Corporation are planning to unveil its new branding and marketing campaign Thursday in New York and San Francisco, and the cycling team, where Armstrong will race during the 2010 season, will play a central role.

Pennsylvania's Univest Grand Prix is experiencing a late-season growth spurt. The UCI 2.2 race is adding a team time trial on Friday, Sept. 11. The 7.6-mile TTT and Saturday's 100 mile road race will make up a 2-day stage race. The Univest weekend will continue with Sunday's Univest Grand Prix Doylestown Criterium, which is not part of the Friday-Saturday stage race. The stage race is part of the USA Cycling Pro Tour. The new TTT stage will be held in Allenstown and will include two laps of a technical 3.8-mile circuit.

Columbia-HTC will bring sprinter Mark Cavendish, time trialist/GC rider Michael Rogers and strongman George Hincapie to this year's Tour of Missouri, the race announced Wednesday. Cavendish won three stages at Missouri last year, and Hincapie won the overall title in the race's first edition in 2007. The race is being held Sept. 7-13 this year. “I really enjoyed Tour of Missouri last year," Cavendish said. "Cycling fans in America are genuinely enthusiastic about watching us race, which makes for a great atmosphere.”

What a week it’s been for Euskaltel-Euskadi. First, its captain and Tour de France stage-winner, Mikel Astrarloza, pops positive for EPO in a pre-Tour doping control, some nasty business that raises questions about the team’s future, not to mention its ethical integrity. Then Igor Antón wins Sunday’s Urkiola climbing race in the heart of Basque Country to remind everyone that the “orange tide” isn’t going down without a fight.

Norwegian ace Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday after outshining teammate André Greipel in a sprint finish. Greipel, wearing the race leader's jersey, finished second on the 239.7-kilometer stage from Naleczow to Rzeszow but was later relegated by race officials after impeding the sprint of Australia's Allan Davis.

Alexander Vinokourov is back from his two-year doping ban, but his immediate future is anything but certain. In fact, the only thing certain about the charismatic Kazakh rider and his racing plans is shrouded in uncertainty. Besides a few vague public comments, almost no one is willing to go on the record to answer some basic questions on whether or not Vinokourov will be racing in an Astana jersey, a sure sign that something is cooking.

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Some experts believe that poor vitamin D status can often be a problem among athletes, and affect your overall health and ability to train.

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Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Steve Hed has never approached business in a conventional way. When he first met his wife, Anne, she was a struggling young triathlete who wanted to race the Ironman. She went into Grand Performance bike shop in Minneapolis because she’d heard that its owner often helped triathletes with expenses. Her heart sank when the barefoot guy covered in grease in the back of the shop turned out to be Steve Hed, the shop’s owner, but she asked anyway.

Roman Kreuziger's recent strong performances at the Tour de France, Tour of Switzerland and the Clásica San Sebastián have moved him up to third on the UCI World Ranking, just behind the much-more-heralded Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. Kreuziger, a 23-year-old with Liquigas, was ninth overall at the Tour de France, and third at the Swiss Tour (which he won in 2008). His second at San Sebastián, behind Quick Step's Carlos Barredo, moved him up from fifth to third in the new rankings released this week.

Teams are already releasing preliminary start lists for the upcoming Vuelta a España (August 29-September 20) and Rabobank will bring a strong team with sights on overall victory and stage wins. The Dutch outfit released 10 names for the Spanish tour and will look to Robert Gesink, who crashed out of the Tour de France with a fractured wrist in stage 5, to take aim for the final podium.

Mikel Astarloza – the Basque climber who facing allegations that he took the banned blood booster EPO – says he never doped ahead of the 2009 Tour de France. Astarloza, winner of stage 16 and 11th overall in the this year’s Tour, is facing a possible two-year ban after urine samples taken in an out-of-competition control June 26, but strongly declared his innocence in an emotional press conference Tuesday.

Carbon mid- and deep-section wheels are all the rage in road racing, and for good reason. A deep aerodynamic profile helps slice through the wind, and using carbon as the rim material helps keep weight to a minimum. Most high-end deep section carbon wheels have that perfect blend of light weight and improved aerodynamics.