Road

Three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) won the second stage of the Tour de Romandie on Thursday after a breakaway by teammates Cadel Evans and Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) was stifled just a few kilometers before the finish line. The Silence-Lotto duo took advantage of the hilly course around northwestern Switzerland to break away on the final climb near the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds. But Evans, the 2006 Romandie winner, and Gilbert were reeled in by the peloton led by late entry Alejandro Valverde just four kilometers from the finish.

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Christian Vande Velde is facing a busy schedule in coming weeks, with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France looming as his main targets of the year. For the Giro, Vande Velde wants to help his team defend their victory in the team time trial and get another crack at the pink jersey. For the Tour, the 32-year-old wants to pick up where he finished off last year in his breakthrough performance and aim for the final podium in Paris.

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After weeks of uncertainty, organizers of the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championship announced Wednesday that the annual race will be held as scheduled on Sunday, June 7.

Did they come to race or train? The "Mellow Johnny's" team — AKA Astana's Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner — just couldn't resist going for the win Wednesday at the SRAM Tour of the Gila. Leipheimer sprang from a disintegrating pack on the finish climb, taking a clear win ahead of young phenom Peter Stetina (Felt-Holowesko Partners-Garmin) and recently-rehired Chris Baldwin (Rock Racing). Leipheimer said he had some doubts about whether the team should go for the win so early in the five-day race.

Spaniard Ricardo Serrano (Fuji) won the first stage of the Tour de Romandie on Wednesday, a shortened 91 kilometer stage between the Swiss towns of Montreux and Fribourg. Lars Bak (Saxo Bank) was second, while Swiss rider Gregory Rast (Astana) was third and took over the leader's yellow jersey. The stage was shortened because of snow fall on the Jaunpass.

For a race that came within days of being canceled two months ago, the SRAM Tour of the Gila has rebounded in spectacular fashion, now boasting its largest and most star-studded pro fields in history as it begins Wednesday. The race achieved high stature — and the perhaps inevitable resulting controversy — with the appearance of Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, three Astana teammates who, under agreement with the UCI, will race the Gila in the Mellow Johnny's kit of Armstrong's Austin, Texas, bike shop.

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) confirmed Wednesday that the athlete under investigation for a doping violation at last summer’s Olympics is cyclist Davide Rebellin. The 37-year-old, who earlier this month won the prestigious Flèche Wallonne spring classic, tested for the new generation of EPO — a Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) — in an International Olympic Committee re-test of samples from Beijing.

Christian Vande Velde relished a day at the beach with his two young daughters over the past weekend because he knew it would probably be his last quiet day for a long time. The Garmin-Slipstream captain is entering the heart of his racing season, with the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France looming as his main targets of the year. For the Giro, Vande Velde wants to help his team defend their victory in the team time trial and get another crack at the pink jersey.

Dear Lennard,
In your Earth Day column there was a question about a cracked carbon frame. Since it is a save the earth day of posting I thought I would ask about the possibility of repairing a cracked carbon frame (small crack obviously). Since you can buy epoxy and carbon, would it be possible to repair a carbon frame? It would be ugly but would it be rideable?
Scott Dear Scott,

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Czech rider Frantisek Rabon (Columbia-Highroad) on Tuesday won the Prologue of the Tour de Romandie, a 3.1km time-trial through the streets of the Swiss city of Lausanne. French cyclist Sandy Casar (Française Des Jeux), took second place two seconds behind. One of the favorites of the six day race in western Switzerland, late entry Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) of Spain, was third, while American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) took fourth. Prologue, Tour de Romandie
1. Frantisek Rabon (Cz), Columbia-Highroad, 3.1km in 3:45

The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) announced Tuesday it has learned that one of that country's athletes tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance at last summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing. According to a news release issued Tuesday, CONI was informed of a positive A sample and has notified the athlete of the result. Under the provisions of the World Anti-Doping Code, he or she has the option to ask that his B sample be tested to confirm the result.

It seems Lance Armstrong will meet the Gila Monster after all. The seven-time Tour de France winner and two Astana teammates will race the SRAM Tour of the Gila in Silver City, New Mexico, after USA Cycling and the UCI negotiated a compromise over the international governing body’s rules regarding UCI Pro riders’ participation in national events.

One big breakaway and a stage victory can change everything for a professional cyclist. Just ask Simon Gerrans, a fifth-year pro at Cervélo TestTeam who scored a breakthrough win in last year’s Tour de France in stage 15 to Prato Nevoso in Italy.

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Almost four years ago, someone handed me a set of synthetic brake and shifter cables, and said, “Check these out!” Until then, I’d never thought that traditional steel cables were heavy, but the feathery Power Cordz were dramatically lighter than any other cables I had used. Without any instructions (other than to wrap the cables 180 degrees around pinch bolts for the most secure attachment) I installed them on my road bike. Two years of virtually friction-free and flawless performance left me with a great impression.

Rocky Mountain and Specialized both exhibited new hardtail and full-suspension 29ers during the April 16-19 Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Raceway, while Niner frosted its extensive big-wheel cake with an array of sweet-looking rigid carbon forks.

Specialized: Straight to the podium

Any plans for Team Astana to compete in this week's SRAM Tour of the Gila appear to have been quashed by the UCI's decision to enforce a rule barring ProTour teams from competing in lower-tier events. Astana's Chris Horner told VeloNews on Monday that the team's Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong will not compete in the New Mexico race because of the UCI's stance. Armstrong spokesman Mark Higgins told VeloNews over the weekend that Armstrong would not race the Gila. Horner decided earlier this month that he couldn't do the race because of injuries.

Veteran sprinter Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) scored a sixth victory in the Historic Roswell Criterium on Sunday while relative newcomer Tom Soladay (Team Mountain Khakis) took a surprise win from a field of hardcore sprinters. The event was the second in the USA CRITS Speedweek series and the sixth on the 2009 National Racing Calendar.

The dust is still settling following Sunday’s exciting conclusion of the spring classics with Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but there’s no time for the European peloton to catch its breath. There’s a full menu of racing this week in what’s a transition between the one-day spring classics into the season’s first major grand tour, with the centenary Giro d’Italia looming in Venice on May 9.

In stark contrast to the gentle winds coming off of the Pacific Ocean just below the race course, Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) and Nikki Butterfield (Webcor Builders) both powered out of their respective fields to win bunch sprints in the Dana Point Grand Prix in the Southern California city of Dana Point on Sunday afternoon.

Andy Shleck times his attack to perfection on the Côte de la Roche aux Faucons and rides alone to victory in the 95th La Doyenne

The Little 500 in Bloomington, Indiana, has many traditions and teams that are contenders every year. There have even been what people consider dynasties in the race, such as the Delta Chi teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Out of that program came some disgruntled riders who decided to form their own independent team in 1984, calling themselves the Cutters, after the fictional team from the movie "Breaking Away." They won the race that year and the team has gone on to win eight more times since, including the past two years.

Julien Absalon (Orbea) seized the lead of the cross-country Nissan UCI Mountain Bike World Cup on Sunday after winning round two of the series in Offenburg, Germany. It was Absalon's 18th World Cup victory — a record that tops the 17 wins scored by Thomas Frischknecht — and leaves him undefeated at Offenburg. In women’s competition, Ren Chengyuan (China) took the win while Austrian Elisabeth Osl (Central Ghost Pro Team) finished fifth to retain the overall lead.

Heath Blackgrove took a surprise victory at the 30th running of the Athens Twilight Criterium Saturday in downtown Athens, Georgia. The Team Hotel San Jose rider was one of three survivors from a large breakaway late in the 80km race that refused to cooperate long enough to secure its survival to the finish. “It’s the biggest crit in America, and I’ve heard a lot of stories about it. So to win the first time doing it, with a crowd like this, is pretty special,” he said.

Garmin-Slipstream sprinter Tyler Farrar will return to racing next week after recovering from a shoulder injury that sidelined him during the spring classics. Farrar suffered an AC separation during a crash at Milan-San Remo and will race the Tour de Romandie (April 28-May 3) before a likely start at the Giro d’Italia next month. “The shoulder has healed up so I’m getting back in the game,” Farrar told VeloNews. “I’m currently down to ride the Giro, so Romandie is a way to get my legs going again before Italy.”

Ivan Basso is back in the winner’s circle for the first time since his comeback from a 16-month racing ban after claiming overall victory Saturday at the 33rd Giro del Trentino race in northern Italy. The Liquigas captain out-dueled overnight leader Janez Brajkovic (Astana) in the fourth and final stage for his first victory since he was banned for links to the Operación Puerto blood doping ring.

Big time criterium racing returns to the southeastern United States as it does every year at this time with two major events scheduled back to back in the Peach state of Georgia – Saturday’s Athens Twilight Criterium and the Historic Roswell Criterium the following day. The 30th running of the Athens Twilight Criterium will once again take place beneath the streetlights of one of the South’s biggest college towns. Because of its proximity to the University of Georgia, the crowds around the 1km course can on occasion reach the 40,000 mark.

Thus far, the 2009 Classics season has provided cycling fans plenty of drama and nail-biting finishes. Tom Boonen’s Paris-Roubaix winning escape on the Carrefour d l’Arbre cobbles, Sergei Ivanov’s cagey tactics in the final meters of the Amstel Gold Race and Davide Rebellin’s last-minute burst on the Mur de Huy stand out as key moments when the aggressor came out on top. Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège caps off the 2009 Classics season, and the question on everyone’s mind is whether tactics of attack will again prevail.

Luxembourger Frank Schleck has been cleared to start Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège after crashing hard at last week’s Amstel Gold Race. “I joined the boys for a ride down in Bastogne [today] and it’s the first day I have felt better,” Schleck said. “I have one more day to get better and I hope to make the best of it.”

The shit really hit the fan on lap number three. Some Euro with tree trunk legs and a wavy mullet charged to the front on his time trial bike and took a monster pull. Our group had swollen to more than 100 riders, and we were already chugging along at a descent clip. I knew right away that things were about to get crazy. The acceleration shredded the group just as we were barreling into a tight chicane. I focused ahead and prepared to navigate the tight s-turn. But I caught a glimpse of such a bizarre sight I had to look up. [nid:91150]

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German cycling team Telekom, later known as T-Mobile, was guilty of systematic doping between 1995 and 2006, Der Spiegel magazine claims in Monday's edition. The report, based on the conclusions of an independent inquiry, accuses former T-Mobile riders Andreas Klöden, who now rides for Astana, and Matthias Kessler, who was sacked by Astana in 2007, of using testosterone and doping products.

Price: $14 to $30 Sizes: 250 to 1000 milliliters Web site: www.cantitoeroad.com Caffelatex is a new kind of tire sealant that foams as a means to better coat the tire with sealant. The makers of Caffelatex believe their trademark "ActiFoam" causes the sealant to foam when ridden or shaken, thus completely filling the tire cavity with sealant. In turn, the foaming action should help to keep the tire beads sealed and assist in sidewall puncture prevention.

Price: $3,388 Colors: Blue, red, or white Web site: www.ridetommasini.com Tommasi introduces their new X-Fire road bike. The X-Fire uses double and triple butted Columbus XCR stainless steel to compliment its ride quality. The X-Fire is available in both stock and custom geometry. The stock geometry frames are also available in both classic and compact geometry. Tommasini recommends their carbon FKT56 fork to best suit the geometry of the X-Fire.

Katusha’s Laszlo Bodrogi is finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel following a long and painful recovery from a broken femur suffered in last August’s Tour of Germany. The Hungarian time trial specialist, winner of the silver medal at the 2007 world time trial championships, said he hopes to return to competition at the Four Days of Dunkirk on May 5-10.

Frank Schleck, the victim of a nasty crash in the Amstel Gold Race, has been cleared to start Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Saxo Bank announced Thursday that the Luxembourg national champion will line up for Liège alongside his younger brother, Andy Schleck. The pair finished third and fourth last year, respectively. Schleck was a victim of a crash late in Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, prompting him to renounce Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, where Andy Schleck finished second to Davide Rebellin (Diquigiovanni).

The French anti-doping agency (AFLD) said Friday it would not be taking disciplinary action against Astana’s Lance Armstrong for, what the agency had earlier alleged, violations of protocol during an out-of-competition test. Armstrong fell afoul of the French agency in March when he left an out-of-competition drug tester’s line of sight — a violation of World Anti-Doping Agency protocol — to take a post-training ride shower while his team manager confirmed the tester’s validity. Armstrong announced via his Twitter account, that he learned that he had been cleared.

It was the battle of the uphill sprint specialists in Friday’s third stage at the Giro del Trentino with South African Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) winning for the third time this season. Hunter had the most gas in the tank to fend off Stefano Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) to win the 160km course with a rising finishing into Innervillgraten as the four-day race dipped into Austria. Danilo Di Luca crossed the line third despite efforts by his LPR team to dominate the stage.

Disgraced Italian cyclist Dario Frigo has been handed a three-month suspended jail term by a French appeals court following his arrest during the 2005 Tour de France in relation to a doping affair. At a first court hearing in Albertville, Frigo and his wife Susanna were both given a six-month suspended jail term, and fined a total of 8,757 euros after Susanna Frigo was discovered transporting doping products in her car. The couple appealed that decision and late Thursday the appeal court handed down suspended three-month jail terms to both Frigo and his wife.

The Giro d’Italia threw a lifeline to the Spanish team, Fuji-Servetto, by including the team in this year’s corsa rosa.

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Team Columbia’s Marco Pinotti reached the line in the front group in Wednesday’s Fleche Wallone classic, finishing 40th, 54 seconds behind the winner Davide Rebellin. More importantly however for Pinotti was the sixth-place finish of his teammate, Thomas Lövkvist, who crossed the line just six seconds behind Rebellin.

Team Jamis races Edge tubular mountain bike wheels at Sea Otter

Instead of racing the Giro d’Italia, a bitter Daryl Impey is returning to his home in South Africa to recover from his horrific crash at the Tour of Turkey last weekend. Barloworld team officials said Impey — the first-year pro landed in the barriers Sunday after contact with track star Theo Bos (Rabobank) in a controversial finish-line crash that’s still creating aftershocks — will have to fly back to his native South Africa lying down in the plane. Two attendants will travel with the Tour of Turkey winner on his trip from London to South Africa.

In an exciting preview of what awaits next month in the Giro d’Italia, some of Italy’s big guns went mano-a-mano in Thursday’s summit finish at Alpi di Pampeago in the Giro del Trentino. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) walked away with neither the stage victory nor the race leader’s jersey, but he put everyone on notice that he could be the man to beat come next month.

Baseball has films such as “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural.” Football has “Rudy” and “Brian's Song.” Basketball has “Hoosiers” and … “White Men Can't Jump?” (okay, there are probably better examples than that last one.)

The Fuji-Servetto team, has been invited to race in next month's Giro d'Italia, the team announced this morning. The team also announced its long team for the event. The team will bring nine riders to the race, chosen from among: Juanjo Cobo, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Eros Capecchi, Ricardo Serrano, Jesus del Nero, Ermanno Capelli, Alberto Benitez, Iker Camano, Hector Gonzalez, Josep Jufre, Javier Megias and Angel Gomez. Other teams for this year's Giro: Organisers published the list of 22 teams for the Giro and Fuji, whose team director is Italian Alvaro Crespi, were included

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Cervélo sprinter Thor Hushovd will skip this year's Giro d'Italia to concentrate fully on his bid for stage wins and another run at the green jersey at the Tour de France in July. Hushovd, a former Tour stage winner and green points jersey recipient, had a solid spring classics season with two third places at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix and a victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

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Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) attacked inside of 200 meters remaining on the Mur de Huy and never looked back, sprinting to her third-career victory at the La Flèche Wallonne Femenine, the fourth round of the 2009 UCI World Cup. Vos out-kicked World Cup leader Emma Johanson of Sweden for the win. American Amber Neben (Nürnberger) was the top North American finisher in fourth place.

Andreas Klöden (Astana) is back in the winner’s circle for the second time this season after taking a narrow, one-second victory over teammate Janez Brajkovic in Wednesday’s opening time trial at the Giro del Trentino. Astana went one-two on a mostly flat, but technically challenging 17.5km course near Lago di Garda in northern Italy to open the four-day Trentino tour. Klöden, winner of a time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico in March, covered the course in 18 minutes, 21 seconds (53.292kph) to secure the victory and snatch the overall leader’s jersey.

There’s no secret why Davide Rebellin pointed to his head after winning his third La Flèche Wallonne title on Wednesday. The Italian veteran proved he had the legs to summit the Mur de Huy alongside the other strongmen of the Ardennes races. But it was the cagy Italian’s brains that earned him the winning margin on the slopes of the feared climb. “It might just be the best of my three wins," Rebellin said. “I've been working hard in that respect (climbing)."

Dear Readers,
A bike tech column is going to naturally gravitate toward discussing new equipment. I regularly get letters, however, extolling the virtues of a more sustainable approach with less emphasis on the latest equipment. Given that it’s Earth Day, I thought it a good time to give voice to a couple of these letters. And for Earth Day (and every day), ride your bike and avoid motorized transportation as much as you can.
Lennard

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Kristin Armstrong wants to end her long and successful career this year on a winning note. The ideal scenario would be recapturing the rainbow jersey in the world championships in September in what will be her last major competition of her career. Rather than leave the sport after winning the Olympic gold medal in the individual time trial in Beijing last summer, Armstrong made the commitment to race this year, in part, to help nurture young talent on her Cervélo TestTeam.

All eyes will be on Dutchwoman Marianne Vos at Wednesday’s La Fleche Wallonne Femenine, the women’s component of Fleche-Wallonne. Vos is the two-time defending champion of the women’s race, which this year marks the fourth round of the UCI women’s World Cup. And Vos won the last World Cup, the Ronde van Drenthe, held in her home country on April 13.

X-rays revealed Tuesday that Tom Boonen suffered a fissure in his right foot during a finish-line pileup at Scheldeprijs last week in Belgium.   Doctors ordered a 10-day rest for the recently crowned Paris-Roubaix champion, but Boonen’s injury couldn’t have come at a better time.   Considering that his first major goals of the season are already in the rear view mirror, Boonen could be philosophical about the setback.  

Price: $50 Sizes: One month supply Web site: www.intelligentendurance.com Intelligent Endurance is a new supplement producer that aims at improving athletic performance through the use their combination of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Intelligent Endurance believes that their daily serving of ten natural ingredients will help to holistically bring the mind and body together to promote endurance and help the athlete reach his or her full potential.

Price: $60 Weight: 250 to 265 grams Sizes: 700x18-23 and 700x25-32 Colors: Black, white, silver, and carbon Web site: www.sks-germany.com The new SKS Raceblade fender is a wrap-around fender made for frame and fork designs that typically prohibit the use of traditional fenders. The Raceblade mounts tightly to a bicycle's seatstays and fork blades — no eyelets necessary.

Statistics can’t quite illustrate the challenge posed by the Mur de Huy, the final climb of La Fleche Wallonne. Sure, the climb’s average gradient is 9.3 percent. The road soars up 420 feet over the course of three-quarters of a mile. One particularly nasty ramp hits 25 percent. And the climb comes at the tail end of a five-hour race.

Dutch racer Theo Bos says he feels sick about Sunday’s crash in the final kilometer of the Presidential Tour of Turkey. His crash with yellow jersey wearer Daryl Impey (Barloworld) has generated a huge amount of Internet chatter and calls for Bos to be punished for his role in it.

Luxembourg's Frank Schleck has pulled out of Wednesday's Fleche-Wallonne race and is doubtful for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege after his fall in the Amstel Gold Race, his Saxo Bank team revealed on Tuesday. Schleck was taken to hospital after falling spectacularly during the Dutch race on Sunday but was discharged shortly afterward. The 29-year-old had hoped to compete in all three Ardennes classics this season, but his team said the seriousness of his fall prompted them to take extra precautions.

Event organizers are determined to save Philadelphia's one-day classic road race, one of the most important events on the domestic calendar for nearly a quarter century, facing severe financial challenges less than seven weeks before race day. "We’re tough," Dave Chauner told VeloNews. Chauner is the co-founder of the event now titled the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championships, a race known to most in the cycling community simply as "Philly." The race is scheduled for June 7.

Beer wasn't atop my list of cravings as I inched up the Cauberg, rolled under the jumbotron and crossed the final finish line of the Amstel Gold Race cyclosportive. Pedaling 250 kilometers through Hollands hilly Limberg region had me wanting to get off my bicycle – pronto. The freezing rain that fell for the final two hours also didn't exactly put yours truly in the mood for some chilly suds. And after stuffing waffles and the sugary Euro sports drink Isostar down my pie hole for 10 hours, I craved something salty: corn chips, popcorn or frites.

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The 2010 Tour of Italy is to start from Amsterdam, the Dutch news agency ANP reported on Monday, quoting a spokeswoman for the city authorities who added a further announcement is due to be made at a news conference on Thursday. The Netherlands is already to host the start of the 2010 Tour of Spain from Assen in August and likewise Rotterdam is to host the start of next year's Tour de France.

This year’s Sea Otter Classic, like so many of its predecessors, served as a launching pad for companies looking to introduce new products. The event also maintained tradition by hosting a few funky one-off project bikes, and a few sneak peeks at products in the works. Here’s a quick look at some legitimately launched products, and a few that were mostly kept behind the curtain. Also, to get yourself in the mood, take a look at Brad Kaminski's 360-degree panoramic shot of the Sea Otter tech expo.

A one-off, 12-pound Trek

Dutch climbing specialist Robert Gesink has been forced to pull out of Wednesday's Flèche Wallonne because of a painful right knee. The 22-year-old Rabobank rider, fourth in last year's race, felt the pain towards the end of Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, in which he finished third. A subsequent scan convinced team doctors that he should have two days' complete rest and resume training on Thursday, when a decision will be taken on whether he competes in Liège-Bastogne-Liège next Sunday.

Mont Ventoux will be the top attraction of a challenging 2009 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, a favorite warm-up for Tour de France contenders. BMC snagged an important invitation to race the demanding, eight-day course across the heart of the French Alps June 7-14, which might help ease some of the team’s disappointment after being overlooked for the Tour de Suisse later that month. Race officials on Monday announced details of the 2009 route, which will have few opportunities for sprinters and plenty of challenges for riders bucking for the overall.

Even though he didn’t race this weekend, Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam), retained the top spot in the UCI world rankings. The German-Aussie sprinter headed to the beach following his impressive spring campaign and skipped Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, but he held enough of a margin to retain the lead of the updated rankings released Monday. In fact, there were no major shakeups, with the exception of Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto), who catapulted from 21st to ninth after finishing fourth in the Dutch classic.

The Ardennes classics at Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastone-Liège dominate the European racing calendar this week. Race organizers wisely get out of the way and let these two behemoths take center stage in an exciting finale to the spring classics season. In Italy, the Giro del Trentino serves as a preview of who’s on form for the upcoming Giro d’Italia while the women’s World Cup continues with the Flèche Wallonne Féminine on Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 22

What is one to make of a season that has involved multiple crashes while also riding on the best form of a near 20-year professional career? If you’re Chris Horner, you look at the glass half full. The always-smiling Horner, the number-three American on an all-star Astana team that also features Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, departed the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this month after a crash sent him flying over his handlebar and sliding under a guardrail, injuring his right shoulder.

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It wasn’t a move meant to last, but when Scott Nydam, of BMC Racing, rolled across the line to win the Tour of the Battenkill pro men’s Invitational following a 112-mile breakaway — about half of it solo — the rider from Sebastopol, California, said the victory was a long time coming. “Five months of training and a lot of preparation went into this,” Nydam said. “It all came out today.”

Rock Racing on Sunday confirmed it had fired Michael Creed, Caesar Grajales and Chris Baldwin. Team owner Michael Ball said the move was made to save money.

Cross-country world champion Christoph Sauser seldom races in the United States, but he made the long trip from South Africa, site of the 2009 UCI World Cup kickoff, to tackle the short track and cross country at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California. That team sponsor Specialized Bicycles sits just up the road in Morgan Hill likely influenced his travel plans.