Road

Bissell’s Paul Mach and Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte) held off final-stage challenges to lock up overall victories in Oregon’s Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic on Sunday. In the women’s race, Pitel ensured her victory over ValueAct Capital’s Leah Goldberg by winning Sunday’s Downtown Hood River Criterium. Similarly, in the men’s event, Chris Baldwin (OUCH-Maxxis) wasn’t able to fight past Bissell’s superior numbers to pull back 13 seconds from Mach, who won the overall GC on the time he gained in the first stage.

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There’s no stopping Team Columbia-Highroad’s blond German sprinter André Greipel. He has won race after race since he returned from the injured list a month ago. After a stage win at the Four Days of Dunkirk on May 10, three stages of the Tour of Bavaria in late May, and Germany’s Neuseen Classic last week, he made it six wins in four weeks on Sunday afternoon by taking the 25th anniversary edition of the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship.

It was double delight for Saxo Bank on Sunday in the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg as Matti Breschel dashed to a stage victory and Fränk Schleck wrapped up the overall. Breschel’s win made it three straight stage victories and the top prize as Saxo Bank dominated the five-day Luxembourg tour and held off a challenge from Andreas Klöden (Astana). Andy Schleck won Friday’s attack-riddled stage, winning an eight-up sprint that put Kazakh rider Assan Bazayev (Astana) into the leader’s jersey.

Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) powered to a morale-boosting time trial victory Sunday against archrival Alberto Contador (Astana) to open the 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Evans covered the technical, 12km course in Nancy in 15 minutes, 36.64 seconds, posting the best time on a steep climb at 3km and then holding off Contador by eight seconds to win the stage and claim the leader’s jersey at the eight-day Dauphiné.

It all looked so easy for Team Columbia-Highroad’s Ina Teutenberg as she sped along Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway Sunday morning to win her third TD Bank Liberty Classic. At the line, the veteran German sprinter was two lengths clear of New Zealander Joanne Kiesanowski (Team Tibco) and the top American, third-placed Shelley Olds (Proman Hit Squad), at the head of a 12-strong breakaway group.

Three top riders on the Katusha cycling team are refusing to comply with new internal anti-doping rules imposed by the Russian-backed program, a team official said on Sunday. The trio who are refusing to sign contracts including the new conditions are Australian Robbie McEwen and Belgians Gert Steegmans and Kenny De Haes, Katusha's sporting director Serge Parsani told Agence France Presse. Under the stringent new conditions, racers testing positive would have to pay a fine amounting to five times their annual salary.

With more than 10,000 feet of climbing on tap, the 92-mile Wy’East Road Race was supposed be the day for riders to shake up the overall GC of the 2009 Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. But little changed in the overall after stage 3 as OUCH-Maxxis rider Chris Baldwin, who started the day 15 seconds down on race leader Paul Mach, failed to detach the Bissell rider from his wheel after several blistering attacks in the final kilometers. Trek-Red Truck’s Rob Britton won the stage in 4:07:31, just one second ahead of Baldwin and Mach.

Fuji-Servetto sprinter Ivan Dominguez will race the TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship aboard a prototype 2010 Fuji SST bike. Fuji has only produced five such frames, and Dominguez is giving the company final feedback before it begins full production for the 2010 model year line. The 2010 SST represents an evolution of the 2009 model, with the most obvious differences being the integrated carbon seatmast instead of a seatpost, and a 1.5-inch lower headset instead of the 1 1/8-inch version.

BMC lines up Sunday for the 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in what will arguably be the team's most important stage race since its inception. A seven-man squad begins the grueling eight-day stage across the French Alps with high hopes of putting a man in the top-10 overall and making a strong impression against the top ProTour squads.

Bernard Hinault never had the reputation of guarding his tongue when he ruled the peloton as the patron. Now 54, it’s obvious some things haven’t changed. Le Blaireau — the Badger — didn’t hold back when he fielded questions during a presentation this week in Montereau, the starting village of the final stage of the 2009 Tour de France. The last French winner of the Tour had an opinion on just about everything, and didn’t hold back when it came to criticizing the current state of the French peloton.

Everyone is calling him the pre-race favorite for victory at next week’s Dauphiné Libéré, but Alberto Contador isn’t buying into it. The Spanish climber insists he wants to use the eight-day French race across the Alps – which opens Sunday with an individual time trial in Nancy -- as a trampoline for success in the Tour de France in July.

It doesn’t seem possible that Edvald Boasson Hagen, the budding superstar at Columbia-Highroad and favorite to win this Sunday’s TD Bank Philadelphia International Championship, wasn’t even born when Eric Heiden won the inaugural edition of the 156-mile race in June 1985.

The infamous Columbia River Gorge winds whipped themselves into a frenzy Friday and tried to whip the riders as well in the stage 2 time trial at the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic. OUCH-Maxxis' newest rider, Chris Baldwin, nipped race leader Paul Mach (Bissell), tightening the GC battle with two stages left. The women's race is also very tight with prologue winner leader Edwige Pitel (Sorella Forte) winning the stage and taking back the leader's jersey. Three-time Mt. Hood victor Leah Goldstein now sits in second just two seconds back.

Spain's Alberto Contador on Friday said that he considers Astana teammate and Tour de France rival Lance Armstrong as "just another member of the team." Contador said relations between the two men are cordial. "We've not seen each other a huge amount since the start of the season," said the 26-year-old, who was speaking before the start of the Criterium Dauphine Libere, which starts on Sunday. "Two or three days in California, two or three days in Tenerife and one day at the Tour of Castilla y Leon. It's not much, especially as we are not the

Native son Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) scored a stage victory in the Tour de Luxembourg Sunday, while Astana's Assan Bazayev took over the leader's jersey. The younger of Saxo's Schleck brothers took the sprint ahead of his teammate Matti Breschel and Aitor Galdos of Euskaltel-Euskadi. The three were part of a 15-rider break that formed about 12 kilometers before the finish. The break included Bazayev, who was sixth on the stage, at the same time as Schleck.

Astana has yet to pay a bank guarantee on which their racing future depends, manager Johan Bruyneel said Friday. "The problem has not yet been sorted," Bruyneel told AFP regarding pending payments due from the Kazakh cycling federation, the team's owner. In midweek, the UCI said the team had provided financial guarantees which would allowing Astana to retain their license. But Bruyneel explained there were still loose ends to tie up. "The bank guarantee which was incomplete has been reconstituted, that is

The 61st Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré clicks into gear this weekend in the traditional dress rehearsal ahead of the Tour de France with a highly anticipated duel between Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans. While many eyes will be on those two for a glimpse of bigger things to come in July, the outright battle for overall victory should be wide open, with such names as Ivan Basso, Igor Anton, Robert Gesink, ambitious French riders such as Rémy Di Gregorio and Pierre Rolland lining up in one of the most competitive fields in years.

Former Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong became a father for the fourth time late Thursday. Armstrong, who recently returned from competition at the Giro d’Italia, arrived in Aspen, Colorado, earlier this week to join his girlfriend Anna Hansen in time for the birth of a seven-pound-five-ounce son, named Max. Armstrong announced last December that he and Hansen were expecting their first child together. Armstrong also has three children with his former wife Kristin.

One day after just missing the top podium spot in the prologue of the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic, the Bissell Cycling Team stomped its way to a one-two finish in the Cooper Spur Circuit Race, capitalizing on time bonuses to claim the top two GC spots as well. Bissell’s Paul Mach surged away from the lead group with just a few kilometers remaining and took the 85-mile race’s top prize. Mach’s teammate Morgan Schmitt crossed the line second after momentarily catching Mach on the finishing pitch. California Giant-Specialized rider Justin England finished third.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on a recent conversation with Tejay Van Garderen. It was conducted before Van Garderen suffered a crash with an automobile while training in Lucca, Italy on Thursday. The American, who was descending a narrow road, averted a head-on collision with the car, which was driving up the hill, but his training bike was destroyed in the crash. Van Garderen was taken to a local hospital but suffered only minor scrapes and bruises in the encounter.

PRESS RELEASE

Katusha's Danilo Napolitano won the first stage of the Tour de Luxembourg on Thursday, winning a field sprint at the end of the 157km race from Luxembourg to Mondorf-les-Bains. Switzerland's Gregory Rast of Astana, the winner of Wednesday's prologue, retained the overall leader's jersey, two seconds ahead of Jonathan Hivert (Skil-Shimano).

The French team Cofidis will continue into the 2010 season, extending the team’s life for at least one more year. Cofidis, which began in 1997, is one of the oldest sponsors in the peloton. The French credit company was considering ending its long-running sponsorship at the end of this season, but decided to back the team for at least one more year. “The adventure continues,” team manager Eric Boyer told AFP.

Alberto Contador returns to competition this weekend for the first time since April to race the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in France, where he will line up as the pre-race favorite.

After a busy spring, the Spanish climber enjoyed a brief resting period and then recently did some hard efforts during recon missions of some of the key Tour stages in the Alps and Pyrénées.

Oregon’s Pacific Power Mt. Hood Cycling Classic swung into action with the Panorama Point prologue time trial on Wednesday. Warp9bikes.com-Tristar’s Mike Olheiser made the team’s trip from Alabama to the Northwest worthwhile by taking the 3.1-mile race ahead of Paul Mach (Bissell Cycling Team) and Chris Baldwin, who signed with OUCH-Maxxis just in time to race Mt. Hood. Olheiser covered the course with a time of 6:12.63. Mach, meanwhile, nipped Baldwin, clocking in at 6:14.47, a tenth of a second better than Baldwin's 6:14.57.

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Grégory Rast (Astana) carved out his first victory on the 2009 season in Wednesday’s prologue at the 69th Tour of Luxembourg on a technical, 2.7km course in the streets of the capital. Rast – a winner of the Luxembourg tour in 2007 – covered the course in 3 minutes, 48 seconds to claim the opener of the five-day race. Stopping the clock for second was Jonathan Hivert (Skil-Shimano) at two seconds slower with Romain Feillu (Agritubel) third at four seconds adrift.

I’m back. After my last fit session, I rode several times with my new saddle, new pedals and new position. I felt good, but I was still feeling that all-too-familiar burning sensation after about 90 minutes of recovery-pace riding. I was beginning to get really frustrated. I thought that I had plateaued and really wasn’t making any improvements. I decided to take a few weeks off the bike; the decision was partially my own, and partially dictated by my schedule — final exams were coming up and I really had no time to do anything but grade my students’ work.

The Astana team has passed a sort of financial stress test by the UCI, which said Wednesday that the team could continue to hold its ProTour license and compete in upcoming events. Astana secured a bank guarantee in time to meet a deadline of midnight Tuesday. The UCI said Astana could start the Tour of Luxembourg, which begins Wednesday evening with a prologue time trial. "The UCI has verified that Astana has fulfilled the conditions," the organisation said in a statement, one of those conditions being the fulfillment of outstanding sponsorship contracts.

Editor’s note: The Clothesline is new column about clothing, shoes, helmets and other cycling accessories. Perhaps the most personal of gear choices, clothing testing is subjective. Two riders can try the same jersey or helmet and come back with completely different opinions. With that in mind, we will try to get at least two editors sampling a product for a few weeks before reporting back on the fit and features. We hope you find it helpful. If it’s true that no two fingerprints are the same, is it fair to say that no two, um, butts are the same?

After finding great success with the compact road crank design it debuted in the 2002 Tour de France under Ivan Basso, FSA is pushing the concept to the mountain bike market. Carbon and alloy double-ring cranksets for off-road are among the new 2010 offerings from the company with headquarters in Italy, Washington and Taiwan. FSA is also expanding on the Vision line it acquired in 2004, positioning it as a road and triathlon brand with wheels, aerobars and more.

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This spring VeloNews' Senior Writer Fred Dreier and photographer Casey B. Gibson spent a lot of time at the USA Cycling development program's center in Izegem, Belgium. The two hung out with the young riders at the Belgium house that is the program's heart, as the riders ate, trained, raced, and met with their coaches. Dreier's article, illustrated by Gibson's photos, appears in the July issue of VeloNews, which went on sale on newsstands this week. Today Gibson is sharing some of the photos that did not make it into the magazine.

Sprint finishes decided both the men’s and women’s professional events at Sunday’s Bump N’ Grind cross-country race, held at Oak Mountain state park in Pelham, Alabama. The event was the third round of the 2009 USA Cycling Pro Cross-country tour (ProXCT), and the second round of the Kenda Cup East. In the men’s race, Australian rider Sid Taberlay (Sho Air-Specialized) out kicked Coloradan Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Subaru-Gary Fisher). Luna teammates Georgia Gould and Catherine Pendrel went toe-to-toe in the women’s event, with Pendrel coming out on top.

Denis Menchov vaulted to the top of the UCI World Rankings this week, a position he owes entirely to his performance at the Giro d'Italia.

Colavita's Argentinean sprinter Sebastian Haedo has moved up from eighth to second on the latest National Racing Calendar individual rankings. Defending NRC champ Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) remains in first place in the rankings, thanks to his win at the Joe Martin Stage Race and several stage wins and stage podiums this season.

Fresh off the Madrid World Cup course, and ready for travel to Alabama and the Bump n’ Grind cross country race last week, Subaru-Gary Fisher team rider Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski’s Superfly 29er hardtail has a new look.

As Carlos Sastre charged away on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, several Italians gathered around a TV in a small café just paces away from the Sanctuary of Ghisallo, the tiny church for the patron saint of cyclists in Magreglio. Pope Pius XII officially gave the Madonna of Ghisallo the title in 1949, and today the hilltop shrine in northern Italy — smack on the Tour of Lombardy course — serves as a shrine to cycling greats, past and present.

Chris Baldwin, a top domestic climber and stage racer, with start this week's Mt. Hood Classic with the OUCH-Maxxis team. Baldwin was fired by Rock Racing earlier this year, then re-hired just prior to the SRAM Tour of the Gila, where he raced with one teammate and no team support, finishing sixth overall. The OUCH team announced Tuesday that he had signed with them for the remainder of the season.

Belgian cyclist Tom Boonen still hopes to ride in the Tour de France in July, contradicting officials who said he would not race after he tested positive for cocaine earlier this year. "I hope to take part in the Tour and we are attempting to reach agreement with the organizers as we want to avoid legal proceedings," the 28-year-old told reporters at a cycling festival at Gullegem in Belgium on Tuesday.

Everyone's favorite 1965 Charlton Heston film, in which he stars as Michelangelo tirelessly painting 12,000 square feet of the Sistine Chapel, takes place in the Vatican City.

Can I use a Campy 11-speed shifter with a 10-speed cassette?

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Uvex, a leader in cycling helmets in Europe, is not well known in the United States. But the German brand hopes to change that through a new distribution agreement with Magura USA. I had a chance to try the Uvex FP1 Race helmet, the same lid as worn by sprinter Mark Cavendish and his Columbia-Highroad teammates. It’s exceptionally light, fits well, is very comfortable, has passable ventilation and is noticeably lighter than most other helmets I’ve worn.

Why do my vintage Campy shifters not shift well?

Why does my vintage Campagnolo drivetrain shift on its own?

Why does my Campagnolo hub have only eight ball bearings?

Mountain Khaki's Daniel Ramsey didn’t think much of his chances in a field sprint in Sunday’s Riverview Criterium. So he attacked with five laps to go in the NRC event and held off a hard-charging field to win ahead of Rahsaan Bahati (Rock Racing) and Bernard Sulzberger (Fly V Australia). "I just went off of instinct," said Ramsey after winning the third round of Oklahoma’s Tulsa Tough criterium series. "I don't think I've ever placed top 20 in a field sprint before, so my best option was to attack.”

British rider Mark Cavendish wants to make amends for his premature exit from last year's Tour de France by claiming the green sprint jersey in Paris next month. Cavendish pulled out of the 2008 Tour after the 14th stage after four stage wins because of a combination of fatigue and his desire to concentrate on the Beijing Olympics. But the 24-year-old Columbia-Highroad sprinter regrets that decision and wants to become only the second cyclist from Great Britain to win a jersey in the Tour following the King of the Mountains title won by Scot Robert Millar in 1984.

Editor's Note:Jeremy Powers is a pro road racer with the Jelly Belly team, and races cyclocross for the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com team. Powers provided VeloNews.com readers with an inside look at the cyclocross scene last fall and winter, and now, after a few months' vacation, he's back to provide a look at his season on the road. Last time you heard from me I was finishing up my cyclocross season in Belgium, trying to conquer the world championships.

Editor's note: VeloNews Technical Editor Zack Vestal visited Zipp Speed Weaponry's Indiana factory this spring and reported on the company's history in part 1 of this article. In part 2, Vestal gets behind some of the company's philosophy and practices in product development and production.

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Rather than aiming for a win, Shawn Milne (Team Type 1) started Sunday’s U.S. Air Force Classic in Arlington, Virginia, planning to spend the day working for his team’s sprinters, Kenneth Hanson, who’d been second at the Clarendon Cup the day before, and Serbian Aldo Ino Ilesic. A few laps of the 7.8 mile circuit later, he wasn’t sure he could even do that. But by race’s end, it was Milne throwing his hands up at the line.

After racing from the north to the south to the center of the boot, we finally reached Rome and completed the last fourteen kilometers of the Giro. In the flamboyant, dramatic fashion that we have now become accustomed to after three weeks of racing in the circus, we whizzed by Rome’s historical sites, snaked through the cobbled city streets and, finally, turned our last pedal strokes in front of the coliseum. The course provided drama for the television audience but also put many riders on edge due to its technical aspects.

Lance Armstrong said his 12th-placed finish in the Giro d'Italia was "promising" ahead of this year's Tour de France. Armstrong came into the Giro insisting that he was not there to contest for the win. "I came in open-minded. I did not know what to expect, obviously because of the crash in Castilla y Leon, the time off the bike and the trip over here," Armstrong said. "In my view it has been a hard three weeks. In the second half of the race I showed that I was certainly getting better and I think we can take that away from here. It is promising for June and July."

American Taylor Phinney (Trek-Livestrong) won the Paris-Roubaix Espoirs on Sunday, emerging first from a group of 11 that entered the Roubaix velodrome together. Phinney, 18, becomes the first American to win the race for riders under 23. The 170km race has been held since 1967 and has been won by budding professionals including Yaroslav Popovych, Thor Hushovd, Stephen Roche and Frédéric Moncassin.

Rabobank's Lars Boom finished second in the final time trial of the Tour of Belgium Sunday to clinch the final overall victory. Quick Step's Sébastien Rosseler won the stage in 20:53, followed by Boom at six seconds. Brent Bookwalter (BMC) was the top American on the stage and overall, coming in 13th at 41 seconds in the final stage, and 19th on the GC. Boom, 23, said he hasn't raced much since the end of cyclocross season. He was the 2008 cyclocross world champion.

Race leader Denis Menchov won the Giro d’Italia on Sunday despite suffering a fall in the last kilometer of the final stage, a 14.4km time trial through Rome. Menchov, now the third Russian to win the Giro, added the title to his two Vuelta a España victories in 2005 and 2007. The 31-year-old Menchov beat 2007 Giro champion Danilo Di Luca (LPR) by 41 seconds over the course of the three-week tour, with Liquigas’ Franco Pellizzoti rounding off the podium finishers a further 1:18 adrift.

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Tulsa, Oklahoma, has everything you’d want in a National Racing Calendar criterium series: historic downtown districts filled with old brick buildings and freshly paved streets; immense amounts of prize money (making the event the second highest pro payout in the nation); and lax open container laws, leading to an especially enthusiastic local fan base.

Alejandro Borrajo (Colavita-Sutter Home) nipped Kenneth Hanson (Team Type 1) by just inches to win the U.S. Air Force Clarendon Cup criterium in Arlington, Virginia, on Saturday, extending the squad’s ownership of the title after Luca Damiani’s win last year (when the race was known as the CSC Invitational). In the women's race, BMW Bianchi's Erica Allar showed how to race without a team, taking a last-lap flyer that paid off.

Britain's Emma Pooley (Cervelo TestTeam) won in a solo break in Saturday's women's World Cup road race in Montreal, finishing 1 minute, 14 seconds ahead of the pursuers. Pooley attacked on the first of 11 laps through the city and rode alone for most of the 110.7km race. Sweden's Emma Johansson (Red Sun Cycling Team) took the field sprint for second, and Germany's Trixi Worrack (Nurnberger Versicherung) was third. Johannsson also took over the lead of the World Cup rankings. The previous leader, Holland's Marianne Vos, did not race.

Belgium's Bert De Waele (Landbouwkrediet - Colnago) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Belgium in a sprint Saturday, finishing ahead of compatriot Greg van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) and Dutchman Lars Boom (Rabobank), the new overall leader. Boom is the Dutch national road and time trial champion, as well as the 2008 world cyclocross champion. He took the black leader's jersey from Slovenian rider Borut Bozic, who couldn't keep pace with the leading pack over the race's many picturesque peaks in south-east Belgium.

As the Giro d’Italia winds down, the troubled Kazakh-backed Astana team still isn’t sure it will be racing the Tour de France in July. The financial woes that have left portions of riders’ salaries unpaid are closer to being resolved, but UCI president Pat McQuaid said team sponsors must meet a Sunday deadline or risk suspension.

Philippe Gilbert finally notched a stage win for the Silence-Lotto squad on Saturday, sprinting to victory in the 20th stage of the centenary Giro d’Italia. Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes) continued their battle over the maglia rosa, but the cagey Russian held onto the race lead — actually padding it with two bonus seconds poached from his rival at an intermediate sprint going into Sunday’s finale, a 14.4km time trial through the streets of Rome.

Frenchman Kevin Sireau set a new cycling world record at the 200m flying start distance at the Moscow Grand Prix on Friday. Sireau clocked 9.650 seconds, beating the previous record time of 9.772 seconds, which Theo Bos of the Netherlands set on December 16, 2006 at the UCI World Cup likewise at the same Moscow track. Another Frenchman, Gregory Bauge, also beat Bos' old result with a 9.654 second performance but failed to overcome his compatriot's new record mark.

Slovenia's Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) won the third stage of the Tour of Belgium (Ronde van België) on Friday to retain the overall race lead. Bozic followed up on Thursday's stage success to edge out Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and Belgian Kristof Goddaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) in a sprint for the line. He extended his lead over stage 1 winner Sergei Ivanov (Katusha) to 14 seconds, with Australian Graeme Brown (Rabobank) another second adrift. American Brent Bookwalter (BMC) is in 11th on the GC. His teammate Jeffrey Louder is 94th and Ian McKissick is in 121st after three stages.

Naples, Italy —  At the stage start, the town’s square has been invaded by the race. The announcer belts out riders’ names, introducing them as they sign in on the podium set up in the center of the square. The amplified voices reverberate against the ancient buildings where people gaze at us, the show, from their balconies. Pop music plays over a sound system at a little lower volume than the announcers’ voice. Crowds of spectators, lining the periphery of the square, cheer as each rider is introduced. Pink is abundant.

After the 60.6km individual time trial (ITT) on the extremely challenging course above the Cinque Terre last week, the 14.4km ITT in downtown Rome this Sunday will be a walk in the park – or a ride in a museum. But while it won’t be a climbing, swooping and winding roller coaster ride like the course to Riomaggiore, this one will be spectacular in its own way.

Danilo Di Luca keeps chipping away at Denis Menchov’s grip on the maglia rosa, but he keeps running out of asphalt. And now he’s running out of time. Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam) climbed to his second sublime stage victory Friday in the 164km 19th stage, ending atop the brooding Mont Vesuvius. But all eyes were on the showdown between Menchov and his slender 26-second advantage to Di Luca.

Video: Lance Armstrong interviews Ted King at the 2009 Giro

The sporting world's top court on Friday doubled a one-year ban on Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli for doping, ruling in favor of the UCI, which had sought a tougher sanction than the one originally handed out by her national federation. CAS ruled in favor of the UCI, noting that Bastianelli's positive test was "attributable to her own fault and negligence, which in the circumstances, is significant." The three-member panel ruled that she should serve a two-year ban starting from July 5, 2008.

Australia's Michael Rogers has lurked near the top of the Giro standings all month, and currently sits seventh, just over 7 minutes behind race leader Denis Menchov. His hopes for a podium spot are over, but a top performance in Sunday's time trial finale could help the rider leave Italy on the upswing. For the final-hour showdown in front of the Roman coliseum, Rogers is expected to pull out an ace in the hole: the new Scott Plasma 3 time trial bike.

Australian sprint star Robbie McEwen has ruled himself out of taking part in the Tour de France after undergoing surgery on a fractured tibia. The 36-year-old Katusha rider underwent surgery on Thursday after suffering a heavy fall on the second stage of the Tour of Belgium in Knokke-Heist. "I had an accident today in tour of Belgium, broke my tibia," McEwen said on his Twitter account late Thursday. "Operation, two screws in it. Luckily the tendon is ok. Hit a barrier. "Thanks everyone for your support. I promise you this, I will be back."

Six top collegiate women racers will race as an All-Star team at the Nature Valley Grand Prix next month, continuing a three-year old program that has helped nurture several professional careers. The women were chosen based on the final omnium results at the collegiate road nationals in Fort Colllins, Colorado, earlier this month. Women who are not members of a professional or elite amateur team were eligible.

With 18 stages now logged in the books at this year's Giro d'Italia I'm finding my creative juices running a bit dry. After the last rest day, this final week is slightly strange since it's only five race days and features yesterday's mere 83km stage and Sunday's concluding 15km time trial. So it's tough not to peek towards the light at the end of the tunnel, but like a good grand tour rookie, I'm still taking it just one day at a time.

Australian Robbie McEwen will likely be unable to start the Tour de France after he suffered a heavy fall at the Tour of Belgium on Thursday. “Now Robbie is in the hospital. His knee joint is OK, but he cut his ligaments under his left knee and the doctors are rebuilding it. It’s almost impossible his participation at the Tour de France," a team statement said. "Robbie hit a tub of flowers and fell. He went off to hospital for analysis, said the racer's sporting director Jef Braeckevelt.