Call it the hot potato leader’s jersey. Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) became the seventh rider in nine days of racing to hold the golden jersey at the 63rd Vuelta a España. Astana might have had the jersey when it started Monday’s 200.8km ninth stage across the southern flanks of the Pyrénées, but it sure didn’t want to have it when the race arrived in Sabiñánigo some five hours later.
Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement next year to compete in five road races with the Astana team, according to sources familiar with the developing situation. Armstrong, who turns 37 this month, will compete in the Amgen Tour of California, Paris-Nice, the Tour de Georgia, the Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour de France — and will race for neither salary nor bonuses, the sources, who asked to remain anonymous, told VeloNews. Armstrong's manager, Mark Higgins, did not respond to questions. And an Astana spokesman denied the report to The Associated Press.
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American veteran Bobby Julich, a former podium finisher at the Tour de France, has announced the end to his 15-year professional career. Julich relaunched his career with the CSC team of former 1996 Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis in 2004, and could now join the team on a coaching/managerial basis. "I have had a long career as a professional cyclist and it has been an honor to be part of a team like Team CSC for the last five years," said Julich, who followed his Olympic time trial bronze medal in 2004 with a strong 2005 season.
Bernhard Kohl, the Austrian chimneysweep who rode to a surprising third place in the Tour de France this year, has signed a contract with the Silence-Lotto team of Tour runner-up Cadel Evans. Kohl, who also won the climber’s jersey at the Tour, is currently a member of the German Gerolsteiner team, which is closing its doors at the end of the season.
to VeloNews.com's Live Cverage of the eighth stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 151 race from Andorra to a mountain-tip finish at Pla de Beret.
The 63rd Vuelta a España might look like it’s still a close race after rolling out of two hard days in the Pyrénées. Sure, David Moncoutie (Cofidis) won a well-deserved comeback stage victory out of an all-day, five-man breakaway and Levi Leipheimer (Astana) recaptured the race leader’s jersey at the end of Sunday’s 151km eighth stage to Pla de Beret. And, yes, it still looks tight on paper, with the GC stacked with seven riders within less than three minutes of the lead.
Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes-Ballan) opened The Tour of Britain on Sunday with an exciting sprint finish in the shadow of Big Ben, holding off Rob Hayles (Great Britain) and Magnus Backstedt (Garmin-Chipotle) to take victory in London. The rain relented long enough to allow the peloton to attack the 10-lap, 86km circuit in relatively dry conditions in front of an estimated crowd of more than 100,000.
Ukrainian Yuri Metlushenko (Amore e Vita-McDonalds) won his second North American sprint finish of 2008 on Sunday, pulling away from the field in the final 200 meters to take the Univest Criterium of Doylestown in Pennsylvania. Jake Keough (Kelly Benefits Strategies-Medifast) took second with Yosvany Falcon (Toshiba-Santo) third, and Swede Frederik Ericcson (Cykelcity.se.-Klehr Harrison) claimed the overall omnium championship to provide a truly international finish to the 11th annual Univest Grand Prix.
Silence-Lotto’s Robbie McEwen advanced Australia fair by winning the 213.7km Cyclassics ProTour event ahead of compatriots Mark Renshaw and Allan Davis as the green and gold ruled in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday. The day after Germany's Linus Gerdemann (Gerolsteiner) won the Tour of Germany, Silence Lotto's McEwen stole the show from the local professional riders as Australian riders did a 1-2-3 in Hamburg to win the 13th edition of the Cyclassics event.
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the seventh stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 223.2-kilometer race from Barbastro to a mountain-top finish at Naturlandia, atop La Rabassa in Andorra.
Garmin-Chipotle’s Lucas Euser rode to an epic victory in Saturday’s Univest Grand Prix in Pennsylvania, relying on a dominant team performance that drove the outcome of the race every bit as much as the soggy remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna. After nearly four hours in Hanna’s rain, Euser attacked breakaway companion Frederik Ericsson (CykelCity) in a blinding downpour and near-darkness to secure his first professional victory.
Saturday is the last dealer day at the Eurobike show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This is arguably not only the biggest but also the most important bike show in the world.
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) was close all season in races he was expected to win: third in Paris-Roubaix and second in Monte Paschi Eroica and GP Ouest France-Plouay. With the 63rd Vuelta a España’s tackling its first summit finish, everyone expected the Spanish mountain goats to take over -- and no one expected Ballan. But it was the classics head-banger who delivered the surprise victory through pouring rain and cold and snuck away with the leader’s jersey as an added bonus.
Brendan Cornett (Cyclemania) found a clean line through the final corner and brought it up the short, steep finish climb to win the Topsfield road race in Massachusetts on Saturday. Second place went to Ciaran Mangan (CCB/Volkswagen). Third spot was Brad Sheehan. The race is held on a challenging 4.25 mile scenic loop on very narrow stone wall-lined New England roads. The rain held off for the race, although there was heavy rain before and after the rain associated with hurricane Hannah.
As the organizer of the third of the world’s three grand tours, Victor Cordero spotted a unique opportunity to turn the 2008 Vuelta a Espana into something special when Spaniard Alberto Contador won this year’s Giro d’Italia.
I’d like to tell you that this week’s headline refers to a late-summer triumph here on the ultra-competitive Boulder road racing circuit, but I can’t. No mountain bike wins either. Not even a lotto scratch ticket.
Garmin-Chipotle’s Will Frischkorn returns to Souderton, Pennsylvania, this weekend to defend his title at the Univest Grand Prix, lining up against a top field of domestic and international teams in a race that has grown to be one of the country’s largest. The weekend features Saturday’s tough 100-mile road race, which courses through the rolling countryside of Bucks and Montgomery counties before the uphill finish in Souderton, and continues on Sunday with the fast, tactical Univest Criterium of Doylestown.
The Eurobike show started on Thursday in Friedrichshafen, Germany, and it is a huge show. Here are a few interesting shots from Day 1.
Carlos Sastre couldn’t put it off anymore. Despite his hope to ride the Vuelta a España without any unnecessary distractions, the rumor mill of where the 2008 Tour de France champion was going to land in 2009 was turning into just that. To end the growing media circus, Sastre confirmed what many already knew. After seven years racing under the tutelage of Bjarne Riis and Team CSC, Sastre will join the start-up Cervélo Test Team for 2009.
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 150.1-kilometer race from Ciudad Real to Toledo.
Americans captured four medals and one world title last weekend at the 2008 UCI masters road world championships in St. Johaan, Austria. Kenny Fuller of Corona del Mar, California won the world title in the men’s 60-64 time trial to lead the U.S. medal performances. Fuller clocked a winning time of 26:6.62 seconds over the 20-kilometer course to finish 2.46 seconds up on silver medalist Kare Christoffersen of Norway.
How happy was Paolo Bettini after ripping across the finish ahead of Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) victorious in Thursday's sixth stage at the Vuelta a España? The two-time reigning world champion pumped both arms in the air, then his fist and before yelling something very Italian that might not be printable, even on the Web. Ever since 2005, Bettini's used the Vuelta as a trampoline for success at the world championships. He's won at least one stage in each Vuelta since then and won back-to-back rainbow jerseys in 2006-07.
Felt Bicycles has extended its sponsorship of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 until 2011. Under the extension, Team Garmin-Chipotle will race exclusively on Felt’s framesets for the next three years, including Felt models F1, Z1, AR and DA in 2009.
The Eurobike show starts Thursday in Friedrichshafen, Germany, but I wandered around during setup yesterday and collected some photos. The show goes through Saturday for dealers, and Sunday is open to the public. I’m here through Saturday morning; I fly home on Sunday in order to accompany 100 middle-schoolers to Moab on Monday for a week of mountain biking.
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the fifth stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 42.5 individual time trial at Ciudad Real.
On Sunday, three-time Italian time trial champion Marco Pinotti won the Tour of Ireland with a solo attack in the last 10k of the stage. The textbook attack was setup by his Columbia teammate Michael Barry, who was caught leading into the final circuit in Cork.
The career plans of Carlos Sastre were the subject of widespread speculation Wednesday, as the reigning Tour de France champion was linked to both the new Russian team Katusha and Canada’s Cervelo squad. The 33-year-old, whose contract with CSC expires at year's end, was reported to have signed a two-year deal with Katusha. That team, financed by a group of Russian companies, which has also recently snapped up Australian Robbie McEwen, Belgian Gert Steegmans and Italian Filippo Pozzato. Sastre, however, dismissed the report as speculation.
Back in 2001, Levi Leipheimer became the only American to stand on the Vuelta a España podium with a breakout third-place finish that announced his arrival to the elite levels of the sport. Flash forward to Wednesday’s 42.5km individual time trial on the flat, wide-open roads around Cuidad Real and Leipheimer made more history at the Vuelta. Following a fabulous come-from-behind victory, Leipheimer becomes the fifth American to win a Vuelta stage and just the second to wear the leader’s jersey.
It’s the “Tour de France” for the Under-23 crowd. The 45th Tour de l’Avenir clicks into gear Friday with an opening prologue followed by nine days of racing on a course that slices straight south across France toward the Pyrénées. Nineteen teams of six riders aged from 19 to 22 for a total of 114 riders will fight for the honors in the most prestigious U23 race on the calendar. Former winners include the likes of Felice Gimondi, Joop Zoetemelk and Greg LeMond, so success in the Avenir typically bodes well for a strong career in the pro ranks.
1. Aurélien Clerc, Bouygues Telecom, starts at 1:41 p.m.
2. Oscar Gatto, Gerolsteiner, starts at 1:42 p.m.
3. Stef Clement, Bouygues Telecom, starts at 1:43 p.m.
4. Cyril Lemoine, Credit Agricole, starts at 1:44 p.m.
5. Kevin Van Impe, Quick Step, starts at 1:45 p.m.
6. Ivan Santaromita, Liquigas, starts at 1:46 p.m.
7. Volodymyr Diudia, Team Milram, starts at 1:47 p.m.
8. Fco. José Martinez Perez, Andalucia-Cajasur, starts at 1:48 p.m.
9. Mikhail Ignatiev, Tinkoff Credit Systems, starts at 1:49 p.m.
10.
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the fourth stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 170.3-kilometer race from Cordoba to Puertollano.
This time there were no late climbs or rising finishes. Tuesday’s flat and treacherous arrival into Puertollano in the fourth stage of the Vuelta a España was a flat, fast and furious finish ideal for the pure sprinters. So it was no surprise that Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) made up for the disappointment of losing Monday with a definitive victory ahead of arch rival Tom Boonen (Quick Step).
The Belgian bicycle manufacturer Ridley has announced plans to sponsor the new Katusha cycling team, a Russian squad team organized by Tinkoff owner Oleg Tinkov. Ridley, which has served as the bicycle sponsor of the Silence-Lotto team and its predecessors for the past four years, will begin its sponsorship of Katusha in 2009. The team announced on Monday that it had also signed Silence-Lotto sprint ace Robbie McEwen, meaning the Australian will continue to ride on the carbon frames produced in Belgium.
The second sample provided by Spanish rider Manuel Beltran, who tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) during the Tour de France, has also tested positive for the blood booster, a source close to the dossier said Tuesday. The test on the second sample, known as the "B" sample, was carried out by French anti-doping agency AFLD which also tested the first sample back in July, the source, who does not want to be identified, told AFP. The anti-doping agency is expected officially to announce the results of the testing on the "B" sample shortly.
I’ve received a lot of mail about our story in the print VeloNews, issue 14, about climbing wheels. It was a great test that revealed a lot about climbing wheels we saw right afterward in the Tour de France. Matt Pacocha rode 50,000 vertical feet on the wheels and performed wind tunnel tests on them, and then we did our own measurements of rotational inertia. For those not understanding what rotational inertia is and how we measured it, please go here. Lennard
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the third stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 168.6-kilometer ride from Jaen to Cordoba.
Today's stage covers more of the dry, hilly territory in Spain's olive country. While much of today's route is punctuated by rolling terrain, there is only on rated climb - the Category 3 ascent of the Alto de San Jeronimo, 26km from the finish.
Jelly Belly's Bernard Van Ulden and Team Tibco's Lauren Franges took the wins in Atlanta on Labor Day, taking their share of a $30,000 combined prize list at the city's U.S. 10k Classic. Held the same morning as a 10k running race, men race 100k on a fast five-mile loop, finishing on a wide downhill highway. The mens field contained many who had raced in the weekend's USPRO championships in Greenville, South Carolina, including Van Ulden, who was eighth in the USPRO time trial and did not finish the road race. Women raced 10k, with the same wide-open finish as the men.
The multimillion-dollar Russian spending spree that’s energizing the contract market shows no sign of abating soon. Robbie McEwen, three-time green points winner at the Tour de France, and mullet-man Vladimir Karpets are the latest big names lured to the new Katyusha lineup for the 2009 season. Backed by a reported budget worth 30 million euros (about $45 million, said to be split between the professional team and the promotion of cycling within Russia), Katyusha is making a big splash right in the heart of cycling’s silly season.
Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) – two riders who missed this summer’s Tour de France for dissimilar reasons – were both back on the podium spotlight in Monday’s 168.6km third stage at the Vuelta a España. Barred from the Tour after he tested positive for cocaine in late May an out-of-competition test, Boonen jumped off Bennati’s wheel with 100 meters to go into a stiff headwind to claim his first Vuelta stage-win in his career.
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the second stage of the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 167.3-kilometer race from Granada to Jaen.
Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing) scored one of the biggest wins of his long career — and the biggest since returning from a two-year doping suspension — on Sunday at the U.S. professional road race championships in Greenville, South Carolina. The 37-year-old Hamilton outsprinted his late-race breakaway companion, 24-year-old Blake Caldwell (Garmin-Chipotle), winning a photo finish by less than a tire’s width after 115 miles of racing.
Columbia put on a textbook display of team tactics at the Tour of Ireland, commanding the stage win and the overall victory on an aggressive final stage that blew the field apart. Frantisek Rabon dispensed of his breakaway companions on the punishing finishing circuit in Cork to take the win 15 seconds ahead of Pezula’s Fredrik Ericsson. Behind, Marco Pinotti countered off the attack of teammate Michael Barry to launch a successful solo bid for the overall.
It was a double-dose of delight for Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) in Sunday’s second stage at the Vuelta a España. Capping what’s been a spectacular season for Spain’s Green Bullet, Valverde opened up a winning sprint with 200 meters to go in a rising finish into Jaén to claim victory and surge into the overall leader’s jersey thanks to time bonuses.
Spaniard David de la Fuente (Scott-American Beef) won the second stage of the Tour of Germany on Sunday. Italy's Pietro Caucchioli Crédit Agricole) finished second with Swede Thomas Lövkvist (Columbia) third after the 182.6km run from Munich to Hesselberg. Germany's Linus Gerdemann (Columbia) finished fifth to hold the overall race lead.
US PRO road race start list, updated Sunday Aug. 31 Name, Team, Bib Number George Hincapie, Team High Road 2 John Devine, Team High Road 3 Craig Lewis, Team High Road 4 Graham Howard, Bissell Pro Cycling 10 Burke Swindlehurst, Bissell Pro Cycling 11 Scott Zwizanski, Bissell Pro Cycling 12 Aaron Olson, Bissell Pro Cycling 13 Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling 14 Tom Zirbel, Bissell Pro Cycling 15 Garrett Peltonen, Bissell Pro Cycling 16 Omer Kern, Bissell Pro Cycling 17 Edward King, Bissell Pro Cycling 18
The rumor mill is kicking into overdrive that recently crowned Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre won’t be back at CSC-Saxo Bank for the 2009 season. The flames were fanned even more Saturday when team owner Bjarne Riis was quoted in European newspapers as saying that riders like Fabian Cancellara and the Schleck brothers “represent the future of our team.” The 33-year-old Sastre is in the final year of his contract with Riis and has refused to comment on the contract rumors.
to the first stage of the the 2008 Vuelta a Espana, a 7.7-kilometer team time trial at the Parque Tec. Ciencias de la Salud in Granada.
The 63rd Vuelta a España is supposed to be a showdown between Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre, but it was Filippo Pozzato of Liquigas who wanted to remind everyone that there are more than two teams in the season’s final grand tour. Liquigas worked in perfect cohesion over a short, but technical 7.7km course in the shadow of the Alhambra to win the opening team time trial, with Pozzato surging across the line first to take the Vuelta’s first leader’s jersey.
Russell Downing of the British squad Pinarello CandiTV captured the race lead with a winning sprint on stage 4 of the Tour of Ireland. Downing took the kick from a 22-man group at the finish in Dingle, after Garmin-Chipotle’s David Millar shattered the field over the Cat. 1 Conor Pass. Downing started the day 32 seconds down on race leader Mark Cavendish. He took the lead through snatching time bonuses at the finish (10 seconds) and at the day’s first and last intermediate sprints (3 seconds a piece).
On the eve of the USPRO Road Race Championships, Garmin-Chipotle showed it intended to dominate the championship weekend in Greenville, South Carolina, taking four of the top five spots in the time trial, led by David Zabriskie. Only Bissell’s Tom Zirbel kept Garmin from taking the entire podium and then some, with a brilliant second place ride, coming in five seconds behind a clean-shaven Zabriskie, who captured his third straight USPRO time trial jersey.
Garmin's David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde are among the favorites for Saturday's USPRO Time Trial Championships in Greenville, South Carolina.
Astana announced Saturday that Dirk Demol will join the team in 2009 to work as a director sportif. The Belgian is a former winner of Paris-Roubaix (1988) and most recently worked as a team director with Quick Step-Innergetic, where he led Stijn Devolder to the biggest win of his career at the Tour of Flanders. Demol will join Team Astana for the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Czech cyclist Ondrej Sosenka, who holds the world hour record, has tested positive and has been suspended, the CTK press agency reported on Friday. Sosenka's A sample tested positive for stimulant methamphetamine and, should the B sample prove positive, he would likely be sacked from the PSK Whirlpool-Author team. "The team has already distanced themselves (from Sosenka) and terminated the contract with immediate effect, pending the result of the B sample," PSK manager Vladimir Vavra said.
Sources have confirmed that the Saxo Bank cycling team will race on Specialized bikes during the 2009 season and beyond. Sources close to the team, which now operates under the banner of CSC-Saxo Bank, have confirmed to VeloNews that the Morgan Hill, California-based company is poised to announce the agreement with CSC-Saxo Bank team owner Bjarne Riis.
Scott Bicycles announced Friday that the firm has inked a deal to become the bike sponsor of the U.S.-based Columbia team. The news comes just two days after the Idaho-based bicycle company announced that it was ending its support of the former Saunier-Duval team, which has struggled since the expulsion of star rider Ricardo Riccò from the Tour de France, after testing positive for EPO.
Quick Step is seeing some changes going into the 2009 season, with Tour of Flanders champion Stijn Devolder sticking around and Spanish veteran Juan Manuel Garate heading to Rabobank. After turning pro with U.S. Postal Service in 2004, Devolder joined Quick Step in 2008 and everyone seems pretty pleased with the results. Devolder signed a contract that will keep him at Quick Step through the 2010 season, with a clause for a one-year extension.
Alexander Kristoff followed last year’s successful script and launched an early sprint with 350 meters to go, but Mark Cavendish, as he continues to do with his blossoming career, is following his own plan. At stage 3 of the Tour of Ireland from Ballinrobe to Galway, that plan was simple: win. Cavendish was one of many riders to go down on slick tarmac just over the top of the final categorized climb, but Columbia put him back into the front group and wound it up in the closing kilometers to 70kph.
The 63rd Vuelta a España roars out of Granada on Saturday afternoon in a fitting start with a team time trial in what should be a dogfight between cycling’s two strongest teams and Spain’s two biggest stars. The showdown between Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre and their respective Astana and CSC-Saxo Bank teams should provide plenty of drama during a three-week course loaded with hard mountains spread judiciously among a long string of sprint-friendly stages.
Editor's Note: The following column was written by Matt Shriver, an Exercise Specialist and Senior Level Coach with Colorado Premier Training. He also is a professional cyclist currently racing with the Jittery Joe's Pro Cycling team.
Team Columbia is bringing a star-studded team to next month's Tour of Missouri, with British speedster Mark Cavendish joining time trialist Michael Rogers and defending Missouri cahmp George Hincapie. The race announced Thursday that the Columbia will bring Rogers and Cavendish, along with the previously announced team roster of Hincapie, Austrian Bernhard Eisel, Canada’s Michael Barry, young Americans John Devine and Craig Lewis, and three-time Italian time trial national champion and Tour of Italy stage winner, Marco Pinotti.
Set aside for the day’s top riders, the winner’s circle in Loughrea served as a photo booth as fans of all ages took turns posing for pictures with Mark Cavendish. The Team Columbia rider again won handily at the Tour of Ireland, in the 158km stage 2 from Thurles to Loughrea, and the popularity of the four-time Tour de France stage winner is only swelling.
Canadian bike maker Cervélo will own and sponsor a new European pro road team next season, tentatively titled the Cervélo TestTeam, although the company may announce a title sponsor in the next few weeks. The company's future with Team CSC-Saxo Bank, which it has supplied since 2002, is uncertain. "That hasn't been determined yet," said spokesman Peter Donato. A press release announcing the new team quotes Cervelo co-founder Gerard Vroomen, speaking as if he had little expectation that the company will supply CSC in 2009.
Cycling team Gerolsteiner has virtually ended all hope of finding a new sponsor and are set to sell off their assets at the end of October, their team manager said on Thursday. In September 2007, the German mineral water manufacturers announced they would not renew their sponsorship at the end of 2008 season and the Gerolsteiner team had been unsuccessfully trying to find a new benefactor.
Thirty-eight year old Eric Zabel will lead the Milram team at the Vuelta a Espana starting Saturday. The German vet will lead an otherwise young team looking for stage wins at the Spanish tour. The team's average age is under 25.
Daniel Martin is sick, but he isn’t sweating it. Actually, he is sweating, quite a bit, as a fever works to burn out the remnants of food poisoning he picked up Sunday at the conclusion of the Tour of Portugal. But the young Irish national champion is continuing to race at the Tour of Ireland. Meanwhile, his teammate Magnus Bäckstedt continues to work through a stomach bug he picked up at the Giro d’Italia in May.
Ben Delaney, VeloNews' Editor in Chief, is a master wordsman, but, by his own description, a Cat. 5 photographer (apologies to our Cat. 5 readers ...). Nevertheless, overcome by the beauty and the sheer Irishness of the countryside on the first day of the Tour of Ireland, the chief sent in this gallery with some behind-the-scenes views of the race. The lad'll be going pro in no time.
After a troubled season, highlighted by the positive doping test of Ricardo Riccò, the team once known as Saunier Duval has lost its second title sponsor in as many months. Scott Bicycles announced Wednesday that it will discontinue its sponsorship of the re-labeled Scott-American Beef cycling team at the end of the 2008 season.
Neither a four-man breakaway nor getting spit out on a climb could stop Columbia’s Mark Cavendish from taking a commanding sprint win in the opening stage of the Tour of Ireland. Columbia rode the front of the peloton all day, then strung it out in the rush to the flat finish along River Suir in downtown Waterford.
Cadel Evans is staying put, but rumors are flying that Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre might be lured away from CSC-Saxo Bank. Silence-Lotto announced Wednesday that Evans, runner-up in the past two editions of the Tour, penned a two-year contract extension with the Belgian team through the 2010 season. “Silence-Lotto proudly announces that Cadel Evans has signed a contract for the next two seasons. This agreement is proof of his confidence in the Silence-Lotto team,” a press release said. “Next season the Tour the France will be the main goal for Cadel Evans.”
Spaniard Jose Ivan Gutierrez, riding for Caisse d'Epargne, won the Tour of Benelux in Brussels as Latvia's Raivis Belohvoscicks (Saunier Duval) won Wednesday's final stage, an 18km time trial around Mechelen. Gutierrez was second on the stage, 8 seconds back. He finished without a saddle, which fell off his bike with about 800 meters to go, according to reports.
Astana brings a loaded team looking for nothing short of domination in the 63rd Vuelta a España that opens with a team time trial Saturday in sunny Granada. Still miffed it was left out of the 2008 Tour de France, the Astana blue swaggers into Granada with its A-team for the season’s third tour with overall victory as the main objective. Andreas Klöden and Levi Leipheimer provide heft to the nine-man lineup, but it’s budding Spanish super star Alberto Contador who will be captain of this ship.