It’s been an interesting end of season for American pro team Garmin-Chipotle and its team manager Jonathan Vaughters. The Garmin squad saw some impressive late-season performances by Dave Zabriskie, who finished third at the world time trial championship, and young riders Tyler Farrar and Steven Cozza.
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Mont Ventoux could play judge, jury and executioner in the 96th Tour de France in what some are already calling a climber’s course. For the 2009 Tour, officials saved the best and hardest for last, with the mighty Ventoux poised in the penultimate day of the 21-stage, 3445km route from Monaco to Paris. Tour officials, who unveiled the course to rave reviews in a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday, are hoping the race will be so tightly packed that almost anything could happen on the storied steeps of the géant de Provence.
Tomas Trunschka took a hard-fought stage win on Thursday — his second in three days — to keep the Czech team VIG+ Racing atop the leaderboard in the 2008 Crocodile Trophy. The Czechs attacked early in the 122km stage from the rainforest of Koombooloomba Dam to the outback cattle station at Gunnawarra Lagoon. Martin Horak got the ball rolling when the lead bunch entered the mountainous, technical powerline track, which has claimed many victims in this race. [nid:84540]
The Italian professional cyclists association is calling for a lifetime ban for pro riders caught doping. In a letter sent to UCI President Pat McQuaid, the ACCPI said "lifetime bans should be introduced as an extreme solution to give cycling back its credibility." The letter said cyclists who cooperate with authorities should be offered the chance to race again after shorter bans. The letter was signed by ACCPI President Amedeo Colombo and the association's secretary, former world champion Gianni Bugno. The letter:
Dear Mr. McQuaid,
What’s most clear from Wednesday’s announcement of the 2009 Tour de France is that the winner will have to maintain top form from the very first day in Monaco on July 4 to the finish in Paris on July 26.
Lance Armstrong says the 2009 Tour de France route, unveiled Wednesday, is "innovative and very interesting" and he said he looks forward to negotiating with Tour officials about "a mutually beneficial future together." In the statement released Wednesday afternoon, Armstrong appeared to be a bit ambivalent about whether he would ride the Tour next year.
A lot of similar questions come along when you’re out at the races. One question I hear frequently is some variation of the famous “How do you know when you’ve made it big?” I usually give a good P.C. answer and move along, because who really knows the answer to that question!? It’s something I’m too humble to try answering. But two weeks ago, it stunned me, even jolted me. It was right there in front of me. I came up over the horizon to the parking lot on a nice Sunday in Ohio and I had my own big orange parking cone with my last name on it! [nid:84490]
Czech cyclist Ondrej Fojtik is one step closer to achieving his dream of winning the Crocodile Trophy after snatching the leaders jersey from the shoulders of teammate Tomas Trunschka during the second stage from Irvinebank to Koombooloomba Dam in tropical North Queensland.
Lance Armstrong wasn’t at Wednesday’s presentation of the route of the 2009 Tour de France, but he was on everyone’s tongue. Whether or not the Tour is part of Armstrong’s future is very much up in the air. Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said the only thing certain about Armstrong’s schedule is that he’ll race at the Tour Down Under, the Tour of California and the Giro d’Italia.
Call the 2009 Tour de France a race of innovation and originality. Unwinding like a corkscrew from Monaco on July 4 to the finale into Paris three weeks later, the 21-stage race will be one hard to control and full of room for riders who dare to defy traditional tactics. Mont Ventoux is back, and so is the team time trial, but what makes the 2009 Tour route so interesting is that organizers were not afraid to throw convention to the wind.
Former Saunier Duval climber Leonardo Piepoli failed to turn up for his Italian Olympic Committee (Coni) doping hearing on Wednesday, the Italian news agency Ansa reported. Piepoli was due to face charges that he had taken the new generation of the blood booster EPO during the Tour de France in July.
The men favored to contest for the yellow jersey in the 2009 Tour de France applauded the route revealed in Paris on Wednesday, calling it “difficult, but interesting.” The 96th edition of the Tour de France will begin on July 4 in the Mediterranean Principality of Monaco, race director Christian Prudhomme announced at the Palais des Congrès of Paris on Wednesday.
Former Lampre rider Paolo Bossoni was handed a two-year suspension by the Italian National Anti-Doping Tribunal on Wednesday. The 32-year-old tested positive for blood-booster EPO on June 29 during the Settimana Tricolore race in Bergamo in a control conducted by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). He was subsequently fired by Lampre. CONI's Antidoping Commission also revealed that Italian under-23 champion Giovanni Carini's B sample from a positive test given on June 28, during the Italian under-23 championships, has also come up as positive for EPO.
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At this time of year, many of us will be moving our training indoors to better deal with the elements and engage in some active recovery.
Temperatures finally hit the “crispy side” of things in Chicago and it actually felt like 'cross weather had finally arrived. Cyclocrossers came out fresh and ready to tackle the newly redesigned Carpenter Park course. Jeff Provisor, owner of Main Street Bicycles and race director added two fast paved sections with a u-turn and multiple twisty areas that kept racers with their thinking helmets on alert.
VeloNews.com will live stream Wednesday's presentation of the 2009 Tour de France route. The presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. Paris time (5:30 a.m. EST). You can watch the stream here.
Tour de France organizers will finally end months of waiting on Wednesday by unveiling the route that they hope will provide another exciting, albeit cleaner, race for the famous yellow jersey. In the months since Spaniard Carlos Sastre claimed overall victory, seven riders - including KOM winner Bernhard Kohl and stage winners Ricardo Riccò, Leonardo Piepoli and Stefan Schumacher - have been exposed as drugs cheats. However a bigger question on the minds of some fans will be whether seven-time champion Lance Armstrong will take part.
VIG+ Racing dominated Tuesday’s opening stage of the 2008 Crocodile Trophy, sweeping the men’s podium. The Czech team attacked immediately following the start of the 80km leg from Mareeba to Irvinebank, using all six team members to build a stage-winning lead before the race hit the first serious off-road section.
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Jason Sager secured his third win in as many weeks in the River City 'Cross Crusade series in Oregon. A pack of four emerged from the frenzied start at the third installment of the series held at Ranier High School October 19. Sager (SagerSports.com), Kona/Team S&M's Erik Tonkin, Sean Babcock (Team S&M), and Ryan Iddings of (Lapiexe) jockeyed for position through five laps before dropping Iddings.
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The winners of Pennsylvania’s Wissahickon Cyclocross, round four of the Mid-Atlantic Cyclocross (MAC) Series, served up an exhibition of different ways to win a ‘cross race on Sunday. Laura Van Gilder (C3-Sollay.com) won the women’s race in the last minute of competition, while Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) won the men’s race in the first minute of action.
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Belgian Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) won the first round of the UCI’s World Cup cyclocross series in Kalmthout, Belgium, on Sunday. The Belgian national champion outsprinted compatriot Niels Albert (Palman Cras) in a head-to-head charge to the line. Fidea’s Kevin Pauwels took the third spot, ahead of Czech rider Radomir Simunek and Belgian Bart Aernout. World champion, Lars Boom, was the 10th, while American Jonathan Page pulled out after seven laps.
Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez will remain with the Euskaltel-Euskadi team through 2010 despite testing the waters elsewhere to cash in on his gold medal. Team manager Miguel Madariaga traveled to Italy this weekend and finalized a new accord to rework an existing contract with Sánchez to keep the all-rounder in the team’s distinctive orange jersey for two more seasons.
The Vuelta a España already has a new director. Victor Cordero, who is stepping down at the end of this season as the head of the Spanish tour, is making way for Javier Guillén. Guillén has been the secretary general at the Vuelta for the past five years and will help steer the season’s third grand tour into the future. Earlier this year, the Amaury Sport Organization (owners of the Tour de France, Paris-Nice and other major races) bought 49 percent of the race.
In a classic edition of the Cyclocross at Granogue saw a double dip of Kona as Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Dee Dee Winfield (Velo Bella – Kona) scored wins in the Autumn classic. Both wins came down to last lap moves in the UCI C1 event.
Garmin-Chipotle continues to bolster its roster for 2009 and has signed Dutchman Hans Dekkers to a deal to round out its sprinter arsenal. The news comes just as the 27-year-old Dutchman pipped Tom Boonen on Tuesday to win the final race of the 2008 Belgian calendar at the 75th Putte-Kapellen. “I think he’s a talented sprinter who hasn’t found a home yet in a team, and has battled a lot of injuries,” Vaughters told VeloNews. “We needed a guy who could help a bit with Tyler, Julian and Sutton, along with being able to play his own chances.”
Damiano Cunego won the 102nd Giro di Lombardia, the season’s final one-day classic, for the third time in his career on Saturday. Cunego – winner in 2004 and 2007 – scored the win after taking a gamble and attacking 15 kilometers from the finish at lake front of Lake Como in northern Italy. Cunego won the famed “race of the falling leaves” ahead of a hard chasing Janez Brajkovic (Astana), who reached the line 20 seconds later. [nid:84391]Cunego earned the victor’s laurels at the end of the 242-kilometer race that had been largely controlled by his Lampre team.
Spaniard Alberto Contador, reigning champion of the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, on Saturday confirmed he will remain at Astana next season despite the potential problems posed by Lance Armstrong's plans to join the team. "Next year I will continue with the Astana team," said Contador. "I've studied the situation and the alternatives." The 2007 Tour de France winner said his concerns about Armstrong’s return have been addressed.
Stuart O'Grady locked up the overall title of Australia’s Herald Sun Tour on Saturday, fending off a mid-race challenge from his most serious competitor, Ben Day (Toyota United) missed a chance to score bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint in a 66-kilometer, 33-lap race through the streets of Melbourne.
This coming weekend, October 24-25, Adam Craig is strapping on the full-face helmet and body armor, climbing on his big-hit bike and competing in the Jeep 48Straight, formerly Jeep King of the Mountains competition. The competition features dual slalom racing against Greg Minnaar, Steve Peat and Brian Lopes, among others. Why would America’s top cross-country man want to go toe-to-toe with the big dogs of international gravity racing? “It’s a good excuse to ride my bike and have fun,” Craig told VeloNews when we phoned him up last week.
LAMPRE (ITA)
1. Damiano Cunego (ITA)
2. Alessandro Ballan (ITA)
3. Francesco Gavazzi (ITA)
4. Paolo Tiralongo (ITA)
5. Sylvester Szmyd (POL)
6. Matteo Bono (ITA)
7. Marco Marzano (ITA)
8. Mauro Santambrogio (ITA)
Director: Maurizio Piovani
ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFE' MOKAMBO (ITA)
11. Massimo Codol (ITA)
12. Francesco Failli (ITA)
13. Stefano Garzelli (ITA)
14. Andrea Masciarelli (ITA)
15. Francesco Masciarelli (ITA)
16. Simone Masciarelli (ITA)
17. Giuseppe Palumbo (ITA)
18.
Ivan Basso, whose Operación Puerto-related racing ban ends next week, is back in the spotlight and he’s hoping it will be for sporting reasons alone. Basso faced the media for the first time in a press conference Friday in Italy and seemed anxious to put the focus on racing and not on his links to the Puerto doping scandal. Basso’s ban officially ends October 24 and he will race for the first time since April 2007 at the Japan Cup on October 26 as part a two-year contract with Liquigas.
Stuart O’Grady won Friday's stage five individual time trial of Australia's Jayco Herald Sun Tour and took back the race leader’s yellow jersey, which he is likely to hold until the end of the week-long race. O’Grady started the day four seconds down on his CSC - Saxo Bank teammate Lars Bak, but after charging around the undulating 16km time trial course in the Yarra Valley he now holds a 17 second gap over Bak with Toyota-United’s Ben Day in third place overall at 19 seconds behind.
A new bike: It’s the time of year for new stuff. Interbike is over, but every manufacturer has something that’s still new, and they’re all excited to talk about their latest and greatest. Giant Bicycles is no exception. Andrew Juskaitis, Giant’s Global Communications coordinator, made a trip out to VeloNews’ home of Boulder, Colorado, for a fall ride on his brand’s new Anthem X performance cross-country bike, which Adam Craig rode to victory at this year’s national cross-country championships in Mount Snow, Vermont.
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Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) stormed to victory in a long sprint at the 94th Giro del Piemonte on Thursday to claim his seventh and last victory of the 2008 season. Bennati out-kicked Luca Paolini (Acqua e Sapone) to win the 199km run from Novi Ligure to Lagnasco in northern Italy with Alexandre Usov (Ag2r-La Mondiale) slotting into third. Liquigas was determined to set up its 28-year-old sprinter, reeling in a two-man breakaway and then kept on the pressure to tamp down any late attacks to set up the mass gallop.
Weight: 25 grams Fit: small to medium faces Suggested retail: $59.95 Web site: www.tifosioptics.com The Tifosi Tyrant T-V660 is a new model for 2009. The frame is composed of TR-90 nylon front and injected aluminum arms. The Tyrant’s arms allow for a semi-rigid, adjustable ear piece that once adjusted, will stay in place for a custom fit. The adjustable nose piece brings the Tyrant closer to or away from the cheeks.
Sizes: 39 to 48 Colors: black; aluminum/silver; pearly white; aluminum/dark blue; faux patent leather red Web site: www.sidisport.com Retail price: 298 Euro (About $400) Sidi's MTB Dragon 2 Carbon Srs is the shoe worn by Olympic champion Julien Absalon. The shoe features an adjustable mechanism that allows for a snugger and safer fit around the heel, preventing slippage during climbs or sprints. The Dragon 2 also includes Sidi's Mtb Carbon Srs sole, in nylon with a carbon steel core from heel to toe.
The avalanche of positive drug tests has buried the 2009 Tour of Germany. The organizers and the German cycling federation (BDR) announced Thursday that they were canceling the nine-day event due to the recent spate of doping positives. “We regret this decision, but it had to be taken," said race organizer Kai Rapp. Linus Gerdemann (Columbia) won the 2008 edition. The 2009 race had been scheduled for August 29-September 6. On Tuesday, organizers of the Tour of Stuttgart canceled their six-day event, saying recent failed doping tests have tarnished the sport's image in Germany.
Austria's Bernhard Kohl, winner of the mountains competition at this year's Tour de France and third overall, has been sacked by Silence-Lotto after testing positive for CERA, the new generation of banned blood booster EPO. Kohl admitted to using CERA on Wednesday, 48 hours after he failed a test for the drug in retroactive controls carried out by France's national anti-doping agency. Geert Coeman, general manager of the Belgian team, confirmed Thursday that Kohl's three-year contract with the team had been canceled.
Team Type 1 went on the attack in Thursday's fourth stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, but it was Panasonic's Chris Jongeward who won what was billed as the week-long race's most decisive stage. After the mountain top stage finish, CSC - Saxo Bank's Stuart O'Grady gave up his leader's jersey to teammate Lars Bak. Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said he was disappointed that the racing was not more aggressive on the slopes of the finishing climb to Australia's popular ski resort, Mount Buller.
Despite trying to cash in on his Olympic gold medal, Samuel Sánchez says he’s likely to stay with Euskaltel-Euskadi for the 2009 season and beyond. What is certain is that his final race in 2008 will be at this weekend’s Giro di Lombardia, with a start in Thursday’s Giro di Piemonte thrown in for good measure. “I felt pretty good at Paris-Tours. I arrived with the front group after 252km, a good distance for me,” Sánchez told the Diario Vasco. “I will go to Lombardia with the idea of racing to win. To win? At least I will try.”
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VeloNews.com publishes a diary from Kona pro cyclocross racer Barry Wicks every other Wednesday. Wicks' column alternates with one by Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale's Jeremy Powers
Tour de France king of the mountain Bernhard Kohl admitted on Wednesday that he had doped in preparation for this year’s race. In a Wednesday evening press conference in Vienna, Austria, Kohl took full responsibility for a “bad decision,” driven at least in part by the fear that he wouldn't land a new contract when his Gerolsteiner team announced plans to fold at the end of 2008. Kohl denied that there was a systematic doping program at Gerolsteiner, despite the fact that his teammate, Stefan Schumacher, was also found to be positive for the new variant of EPO, known as CERA.
After playing second fiddle on two occasions in sprint finishes, former Tour de France sprint champion Baden Cooke finally took the honors on stage 3 of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. Cooke, riding for Barloworld, had been edged out by early Tour leader Matt Goss (CSC - Saxo Bank) on the opening two days, but atoned in a desperate scramble to the line in Marysville. Canadian Dominque Rollin (Toyota-United) was second on the stage and was among the riders who protested Cooke's finish. Officials, however, upheld the win.
Lance Armstrong’s comeback might not include the 2009 Tour de France, at least that’s what the seven-time Tour winner is hinting at this week. Armstrong confirmed Monday that the Giro d’Italia will be part of his 2009 racing schedule and told Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport that the May grand tour could be his major goal for next season.
Italian cyclist Marta Bastianelli, the 2007 women's road race world champion, has been handed a one-year ban by the anti-doping tribunal of the Italian Olympic Committee for failing a drugs test. Bastianelli, 21, missed the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for flenfluramine, a stimulant, at the European under-23 championships in Verbania, northeast Italy, in July. The year ban was backdated to August 7 and will run until August 6, 2009. Bastianelli's lawyer Giuseppe Napoleone said she will appeal the decision to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Alessandria, Italy ? The peloton, stretched thin into a long single line, stuck to the white line marking the edge of the road with the riders on the front pushing the cool yet fresh autumn air as they rode a hard tempo to control the race and bring back the breakaway. Leaves blew on to the course, acorns and chestnuts spotting the road, and the odor of fermenting grapes was pungent as we passed the vineyards known for producing the best wines in Italy.
Bans for failing doping tests could be doubled to four years as soon as next year, UCI president Pat McQuaid said on Wednesday. The news comes after Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl, who placed third at this year's Tour de France, tested positive for a strain of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA. Sanctions will be made on a case-by-case basis, said McQuaid, and cyclists will be judged on the gravity of the infringement and in particular the nature of the substance.
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“So, what do you guys do in the off-season?” Most of the time this gets asked by someone wondering about a “job.” From those a bit more knowledgeable about the sport, it’s referring to something we do to fill our time, figuring that the bike goes in the garage and gets to collect cobwebs ‘til the first camp gets things going again in a few months’ time. Not quite.
The 2009 Tour of Stuttgart was canceled on Tuesday, with organizers of the six-day event saying recent failed doping tests have tarnished the sport's image in Germany. "We have held intense discussions over the last few days and decided at the conclusion not to organize the 26th edition of the competition given the current situation in cycling," organizer Andreas Kroll told the German agency SID on Tuesday. "Professional cycling has an enormous image problem at the moment which we can't currently change," added Kroll.
Stuart O'Grady continued the CSC-Saxo Bank domination of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, winning the second stage, after his 21-year-old teammate, Matt Goss, of Tasmania, won the prologue and stage 1. The American teams Toyota-United, Team Type 1 and Jelly Belly are participating in the week-long race. The best placed rider from an American team is Toyota-United's Australian Ben Day, who is in fourth, 20 seconds behind race leader O'Grady.
American Donny Robinson won the 2008 UCI Supercross World Cup of BMX racing after finishing second to countryman David Herman in the final round, held October 11 in Frejus, France. Robinson, the bronze medalist in BMX’s Olympic debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing, topped a stellar year for the United States, which took the top four spots in the final rankings, with Herman, Kyle Bennett and Olympic silver medalist Mike Day finishing second through fourth. Olympic gold medalist Maris Strombergs of Latvia finished fifth.
Jesse Lalonde and Jenna Zander won the final race of the Wisconsin Off Road Series on Sunday. In its eighth year, the Sunday’s Wigwam MTB Challenge in Sheboygan has become the traditional season finale for WORS. With a large cash purse provided by WORS and local organizers Wigwam Mills, the Sheboygan race draws regional and national stars to line up against series regulars.
The German cycling team Gerolsteiner has withdrawn from racing after Austrian rider Bernhard Kohl failed a drugs test. Kohl, winner of the mountains jersey at this year's Tour de France and third overall, tested positive for the latest generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), named CERA. Teammate Stefan Schumacher of Germany also tested positive for CERA.
More than 1,200 riders turned out for the second race in the River City Bicycles Cyclocross Crusade 2008 series October 12. The Wilsonville, Oregon, course resembled a plowed field surrounded by a rock quarry. The lumpy loose dirt, steep dirt piles, gravelly corners and rocky pits favored racers with strong technical skills. Most were thankful not to have mud added to the mountain bike-like course. [nid:84338]
Austria's Bernhard Kohl will be the "seventh and last" positive doping case from this year's Tour de France, according to sports daily L'Equipe on Tuesday. Kohl, the best climber at this year's race where he finished third overall, has become the fourth rider to test positive for CERA, a new generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin). In all seven riders tested positive at this year's race, which was won by Spaniard Carlos Sastre of the CSC team.
Austrian cycling star Bernhard Kohl awoke to widespread criticism in his country's press Tuesday after he became the latest rider to be snared for doping at this year's Tour de France. A surprising third place finisher, who surprised climbing specialists by winning the King of the Mountains' polka dot jersey, Kohl on Monday was confirmed as the fourth rider - after Italians Ricardo Riccò and Leonardo Piepoli, and fellow Gerolsteiner teammate Stefan Schumacher - to test positive for CERA, a new generation of the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin).
While most cyclists (well, except for the cyclocrossers) are winding down their seasons, it's the most important time of the year for the triathlon crowd. Australia's Craig Alexander and Great Britain's Chrissie Wellington celebrated first-place titles at the 30th anniversary of the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, this past weekend.
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For the second day in a row Matt Goss, of the CSC Saxo Bank team, relegated Tour de France green jersey winner Baden Cooke to the minor placings by winning the opening stage. And just like Sunday, Goss attributed a large portion of his win in the 130km trek from Traralgon to Inverloch to the work of his teammates, particularly Stuart O’Grady, who broke away from the peloton with 65km remaining only to be caught 15km from the finish.
Austrian climbing sensation Bernhard Kohl is the latest rider to test positive for CERA during this year’s Tour de France, according to France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD). Kohl, who rode away with the best climber’s jersey and finished third overall, is the fourth rider to be caught up in the net cast by the French anti-doping authorities. French officials, who ran an unprecedented number of anti-doping controls at this year’s Tour, are vigorously back-testing blood samples taken during July’s Tour with a new testing method to detect the third-generation blood booster.
Lance Armstrong never rode la corsa rosa during his professional career, but he confirmed Monday he will race the 2009 Giro d’Italia as part of his comeback season. Armstrong, 37, announced in a video posted on the webpage of the Italian sports daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, he will be at the start of the centenary celebration of the Italian grand tour beginning May 9.
Shadd Smith took another win in the De Stad Series as he won the Elite Men's race in Sunday's Chris Cross Cyclocross race and extended his points lead in the series.[nid:84346] Smith's teammate Joseph Schmalz put in a great ride for second place with Thomas Price and Brian Jenson taking third and fourth. Jeff Winkler continues to improve in 'cross and came back from a first lap crash to take the final podium spot.
Atypical cyclocross weather once again was around for the Chicago Cyclocross Cup #3 that had enthusiasts travel to Hawthorn Woods, a Chicago suburb. Sun and temperatures in the high 70s greeted the racers in this installment.
Second place overall at the 2008 Tour de France with Cadel Evans was good enough for Silence-Lotto brass, who still believe their Aussie pupil has the goods to win cycling’s biggest race. Evans was the pre-race favorite, but his hopes were upended when he crashed in the Pyrénées and then undone by Carlos Sastre’s attack on Alpe d’Huez in the final week. Silence-Lotto sport director Hendrick Redant said the Belgian team was content with Evans’ second Tour podium and believe a reloaded Silence-Lotto team will bode good things for 2009.
Belgian one-day specialist Philippe Gilbert handed his Francaise des Jeux team the ideal farewell gift by winning the Paris-Tours one-day classic on Sunday. Gilbert's first victory in the 102nd edition of the race, held over 252km, comes only weeks before he ends his five-year stay with the French outfit by moving to Silence-Lotto. The Belgian had been among a four-strong group of frontrunners that was being hunted down by the peloton inside the closing kilometer. However the four worked together to keep the pack at bay.
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It shook out a bit differently, but the second day of the Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester ended up with the same men and women atop the podium: Kona's Ryan Trebon and Velo Bella-Kona's Amy Dombroski. Trebon and national champ Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) separated themselves from the field on the first lap and dueled for most of the one hour race on another Indian Summer day on the Massachusetts coast. Just like Saturday, however, Trebon ramped up the pace in the last two laps and Johnson was simply unable to keep up.
In the country’s only three-day weekend of UCI cyclocross, Katie Compton (Spike Professional/Primus Mootry) and Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com) completed their respective hat-tricks in the Cincinnati International Cyclocross Festival, winning the BioWheels/United Dairy Farmers Harbin Park International on Sunday.
With his LPR Brakes team barred from racing at Paris-Tours, Alessandro Petacchi couldn’t defend his title from last year’s “sprinter’s classic.” Petacchi won on Sunday anyway, sprinting to victory in the 12th GP Beghelli in Italy ahead of Mihail Khalilov (Flaminia), with Giuseppe Palumbo (Acqua e Sapone) coming across third. LPR Brakes was excluded from Paris-Tours because the team didn’t meet requirements for the UCI’s biological passport program, meaning Petacchi – who won the French classic last year with Milram – wouldn’t be able to defend his title.
The final moments of the 2008 Vuelta Chihuahua were a virtual to-do list for Spaniard Javier Benitez. Fix collar: check. Straighten jersey: done. Blow kisses to crowd: got it. Toss arms in the air and win stage: mission accomplished for the third time in seven days.
The sixth stage of the Vuelta Chihuahua delivered a fitting winner, as the third-year race returned to the state capitol following a five-day clockwise journey around the largest of Mexico’s 31 states. Following a long eight-rider breakaway that survived to the finish, reigning Mexican national road champion Luis Macias (Tecos-Trek) out-kicked Italian Diego Noscotti (NGC Medical), grabbing a razor thin triumph at the end of the 126.3km ride from Cuauhtémoc to Chihuahua. Mexican Marco Rios (Orven) was third on a day that lasted 2:34:23 for the front group.
Kona powerhouse Ryan Trebon withstood attacks from a trio of New England homeboys — and overcame a case of bad legs blamed on jet lag — on Saturday to win his fifth cyclocross race in Gloucester, Massachusetts. In the elite women's race of the 2008 Erdinger Gran Prix of Gloucester, Velo Bella-Kona's Amy Dombroski prevailed to win her first race in Gloucester, after a tough battle that saw five or six women in contention until the end. [nid:84187]