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Boonen may struggle in Tour opener
Quick Step team officials have said that Tom Boonen, admitted to the Tour de France only a day before its scheduled start in Monaco, may have difficulty even making the time cut in the opening time trial on Saturday. "Tom does not feel very well today,” said general manager Patrick Lefevere. “He is feeling weak, due to abdominal pain and diarrhea. "Frankly, I think it’s his body’s reaction to all of the stress he’s gone through these few weeks."
A fast day at Fitchburg
Averaging 29 mph over a 75-mile circuit, Bissell Pro Cycling’s Kirk O’Bee won stage two of the Fitchburg Longsjo circuit race on Friday, sprinting away from a seven-man breakaway that stayed away for the final 50 miles.
McGrath, Sheppard blow BC Bike Race open
Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath stamped their authority on this year’s BC Bike Race, winning the sixth stage and putting nearly seven minutes into their chief rivals, the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon. The two Canadians attacked from the gun in the 65km stage, which strung together a loop around the town of Squamish, and never looked back. The course included sections of the Gear Jammer and Test of Metal cross-country races.
Bizzaro World
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Flash: Cannondale’s 16.6-pound cross-country bike
On the last day of the 2010 Cannondale release in Park City, Utah, the research and development team were excited to unveil a new high-end hardtail cross country bike. The age-old weight gap between mountain and road bikes is now becoming smaller. Of course getting weight down is always a major goal for bike manufacturers, but with the strength and specific performance depends of cross-country racing, ideal weight and actual never seem to finish together.
Fireworks and stars and stripes at Saturday’s Firecracker 50
For most Americans, the Fourth of July is associated with flags, fireworks, parades, and independence from another English speaking country. For the 750 registered racers of the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge, Colorado, the Fourth of July will represent four to seven (the time limit) hours of exhausting singletrack followed by all those things that normal Americans do on this holiday.
Inside Cycling – All eyes on Contador
The pressure is on Alberto Contador at the 96th Tour de France. By general consensus, Team Astana’s 26-year-old Spanish star is the clear favorite to wear the yellow jersey into Paris in three weeks’ time — but the 2007 winner could lose the chance of taking the Tour for a second time as early as Sunday’s opening stage: a demanding 15.5km time trial. Contador has developed into a fine time trialist, and the opening climb of the tricky Monaco course plays to his physical strengths. But whether he will have the mental fortitude to win is another story.
Sastre likes underdog role
It’s not often that the defending Tour de France champion is rated as an underdog. That unlikely position is just where Carlos Sastre finds himself on the eve of the 96th edition of the Tour de France. With all eyes on Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador, not to mention the Schleck brothers, Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov, Sastre seems to be the forgotten Tour winner. Even the odds-makers seem to have written him off, putting his chances at a repeat at 18-to-1.
Contest narrows at BC Bike Race
The fifth day of the 2009 BC Bike Race saw riders tackle a 47-kilometer trek along British Columbia's Sunshine Coast from the town of Sechelt to the ferry landing at Langdale. The day's primary feature was a 45-minute descent on the famed Highway 102 South trail, which plunged down nearly 2000 vertical feet, and took most riders the better part of an hour to navigate.
Is Bruyneel on way out at Astana?
Johan Bruyneel said if Astana wants to get rid of him as team manager, they should tell him to his face. While a months-long struggle over financial problems apparently resolved for the team ahead of the start of the Tour, the imminent return of Alexander Vinokourov seems to be creating more turbulence. A report in Friday’s edition of L’Equipe said that officials from the Kazakh-backed team plan to jettison the Belgian director and rebuild the team around Vinokourov and Spanish climber Alberto Contador.
Contador, Bruyneel promise Astana will ride as one
Journalists and bloggers might be keen on planting the seeds of discontent within the Astana squad, but the team is refusing to buy into the storyline. Astana team boss Johan Bruyneel and Alberto Contador promised Friday that the team will ride as a unit during the Tour de France with the singular goal of winning. Both shot down notions that Astana will ride as a team divided, with loyalties split between seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and Contador, back to the Tour after missing out on a chance to defend his 2007 title last year.