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Weather is often the unnamed enemy at the Tour de France. Heat, wind, rain and cold can turn what would otherwise be a routine stage or climb into pure hell. A quick look at short- to mid-range weather forecasts calls for seasonable but unsettled conditions the first week or so of racing in the 2009 Tour. Forecasters are predicting moderately warm temperatures into the upper-80s for Saturday’s opening time trial in Monaco, but with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers.

Seven Americans and one Canadian are among the 189 starters from 21 teams lining up for the individual time trial Saturday in Monaco to click the 2009 Tour de France into gear. U.S.-registered Garmin-Slipstream boasts the strongest North American representation, with Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Danny Pate and Tyler Farrar starting from the United States and Ryder Hesjedal as Canada’s lone representative.

In 2008, sunglass and apparel manufacturer, Oakley passed the $1 billion mark in terms of annual sales. That figure had been the goal of the company for the better part of a decade. That marked a milestone for an iconic brand whose futuristic building is perched atop a hill at the end of Icon road in Foothill Ranch, California. VeloNews visited Oakley’s Interplanetary headquarters this spring. You’ll have to pick up a copy of our August issue, on newsstands now, for the whole story, but as a supplement, we’re more than happy to take you on a photo tour, right here.

There’s a tight battle brewing at the front of the 2009 BC Bike Race between the Kona’s defending champions Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks, and Canadian strongmen Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath (Santa Cruz/Jamis). After three stages the Canadian duo holds a slim 1:15 advantage in the overall ahead of the defending champions. Sheppard and McGrath won the first and third stages, both by small margins, and Kona grabbed stage 2 by a handful of seconds. And both teams know that in the topsy-turvy world of multi-day endurance stage racing, the fat lady is nowhere close to singing.

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Besides that little ol’ race starting Saturday in France, there’s not a whole lot on the menu in terms of racing this week. Butting heads against the biggest race of the year isn’t ideal marketing strategy (though there is plenty of racing throughout July on European roads). Save for a race in Poland and the Giro d’Italia Feminine, everyone else is letting the Tour de France take center stage.

19th Course de Solidarnosc et des Champions Olympiques

After eleven years overseeing USA Cycling’s junior development camps you’d think Barney King would have some crazy stories; maybe a zinger about kids sneaking out of dorm windows or losing someone on a ride. “About the only thing I can think of is a broken collarbone a few years ago.” That’s it. Really. Yet at this year’s camp, held last week at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, one comes to understand that a lack of surprises is just how King likes it. “We try to run a smooth camp. No surprises.”

At its “Backstage” media camp in Vicenza, Italy, recently, fi’zi:k displayed its first foray out of the saddle market: an alloy seatpost with a unique clamping mechanism that’s actually easier to use. The company has been investing considerable time and money into their braided-carbon rail technology lately, and since few component manufacturers have a clamp compatible with 7x9mm rails, fi’zi:k opted to make Cyrano Seatpost.

Cyrano seatpost

Art Longsjo was the first American to race two Olympics in one year. When he was 25, the Fitchburg, Massachusetts, native was a speed skater at the 1956 winter games in Italy and raced his bike at that year's summer games in Australia.

BH Bikes USA president and CEO Chris Cocalis stopped by the VeloNews office this week to show the new BH G5 frame and fork, which will be debuted at the Tour de France by Team AG2R-LaMondial this weekend. If the G5 bike is any predictor of the team’s pending performance, expect AG2R riders to be climbing and sprinting to victories left and right.

BH Bikes – Big in Spain, still growing in the USA

The Cervélo TestTeam has received UCI permission to reverse the colors on its nearly all-black kit in time to use a largely white version at this year’s Tour de France. The team has proposed changing its colors so that the black and white portions of the jersey are reversed.

Tom Boonen's bid to overturn a bar him from competing in the Tour de France has hit another snag with the decision by a French court not to hear his case. The former world road race champion from Belgium was barred from the Tour by its organizers Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) following his positive test for cocaine in April, even though the test was taken outside the sporting calendar.

The 2009 Tour de France hasn’t even started yet, but it’s already clear what the main story line will be. Come the grand tour’s crucial stages, who will be Astana’s team leader? Will it be pre-race favorite, 2007 Tour champion, and the widely regarded best stage racer in the world right now, Alberto Contador? Or will seven-time Tour winner and worldwide sports icon Lance Armstrong get the nod? VeloNews.com doesn’t have the answer just yet, but we do have an exclusive interview with Armstrong where he addresses this weighty topic.

Geoff Kabush, a resident of nearby Victoria, was a celebrity starter on the stage. Kabush is riding the two stages of the BC Bike Race on Vancouver Island.

The second day of the 2009 BC Bike Race saw 400 riders depart mainland British Columbia and take an hour-long ferry boat ride to the town of Nanaimo on Vancouver island. The day's course featured 65 kilometers from Nanaimo to the beach town of Parksville, and was designed by Nanaimo resident Norman Thibault, who is the husband of World Cup racer Wendy Simms. The overwhelming majority of the trek was on tight, winding singletrack through the dense island forest. Riders ended their day in the BC Bike Race's tent city along the coastline in Parksville.

Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon of the Kona team came into the 2009 BC Bike Race with the recognition and confidence that follows all defending champions. In 2008 the duo proved to have had the strongest legs and best technical skills over the course of last-year’s seven-day race, which started in Victoria and finished in Whistler. This year, Wicks and Sneddon have been forced to play catch up — the duo finished second in both the first and second stages of the BC Bike Race to motivated Canadian riders Seamus McGrath (Jamis) and Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz).

Fabian Cancellara’s time trial bike time trial bike that he raced in the Tour de Romandie, the Giro d’Italia, and the Tour de Suisse now has a name: The Shiv. Unlike shivs used in prison riots, this is hardly an improvised weapon slapped together out of found items. Engineers have thought out every detail on this bike and tested and simulated it for its contribution to the bike’s overall aerodynamic efficiency, stiffness, and strength. And the materials and the processes required to make it are extremely expensive.

Tyler Farrar will be something of an oddity when he lines up Saturday for his Tour de France debut – an American sprinter. For the first time in several years, since Fred Rodriguez lined up at Mapei and later at Silence-Lotto, an American will have a legitimate shot at winning a bunch sprint in the Tour. And unlike Rodriguez, who rode his last Tours in support of Robbie McEwen, Farrar will see strong support from his Garmin-Slipstream teammates. Veteran lead-out man Julian Dean will be Farrar’s guide through the high-speed duel of nerves and speed.