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Colavita’s Alejandro Borrajo and Erica Allar (ValueAct Capital Team) sprinted to wins in the second stage of the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix, a 66.5-mile road race through rural Minnesota. Despite a challenging course and aggressive racing, both Tom Zirbel (Bissel Pro Cycling) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervélo Test Team) retained their overall race leads.

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USA Cycling’s Professional Cross-country Tour (ProXCT) resumes this Friday in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Carmichael Training Systems Sand Creek International. The Friday-Saturday event includes short track and cross-country competition between the continent’s top off-road racers, as well as age-group cross-country races in the amateur ranks. The event is the fourth round of the Pro XCT and the sixth round of the Kenda Cup West, the west coast wing of the Sho Air-Specialized U.S. Cup of mountain bike racing.

Jonathan Vaughters' Garmin-Slipstream squad has had it rough with injuries and illnesss for the first half of the season. Injuries to team leaders, including Christian Vande Velde's multiple fractures suffered in a stage 3 crash at the Giro d'Italia and David Millar's severe shoulder injury on the final day of Paris-Nice, have created an oddly easy environment for roster selection in April and May. 

Two amateur racers died Tuesday while on a training ride after being struck by an SUV near Tulsa, Oklahoma. Another rider was seriously injured in the crash. The driver of the SUV, 38-year-old Tausah Borland, was detained Tuesday evening on suspicion of drunk driving. She was released after posting bail of $100,000. An Oklahoma Highway Patrol spokesman told VeloNews that it could be four to five weeks before Borland's blood test results are available and county prosecutors decide whether to charge her.

Two time Tour de France champion Laurent Fignon has confirmed that he has been diagnosed with advanced intestinal cancer. “My cancer is an advanced cancer because it has metastasized,” the 48-year-old Fignon said in an interview to be broadcast on French television on Sunday. “We know for certain it’s in the pancreas and we don’t know the rest. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I am optimistic. I am going to fight and I am sure I can win the battle.” Fignon said he began treatment as soon as the diagnosis was confirmed.

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Rabobank mechanic registered one of the all-time best bike changes to keep Denis Menchov in pink in Rome

Jeremiah Bishop (Monavie-Cannondale) and Jamie Dinkins (Motor Mile Racing) won Virginia’s Massanutten HooHa! cross-country race on June 7. The event was the third race of the Kenda Cup East, the east coast wing of the ShoAir-Specialized U.S. Cup of mountain bike racing, and was held at Massanutten Resort. The Massanutten race was a hometown event for Bishop, who hails from nearby Harrisonburg and trains extensively on the resort’s network of trails. The hilly area sits in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley.

Editor's Note: Will Frischkorn is a member of the Garmin-Slipstream ProTour team and writes regular journals for VeloNews.com. Click to read Frischkorn's previous journals. Half way already?

Sylvester Szmyd is one of those riders who do all the dirty work yet rarely get the praise. The 31-year-old Polish rider toiled for years in the shadow of Damiano Cunego at Lampre before switching over to super-domestique duty at Liquigas, where he rode superbly at this year’s Giro d’Italia to help Franco Pellizotti secure his first career podium with third overall.

Christian Vande Velde, who sustained major injuries after crashing out of the Giro d’Italia in May, will compete in the 2009 Tour de Suisse later this week, Garmin-Slipstream confirmed Thursday. The Swiss tour marks Vande Velde’s return to racing following his harrowing crash in stage three of the Giro, when he suffered seven fractures, including five vertebrae, one rib and his pelvis. No surgery was necessary and the American, who finished fifth in last year’s Tour de France, was back on his bike just days after final medical examinations and has kept up the pace ever since.

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Wisconsin mountain biking rocks!

It seems the on-again, off-again Lance Armstrong biopic is back on track. According to a flurry of movie-industry Web sites, Armstrong’s return to competition has put fresh legs into efforts by Hollywood producer and director Frank Marshall to create a full-length movie about the seven-time Tour de France champion’s life. According to a report on The Hollywood Reporter, Gary Ross, who penned and directed the Oscar-nominee film, “Seabiscuit,” has been hired to write a draft of an Armstrong script.

While cycling’s grand tours represent some of the best bike racing in the world, they also offer a lot of us a first-hand look at some of the best racing bikes in the world. I spent some time at this year’s Giro d’Italia and sorting through my files, I wanted to share a look at two bikes that really caught my eye in Italy last month.

David Zabriskie’s Giro TT bike

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Colavita’s Sebastien Haedo and Kristy Broun (Riverstone CDA) raced to victory in Stage 2 of the 2009 Nature Valley GP on Wednesday in the Downtown St. Paul Criterium. With plenty of fast action on the streets of St. Paul, the evening criteriums did not have a significant impact on the overall standings, with Bissel’s Tom Zirbel and Cervélo’s Kristen Armstrong holding the overall leads they first established in the opening time trial on Wednesday morning.

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