Trek’s development of a new TTX time trial bike could almost have been predicted: Giant, Scott, and Specialized have all engineered new TT frame platforms for their ProTour teams in the last 12 months, while Trek’s design cycle apparently remained static (at least in public). (Editor's Note: If you don't recall, click the links for articles on Giant's new bike, Scott's new bike and Specialized's new bike.)
Tom Zirbel (Bissel Pro Cycling) and Kristin Armstrong (Cervélo TestTeam) stormed over a wet, 6-mile time trial course on Wednesday to take the opening stage of the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.
Disgraced Austrian cyclist Bernhard Kohl on Wednesday vowed to sue French sport daily L'Equipe after they published an interview with him in which he spoke about doping at the 2008 Tour de France. Kohl, who was stripped of his third-place finish and the best climber's jersey after testing positive for EPO CERA, denies claiming that the race's top 10 cyclists "could have been positive" or that it was strange that only three cyclists failed post-race drug tests.
Reigning world time trial champion Bert Grabsch (Columbia-Highroad) won Wednesday’s fourth stage at the 61st Dauphiné Libéré, while Australia Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) finished second and recaptured the overall leader’s jersey. Grabsch stopped the clock in 51 minutes, 26.48 seconds, overcoming a 12-second mid-race deficit to Evans to win by seven seconds on an undulating 42.4km course east of Valence.
Potential drugs cheats at the 2009 Tour de France will face the biggest anti-doping army ever seen at a major sports event next month, UCI president Pat McQuaid warned on Wednesday. McQuaid, speaking at an anti-doping conference in Paris, also officially welcomed the French National Anti Doping Agency (AFLD) back to the race after their muddy relationship last year.
UCI president Pat McQuaid said that Caisse d’Epargne’s Alejandro Valverde faces a worldwide two-year doping ban if the governing body acts on key evidence, which has yet to be forwarded by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). Valverde has been effectively ruled out of this year's Tour de France after CONI recently barred him from racing in Italy for two years. CONI claims that a blood sample from Valverde, taken at Cuneo, Italy during the last year's Tour de France, matches blood samples from the Operación Puerto blood doping investigation in Spain.
The USA Cycling Junior National Team capitalized on a dominant performance in the prologue of Switzerland’s Tour du Pays de Vaud, as Nathan Brown (Covington, Tennesee/Hot Tubes) wrapped up the win in the overall classification of the four-stage race on June 7. The squad swept the prologue podium with Brown clocking the fastest time to slip into the yellow leader’s jersey. Adam Leibovitz (Indianapolis, Indiana/Nuvo Cultural) and Lawson Craddock (Houston, Texas/Hot Tubes) joined Brown on the podium in second and third, respectively.
UCI president Pat McQuaid said several riders currently under suspicion of doping will be named publicly next week, and are likely to face sanctions. McQuaid, attending an anti-doping conference in Paris on Wednesday to announce plans for the fight against doping at next month's Tour de France, would not give any details on the riders involved.
Quick Step’s Tom Boonen has been given the green light from the UCI to compete in next month's Tour de France despite a recent, second positive test for cocaine. Boonen, the winner of major one-day classics and Tour de France stages, sparked controversy last month when it was revealed he had tested positive for cocaine for the second time in a year. It led to immediate calls for him to be banned from this year's showcase event, and the UCI is set to launch disciplinary proceedings against Boonen for bringing the sport into disrepute.
Not often are the words “chain” and “condom” uttered in the same sentence, much less in the name of a bicycle product. Don’t worry, you have not inadvertently stumbled into the wrong website, nor has VeloNews.com been hijacked by an S & M fetish merchant site. But with a name like Chain Condom, we had to check it out — and it turns out to not only have a unique name, but an unusual backstory as well.
BMC's Danilo Wyss won the first stage of the Tour de Beauce on Tuesday, taking the first leader's jersey of the Canadian stage race. Early in the 165km stage, the Swiss rider and Team Type 1's Darren Lill bridged to a ten-man breakaway. In the final five kilometers, the break came apart, and Wyss took the sprint from four others. Lill was second. It was a good day for BMC, whose Chad Beyer had initiated the break. Beyer ended up with the KOM jersey and the lead in the U23 competition. Wyss also took the lead in the points competition.
Katie Compton and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski grabbed wins and big payouts at Saturday’s Teva Mountain Games cross-country race in Vail, Colorado. The June 4-7 Teva Games included the cross-country race, a road hillclimb, kayak and rock climbing competitions and other “mountain culture” events. “The Teva Games is pretty special. I won it a few years ago and told myself I wanted to come back,” said Horgan-Kobelski. “The event is well organized and a lot of people show up. It’s a national-caliber event.”
Spanish cyclist Antonio Colom has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for the banned substance EPO, the UCI revealed on Tuesday. Colom had been scheduled to race for the Katusha team in the Tour de France, which begins on July 4. The 31-year-old finished fifth in Paris-Nice in March after winning the race's final stage. Colom has been provisionally suspended ahead of a hearing with the Spanis cycling federation.
Columbia-Highroad's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg was the big winner this weekend on the NRC. The sprinter's win at the Liberty Classic moved her up from fifth to second on the women's individual rankings. Her win also contributed to the team's rise from sixth to fourth on the women's team rankings. Alison Powers remains atop the women's standings, as does her Team type 1 squad.