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Mavic’s new R-SYS carbon spoke technology
Mavic France placed a voluntary recall on all of its front R-SYS wheels this winter and a domestic recall followed suit two weeks later. The reason for the domestic delay was the CPSC’s approval of Mavic USA’s action plan for the recall. That plan was considered voluntary, but Mavic used verbiage and took action that made is seem more serious. Mavic stated consumers should “immediately cease use” and took the added measure of shipping R-SYS owners its Aksium model, which relies on steel spokes, until the situation can be rectified.
Alberto Contador wins Portugal’s Volta au Algarve stage race on the strength of his stage 4 time trial.
Astana's Alberto Contador started his season out with a victory by winning Portugal's Volta ao Algarve stage race on Sunday. Contador finished in the pack — in 96th place — on the 166km stage from Vila do Obispo to Portimao. Contador finished in the same time as stage winner Henrich Haussler (Cervelo TestTeam). Contador had taken the overall lead on the strength of his second place in the stage 3 mountain top finish and then his commanding win in stage 4's 34km time trial.
A Day Off The Bike
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On Tap at AToC: Stage 8 – Palomar
Ever since the Amgen Tour of California organizer Medalist Sports began mapping out the 2009 course about a year ago, rumors started circulating about their plan to include a climb up 5,123-foot Palomar Mountain near San Diego. The rumors about its inclusion turned to speculation about its effect when the plan was confirmed: the peloton would indeed tackle the 13-mile-long climb midway though stage 8’s 97-mile course between Rancho Bernardo and Escondido.
Spanish Conquest – BH bicycles take the stage in California
Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Rinaldo Nocentini scored a tough win in stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California aboard BH’s G4 Global Concept team bike on Saturday. While we don’t have the winner’s bike to profile, we did catch up with the team earlier in the week and managed to grab some shots and details about the team’s bikes, produced by Spain's Fabricante de bicicletas de Álava.
Fast and furious – Gustav Larsson’s power profile for Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California
Gustav Larsson survived another fast-paced stage and finished safely ensconced in the peloton, which finished about two minutes behind the day’s winning break. Saxo Bank was represented in the break by Frank Schleck who put in a very strong attack with two laps to go on the Rose Bowl circuit in Pasadena, but came up short, taking eighth place. The action among the leading group of ten was similar to a Belgian kermesse: one attack after another.
Landis meets the press … briefly
Nine days after missing an Amgen Tour of California pre-race press conference due to a training crash, OUCH-Maxxis rider Floyd Landis met with a packed pressroom inside the Rose Bowl on Saturday. After comments by stage winner Rinaldo Nocentini and the day’s most courageous rider Christian Vande Velde, Landis filed into the cavernous pressroom. His appearance represented the first real chance most journalists in the room had to speak with the former AToC winner, since access to him before and after each stage this week has been very limited.
2009 ATOC stage 7, Live Coverage archive
- 11:29 AM: Good day and welcome
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the seventh stage of the Amgen Tour of California, a 143km (88.9 mile) ride from Santa Clarita to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Today's stage, scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m., begins with 40km (25 miles) of gradual climbing before the route takes a significant hop up Millcreek Summit in the San Gabriel Mountains, a Category three climb that crests at the 60.7km mark (37.7 miles).
Cannondale brings a prototype bike for Liquigas to test at the AToC
While the Liquigas team hasn’t had the race it might have wished for at this year’s Amgen Tour of California, it does appear to have a new bike. When questioned, Cannondale reps only acknowledged that the team has been testing prototype frames. The prototypes were created using the feedback Daniele Bennati provided after racing on a Super Six frame with custom geometry last year. That frame also served as a proving ground for Cannondale to test the use of high modulus carbon fiber, which is now found in the 2009 production model.
Nocentini wins in Pasadena
It can be difficult to judge just how difficult a race is until you can make a direct comparison with a previous result. That was the case Saturday, when enormous crowds, probably the biggest of the week, showed up at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena to see the finale to stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California. This stage from Santa Clarita was identical to the one that George Hincapie won 12 months ago, when he covered the 89-mile course in a time of 3:50:57. This year, the time of stage winner Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R-La Mondiale was 26 minutes faster!
The Tour of the Gila is cutting its prize list slightly, but will continue thanks to recent donations
New Mexico's Tour of Gila stage race will hold its 23rd edition this spring, thanks to recent donations that have offset much of an expected budget shortfall. Race director Jack Brennan told VeloNews on Saturday that the event's price list will be reduced 15 percent for all categories and the event is still searching for a title sponsor. The event will remain part of the National Racing Calendar, he said. "Although fundraising goals have not yet been fulfilled we are definitely going ahead with the 2009 event," Brennan said.
2009 ATOC stage 6, Live Coverage archive
- 11:39 AM: Good day and welcome
to VeloNews.com's Live Coverage of the sixth stage of the Amgen Tour of California, a 15-mile (24 kilometers in the more advanced parts of the world) individual time trial around one of our favorite communities in California, the Danish-themed village of Solvang.
Contador TT’s to Algarve lead
A day after being relegated to a rare second place on a summit finish, Alberto Contador turned in an authoritative time trial victory Saturday to take the overall lead at Portugal’s Volta ao Algarve. Contador beat back the likes of teammate Andreas Klöden and reigning world time trial champion Bert Grabsch (Columbia-High Road) on a fairly challenging 33.7km course in the hills along the Algarve Coast to snag his first win of the season and secure the overall leader’s jersey.