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Everyone was expecting Columbia-High Road’s Mark Cavendish to ace his first chance of winning a stage of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California on Tuesday, but a tussle on the final corner kept him from even challenging the eventual stage 3 winner, Thor Hushovd of the new Cervélo TestTeam. Hushovd easily took the windblown 101.4-mile stage from San Jose to Modesto by a couple of bike lengths from three-time world champion Oscar Freire or Rabobank, with Cavendish’s lead-out man Mark Renshaw in third.

The future of Alejandro Valverde’s professional career hangs in the balance as he’s set to appear before Italian authorities on Thursday for his alleged link to the Operación Puerto blood doping scandal. Prosecutors from the Italian Olympic committee (CONI) agreed to an additional 24-hour extension, not the requested 48 hours, and said the rider is expected to appear by Thursday at 5 p.m., according to reports on the Spanish wire services.

New Mexico's Tour of the Gila stage race, scheduled to hold its 23rd annual race this May, is struggling to find enough sponsorship to hold the event, race director Jack Brennan told VeloNews Tuesday. The race organization is about $50,000 shy of reaching its $170,000 annual budget, Brennan said. He is considering down scaling the NRC event or reducing prize lists to continue. "It's a bare bones budget, as it is," Brennan said.

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Gert Steegmans continues Katusha’s early season haul with the team’s second straight win at the Ruta del Sol in Tuesday’s 164km romp from the foothills near Granada to Córdoba. The big Belgian blasted ahead of teammate and yesterday’s winner Danilo Napolitano to give the Russian-backed squad its seventh win on the 2009 season. Wim Stroetinga (Milram) came through third while Joost Postuma (Rabobank) finished safely in the main pack to retain the race leader’s jersey.

It has already been reported that the Columbia-High Road team is not using Scott time trial bikes. Photos and print stories back that up and our visit to the High Road compound the day before the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California yielded no indication that Scott Plasma TT bikes have been widely embraced by the squad. Our only look at the team's new time trial rig came by examining a display model at Scott's tent in the expo. It's a beautiful ride, but it may take a little tweaking to dial it in for roadies.

Floyd Landis is not the only man making a comeback with the OUCH-Maxxis team at the Amgen Tour of California. After a year away, former Health Net-Maxxis team director Jeff Corbett is back with the organization he helped create. Corbett founded the 7Up pro team in 1998, managing and racing on its various incarnations, as the team became 7Up-Colorado Cyclist in 2000 and 7Up-Nutra Fig in 2001.

Olympic medalist Sir Chris Hoy has admitted he faces a race against time in order to be fit for the World Championships in Poland in six weeks' time. The 32-year-old Scot said Tuesday he still felt "pretty sore" after crashing out of the keirin at the World Cup in Denmark over the weekend. Hoy won three gold medals at last year's Beijing Olympics in the sprint, keirin and team sprint and he is aiming to defend his three world titles in those events in the Polish town of Pruskow.

Team Saxo Bank's Gustav Larsson recorded some impressive numbers on his SRM power meter on Monday as he worked for his team leaders. Not only was the second stage of the Amgen Tour of California contested over a tough route with two major climbs, but the weather conditions again added that unpredictable element of "man v. nature."

Disc brake squeal

Last year, Sierra Road proved to be a decisive climb in the Amgen Tour of California, placed as it was near the San Jose finish of stage 3. This year, the race hits Sierra Road, but in the opposite direction and at a much earlier point in the third stage of the race. Tuesday's route takes riders from San Jose up the steep Sierra Road climb, across Alameda County to the categorized climb of Patterson Pass, and then down into the flatlands towards Modesto.

Just how much has luck shone upon Rock Racing’s Amgen Tour of California stage 1 winner Francisco Mancebo? Consider this — not only was the Spaniard’s GC lead increased Sunday when race officials decided to shorten the stage length into Santa Rosa, thereby altering the point at which the GC would be determined, but by last year’s standards, Mancebo might not even be participating in the event.

Defending champion Levi Leipheimer (Astana) seized the lead of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California on Monday with a daring attack on the steeps of Bonny Doon just outside the finish in Santa Cruz. Thomas Peterson (Garmin-Slipstream) won stage 2, a 115.9-mile ride from Sausalito to Santa Cruz, with Michael Rogers (Columbia-Highroad) finishing third on the day and slotting into second overall. But the race clearly belonged to Leipheimer, who shot away from his rivals to chase down a disintegrating break and snatch the leader’s jersey from Rock Racing’s Francisco Mancebo.

Jonathan Chodroff (OUCH-Maxxis) and Amanda Miller (Lip Smacker) wrapped up the overall titles in the 17th John Earley Memorial Valley of the Sun stage race on Sunday outside Phoenix. Jose Garcia (Rock Racing) and Shannon Koch (Metro Volkswagen) won the finale, a criterium in the West Valley town of Buckeye that saw both the men's and women's races end in two-up sprints. The 70-minute men’s race was a highly controlled affair that saw few breaks last more than a handful of laps on the 0.8-mile, L-shaped course.

Danilo Napolitano nabbed yet another victory for the upstart Katusha team, this time in the first stage at the Vuelta a Andalucía/Ruta del Sol in Spain. Thanks to a top-notch leadout from teammates Filippo Pozzato and Gert Steegmans, the brawny Italian sprinter easily out-kicked Tom Veelers (Skil-Shimano) to win the 169.2km first stage from La Guardía de Jaén to Humilladero. Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) came through third while overnight leader Xavier Tondo (Andalucía-CajaSur) finished out of the top-10 and forfeited the race leader’s jersey.

It’s hard to imagine a more scenic race start than a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is exactly how stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California kicks off. The 115.9-mile stage from Sausalito down the coast to Santa Cruz is something right out of a tourism book, visiting San Francisco streets, redwood forests and miles and miles of Pacific Ocean coastline.

The International Court of Arbitration upheld a two-year doping ban against deposed Italian time-trial champion Luca Ascani in a ruling issued Monday. The court, however, moved the start date of the suspension back to August 4, 2007, instead of February 27, 2008. The Italian cyclist had appealed against a doping ban, imposed by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) after he tested positive for blood-boosting drug EPO following the time trial at the Italian road cycling championships on June 26, 2007.

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