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Just one day before heading out to the Amgen Tour of California, Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) stopped by the VeloNews offices with his Pinarello FM1 time trial bike. He was on his way out for a last day of training before joining the star-studded peloton in Sacramento for Saturday’s prologue. We got some photos and component highlights, and enjoyed a relaxed conversation with Zirbel.

The Santa Cruz premier of Road to Roubaix, a 2008 release about the fabled race over the cobbled roads of northern France, known as The Hell of the North. Get revved up for the Tour of California cycling race, which roars into Santa Cruz the next day. Also Showing these Shorts: Goodbye Tomorrow, by local filmaker Brian Vernor Millar's Tale, about Garmin-Slipstream rider David Millar NorCal High School Mountain Bike League Plus a Raffle featuring these prizes and more: A $5,000 Carbon Giant Road Bike donated by Bicycle Trip

A simple 20-minute field test can determine your power at threshold and is the best starting point for a power-based training plan. Knowing one’s threshold wattage gives you the ability to use wattage-based training zones and to understand power readout in real time on the bike. Most importantly, you will be able to analyze training data on your computer and measure your cycling improvement. What

The VELOVE Winter Bicycle Festival is about to transform downtown Santa Rosa into a bicycle wonderland during Valentines Day weekend, February 14-15. Held in conjunction with the 2009 Amgen Tour of California, VELOVE is packed with events for everyone, including bike competitions, race viewing parties, non-profit fundraising events, a pro race team signing and plenty more. It is a joint production between Bike Monkey, the City of Santa Rosa, Mainstreet and West Coast GoldSprints. To learn more and register for events, visit www.VeloveFestival.com .

The Licence Commission today granted “wild card” labels to the following 13 teams, for a period of one year: • Vorarlberg – Corratec (AUT) • Landbouwkrediet – Colnago (BEL) • Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator (BEL) • Andalucia – Cajasur (ESP) • Contentpolis – AMPO (ESP) • Barloworld (GBR) • Ceramica Flaminia – Bossini Docce (IRL) • ISD (ITA) • Skil – Shimano (NED) • Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team (NED) • Cervelo Test Team (SUI) • BMC Racing Team (USA) • Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni – Androni Giocattoli (VEN)

U.S. based pro team BMC earned wild card status from the UCI on Tuesday, but some major European teams did not, possibly ruling out starts at the major tours and ProTour events. Agritubel, Acqua e Sapone, LPR and Xacobeo did not receive the wild card label needed which allows riders access to their biological passport and hence the sport's major tours.

Free Burgers in Bonelli

The third and final stage of the Women's Tour of Qatar saw Italy’s Giorgia Bronzini triumph for the second time of the event, outsprinting her rivals to clinch the win on the Al Khor Corniche. Overall victory went to Dutch rider Kirsten Wild. As the 84 remaining riders started, only 6 seconds separated Wild from her closest Bronzini on the GC.

Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) opened his 2009 account with victory in Tuesday’s third stage of the Mallorca Challenge after avoiding a final-turn crash by Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) late in the stage.   The Italian sprinter made it over three rated climbs midway through the 182.6km circuit course starting and finishing in Inca and then avoided a spill in the final kilometer to go that took out Valverde and Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas). Luckily for Valverde, who decided to race to help his teammate Jose Joaquim Rojas challenge for the overall, he wasn't seriously injured.

Scott Nydam completed not one but two team training camps in preparation for the Amgen Tour of California. The BMC rider, who claimed the 2008 King of the Mountains overall title, attended BMC’s January camp in his adopted state of California. Then he hitched onto the back of his friend Levi Leipheimer’s Astana team camp, based near the Santa Rosa area where both men live.

Mark Suprenant remembers the worst time he ever went low. He was at the base of the final climb of the Mount Wachusett road race when he felt his feet go numb. He didn’t have any food, nor did any of the other riders in his group. Suprenant decided to suck it up and ride to the top.

Coming off a fiery debut in the Tour of Qatar where he took two stages, Columbia-Highroad’s fastman Mark Cavendish says he’s ready for more action at the Amgen Tour of California.   “California is a massively important race for our team, and we’ve got a really strong line-up for the general classification,” Cavendish said. “I’ve looked at the route and it’s a very tough course, a lot tougher than last year. On paper, there’s only one stage that seems certain to end in a bunch sprint, so I will be targeting that one for sure.”

Mattia Gavazzi (Diquigiovanni-Androni) maintained his hold on both the points and leader’s jerseys at Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi, by winning the 160.9km stage to Senawang to Malacca on Tuesday, his second win in as many stages. Gavazzi expressed surprise to have already notched up three victories this year, adding his two Langkawi stage wins to an earlier win at the Tour de San Luis.

David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne) are the top names starting the 36th Tour Méditerranéen this week in southern France. The split opening stage of the six-stage, five-day race will feature an afternoon team time trial, where Garmin-Slipstream will be a top favorite on the heels of its narrow victory at the TTT at the Tour of Qatar earlier this month.

Haimar Zubeldia will make his Astana debut at the Tour du Haut Var (February 21-22), where he will lead a team of Spanish and Kazakh riders in the two-day French race. Twice fifth at the Tour de France, Zubeldia joined Astana for 2009 after racing his entire nine-year pro career with Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Making it work

The Tour of Qatar has won its place in the international cycling calendar and it could one day host a Tour de France stage, cycling legend Eddy Merckx believes. This year's race, won last week by Belgian powerhouse Tom Boonen, was the eighth edition of an event which has seen competitive cycling come to the Gulf for the first time. The 64-year-old Merckx, whom many see as the greatest cyclist ever, said he is convinced that the Tour of Qatar has gained in strength during that time.

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Just before a trip to the San Diego wind tunnel, Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong shared some photos and component details of her new Cervélo S2 road bike. Armstrong is a star member of the new Cervélo TestTeam, and the new team is already working to contribute new information to the company. We also caught up by email with Cervélo race engineer Damon Rinard while he was at the San Diego low speed wind tunnel for a few insights.

Bike details

The upcoming Tour of California will showcase one of best fields ever assembled in North America. With current and former champions of the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix, world championships and other big races scheduled to attend, many have asked - is this the best field ever assembled in the United States? Let's take a look.