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Ask Germany’s Philipp Walsleben which cyclocross races he hasn’t won as an Under-23 this season and takes him a bit to answer. “I think it’s three this season,” he answers with some hesitation, “but that’s as an U23 rider. I still have long way to go as an elite.”

"Current economic realities" have caused Michigan-based health insurance company Priority Health to pull its sponsorship of three major midwestern races, and at least one of the events has canceled its 2009 edition. Tour de Leelanau race director Steven Brown informed the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI) on Friday that it was canceling the UCI category 1.2 event, which had been scheduled for May 24.

Dutchman Tijmen Eising continued his season-long romp through the junior ranks of international cyclocross, riding away from the field within the first 300 meters of the world championship in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on Saturday. Eising, the overall World Cup champion and winner of three of the series’ six races, took early command of the field on Saturday.

The weather in Hoogerheide, Holland, has improved over the last few days … and that may have as much to do with the outcome of this weekend’s world cyclocross championships than the relative fitness of individual riders. “We’re by the ocean,” said British Cycling Federation manager Simon Burney. “Every time I come here the course is different and it’s largely due to the weather. Skies have cleared, the snow is gone and temperatures hovering around the freezing point have turned what a week ago was a nearly unrideable mud bog into another fast worlds course.

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Sheboygan, WI - Brian Matter of Southeastern Wisconsin's Team GEARGRINDER, a member of the U.S. Men's World Cyclocross Team, will compete this Sunday, February 1st, at the Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands. Matter has spent the past week in Assenede, Belgium, for pre-Worlds training, and competed in nine days of racing at Euro Cross Camp VI in Belgium this past December. "To reach this accomplishment after 13 years of racing…I think that's

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- For those mountain bikers who have heard about the beauty of Costa Rican mountain biking, but would prefer a more recreational getaway to the intense challenge of the multi-day endurance events, the Pipasa National Marathon Championships offers six great one-day racing opportunities in 2009, beginning with a UCI sanctioned event (level C1) on March 15th, in Patarrá. The Patarrá event is Round One of the series. It is an international challenge, that is expected to attract over 600 competitors from all over Central America, and probably a few dozen

The long winter wait is over for fans champing at the bit to see some real European bike racing. The 2009 European calendar officially opens this weekend in France with the 26th GP La Marsellaise featuring 17 teams lining up for a 136.8km circuit on Sunday. The loop course around Marseille in southern France tackles some local climbs, including the Col de la Gineste, hard enough to give the adventurous rider a chance to escape the clutches of the main pack. The finish won’t be at Marseille’s glamorous Vieux-Port due to local roadwork and has been moved out toward the university.

A forecast calling for drizzle and cloud cover couldn’t scare away the 60 or so bike riders who showed up to the Holiday Inn in Temecula to ride with Floyd Landis and the 11 other members of the OUCH-Maxxis professional cycling team. The two-hour spin through nearby Fallbrook came at the beginning of the week long OUCH training camp, and the team organization opened it up to sponsors, media and the public.

On a plane bound for the Persian Gulf, the peloton sat together on our way to start the season. In an odd contrast of environments we traveled from Paris to Qatar, from the damp gray to the arid sun, from rolling roads in green and brown pastures to straight flat motorways in desert sand. Slowly, cycling is planting its roots in other cultures.

The weekend is here and it’s the biggest race in cyclocross: The world championships. If 'cross were included in the Olympics, we’d all have a bigger race to look forward to every four years. While talk of the Olympics is happening, so far it’s only talk. For now, we’ve got the rainbow stripes and it’s the highest honor any 'cross racer can achieve.

Less is more for Alejandro Valverde in 2009, at least that’s what Caisse d’Epargne is banking on as Spain’s best all-rounder takes aim for the Tour de France podium. With the idea of goal of peaking during July, Valverde will race less with the hopes of a big payoff on the Champs-Elysées. “I’ve decided to focus everything on the Tour,” Valverde said during the team’s presentation Thursday in Paris. “I’ll arrive in Monaco with less kilometers in my legs, but with more experience, which counts for something, too.”

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Two years after the most successful day in American cyclo-cross history, the U.S. National Team is once again preparing to face the world’s best in northern Europe this weekend at the 2009 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. One of the favorites to contend for a world title is Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.). In 2007, Katie was one of three athletes to contribute to the U.S. medal count, winning a silver medal in the elite women’s category. And if her 2008 campaign is any indication, she will line up in Holland as a marked woman.

Felt Bicycles is pleased to announce the sponsorship of the Hawk Relay Cycling Team, a UCI professional Track trade team based in Los Angeles, CA. Hawk Relay Cycling Team members including 2-time World Pursuit Champion Sarah Hammer, 2-time US Olympian Adam Duvenbeck, and Canadian National Champion Travis Smith have already begun using their new Felt frames.

Hunter Allen & Peaks Coaching Group is pleased to announce that Scott Moninger, one of the most successful individuals in the history of American bicycle racing, will join the Peaks family in 2009. Scott is a former member of Team BMC, HealthNet and Mercury Pro teams and has notched over 275 career victories, the most of any active U.S. racer at the time of his retirement in 2007.

Just two days before the race, Jonathan Page has been named to the men's team for this Sunday's UCI World Cyclocross Championships, USA Cycling announced Thursday. Page had been left off the team because his eligibility was questioned after he accidentally missed a post-race doping control after a race in November. However Page was cleared of any wrongdoing in that incident last week.

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Editor's Note: VeloNews' new technical editor, Zack Vestal, comes from the Trek-VW mountain bike team, where he was the mechanic for three years and, most recently, the manager for two years. Prior to working for the team, he spent more than 10 years in the cycling industry, both behind a desk (briefly) and in front of a workstand (extensively).