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Garmin-Slipstream has released pictures of its 2009 team kit, which continues with the team's trademark argyle styling, but removes restaurant chain Chipotle. Chipotle remains a team sponsor, but not a title sponsor. "We are still powered by Chipotle burritos, as we always have been. Chipotle is our secret training weapon," team director Jonathan Vaughters said. The Slipstream name returns to the title to emphasize the team owners' "focus on ethical sporting and developing the next generation of American champions," according to a team release.

China won the fourth leg of the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic series in Beijing on Sunday. The hosts claimed the team title after clinching three more silver medals on the third and final day of the competition. China hauled in a total of 108 points, boosting them to joint third place in the nation world cup standings on 210 points, behind Britain on 216 and leaders Germany on 262.

Lance Armstrong will publicize the results of the drug tests he has undergone since coming out of retirement last year, he said in Adelaide Saturday. Armstrong will release his recent test results with the support and endorsement of anti-doping scientist Don Catlin, Armstrong said. Later, Armstrong and his Astana team released a press release on the subject.

Tom Boonen liked his West Coast adventure so much last year he’s heading back for a second crack at the Tour of California. The Quick Step star told VeloNews that the hard week of racing at California last year helped pave the way for his second career Paris-Roubaix victory two months later. “(Organizers) didn’t even have to ask. I want to go back to California,” Boonen said during an interview Friday. “I really liked the race last year. The quality of racing and the fans were great.”

New Russian super-team Katusha and its eye-popping 15 million euro annual budget are safe from the broiling world economy – at least for now. That’s what Katusha team president Andrei Tchmil assured VeloNews during an interview Friday. “The situation is difficult right now in the world economy, but nothing has changed,” Tchmil said. “We have the support of our sponsors. We are moving forward with confidence.”

Excluded from the '06 Tour, the “Puerto Nine” included (From top, L-R) Jan Ullrich and Oscar Sevilla (T-Mobile), Ivan Basso (CSC), Francesco Mancebo (AG2R), Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Australia's Allan Davis, Sergio Paulinho and Alberto Contador (Astana-Wurth).

After nearly three years of legal wrangling, Spanish prosecutors may be ready to reopen the Operación Puerto doping investigation, which a judge had put on hold last September, El Pais newspaper reported Saturday. A provincial court in Madrid has ruled that there were indications of "an offence against public health" that merited renewed examination and had therefore called for the investigation to be re-activated, according to El Pais.

The fourth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup is in Koksijde, Belgium.

Riders from Lithuania, New Zealand, Malaysia and China collected valuable points at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classic in Beijing on Saturday. With just two months remaining before the World Championships in Poland, many leading athletes have chosen to skip a return to the 2008 Olympic venue for this fourth leg in the five-part series. The second day of competition at the Laoshan velodrome featured four men's and three women's events and the absence of star names gave an opportunity for some fresh faces to step onto the podium.

The Mercer Cup weekend in New Jersey is the penultimate weekend of the USGP series.

Despite facing charges that he missed an in-competition doping test in November, former U.S. champion Jonathan Page could still earn a spot at cyclocross worlds.

The United States is among those countries eligible to send five riders to compete in the elite men’s division of the cyclocross world championship in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, on February 1.

Earlier this week, however, USA Cycling released the names of only four riders planning to compete in the world championships, leaving one additional slot to be filled before the UCI’s roster deadline on January 23.

Up until a few weeks ago, my personal “camp” experiences had never gone very well. The one time I went to soccer camp, when I was 10, I cut my knee on a rock, got stitches, and later ended up on a flight for life helicopter when the whole mess got so infected one of my doctors said they might have to amputate. Fortunately the antibiotics kicked in and I got to keep my leg, but I never went back to soccer camp.

Alberto Contador admits that he initially had reservations about the return of Lance Armstrong, but says now he’s excited about sharing leadership duties with the seven-time Tour de France champion. Speaking to L’Equipe after receiving the Velo d’Or prize this week in Paris, Contador said having Armstrong around should only help him.

In the year of the comeback, Oscar Pereiro is also making his way back into the peloton following his harrowing crash in last year’s Tour de France. The 2006 Tour winner is set to make his season debut at the Tour Down Under, but he’s still nursing a few aches and pains from his fall off a narrow switchback over the Italian Alps.

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The image of a dozen riders trying to stay warm before a chilly training ride Thursday along Spain’s Mediterranean Coast doesn’t quite match up with the ambitious plans Katusha has laid out for 2009 and beyond. The ultimate goal of the Russian-backed Katusha team is nothing less than to deliver a Russian winner of the Tour de France, and do so from a Russian team. That’s heady stuff for any first-year team, but when the team’s backers include Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and an annual budget of 15 million euros, Katusha means business.

Katie Compton is America’s best hope to bring home hardware from this year’s UCI Cyclocross world championships, which will be held in Hoogerheide, the Netherlands, on January 31-February 1. Just last month Compton (Spike Shooter) had her best ever run of European racing, racking up a slew of UCI podium finishes, including a win at the World Cup in Nommay, France.

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Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Brian Matter (Gear Grinder) have joined Ryan Trebon (Kona) and Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe’s) on the U.S. men’s team that will contest the 2009 UCI Cyclocross World Championships on February 1 in Hoogerheide, Netherlands. Trebon, Powers and Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) all earned automatic nominations to the team as the top three Americans in the UCI rankings. Johnson has declined his nomination and will not compete.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Jan. 14, 2009 – Bissell Pro Cycling is proud to announce that team member Jeremy Vennell now reigns as the New Zealand National Time Trial Champion. Vennell took the top spot at the Raboplus National Championships on January 9 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand.

GT Bicycles today announced exciting new additions to the 2009 GT mountain bike team. The team will continue to be gravity-focused, adding Eric Carter, Mick Hannah and Andrew Cho to the GT roster. These three exceptional riders will help support GT’s 30-year race heritage.

Colors: Green, black, white, red, blue, grey Sizes: Small to Extra Large Price: $1999 (frame and rear shock) Web site: www.intensecycles.com Are you unsure about your mountain bike riding style? Are you a pure cross country rider or do you enjoy technical descents that are akin to a hardtailer’s hell? Perhaps you find yourself somewhere in the middle? If so, the new Spider 2 by Intense bridges the gap between trail and cross country.