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It’s that time of the year. Riders in both the U.S. and in Europe are enjoying their respective training camps. Most professional road teams have had a couple already. Some teams divide it up by arranging one for media, one for the guys racing in the spring classics and one for the guys racing the tours. Well for me, it’s ten days in Alicante, Spain. After the really cold weather that was ripping through Europe the last couple weeks, I just had to get out of Dodge.

In what is one of his last appearances on the velodrome, Erik Zabel joined Leif Lampater in winning the 45th edition of the Six Days of Bremen in Germany late Tuesday. The 38-year-old Zabel competed in the penultimate track event of his career in Bremen, with plans to make his farewell appearance at the Six Days of Berlin, slated for January 22-27. Zabel and Lampater finished ahead of the German-Swiss duo Olaf Pollack and Franco Marvulle. Pollack suffered a heavy crash during the last laps of the race and was later diagnosed with a broken clavicle.

I’ve often mentioned the most cherished time of year for cyclists, the off-season. It’s what you think of in every difficult moment all season long. You’re suffering in some godforsaken Belgian gutter in mid-March and in the back of the head is already what lies six months ahead.

Dear Explainer,

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PRESS RELEASE Brent Thomson, Godfather and Trail Master of Bootleg Canyon, suffered a heart attack last Saturday while riding the trails that he has famously cut into the mountains surrounding Boulder City, a stone's throw from Las Vegas, Nevada. While he is currently resting under doctors care in the hospital, Brent is scheduled for the second Quadruple bi-pass in his life. Sixteen years ago he had the same surgery performed due to an unusually high hereditary cholesterol build-up.

Back row l to r: Taylor Phinney, Guy East, Ben King, Bjorn Selander, Axel Merckx. Front row l to r: Ryohei Komori, Cody Campbell, Taylor Kuphaldt and Ryan Baumann

Bjorn Selander getting a Retul fit by Kevin Livingston, who operates the Pedal Hard training center out of the basement of Mellow Johnny's, Armstrong's bike shop.

Imagine you're 18, 19, or 20-some-odd years old. You’re one of the your nation’s best young cycling talents at a time when top professionals are scrambling to find teams, taking major pay cuts, or simply calling it quits. Then, one day, late in the season, you get a call from the son of the world’s greatest cyclist, ever. It’s Axel Merckx, a year post-retirement from his own formidable pro career. He wants to know if you’ll be on his new team.

The Sea Otter Classic, a four-day celebration of sport, will host one of the most important races on the U.S. mountain biking calendar this year. With the highest cash purse, and as one of very few UCI-sanctioned races in the U.S., the Sea Otter cross-country race will be essential to elite athletes looking for points to earn them participation at the Olympics.

Alberto Contador will follow a familiar path to the Tour de France and it won’t go through Italy.   The 2008 Giro d’Italia champ reconfirmed that the Tour will be his top priority this season and that he will not defend his Giro crown.   With Astana assured of a place in this year’s Tour, Contador said weeks ago he would not defend his Giro victory and instead focus on July.  

Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage) has been suspended from racing for three months for his involvement in a mid-race tussle with Adam Myserson at the cyclocross national championships in Kansas City last month. Baker, who is in Belgium, will serve the suspension starting Jan. 17, meaning he will miss any remaining 'cross races he had planned for this season. "It is with some disappointment that I will be ending my 'cross season early, but I will take this as a good opportunity to spend some quality time with my family," Baker told VeloNews.

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Baden Cooke found himself between a Rock and a hard place last fall when a deal he thought he had struck with Rock Racing turned out to be no deal at all. The Australian sprinter says the American squad initially offered him a two-year contract and an opportunity to race in one-day classics and grand tours in Europe. But that contract somehow got lost in the shuffle, and Cooke says the deal that team owner Michael Ball eventually offered was considerably less lucrative — a six-month agreement for a much more modest domestic race schedule.

Statement from Michael Ball regarding Rock Racing: Rumors of Rock Racing’s untimely demise have been greatly exaggerated. The team is proceeding with a full racing schedule of domestic racing in 2009 and is actively pursuing any and all opportunities related to racing outside the United States. I am committed to my team and my riders are committed to making Rock Racing one of the most exciting teams in the pro peloton. Our key riders will all be returning and will be ready to compete against the world’s best. We thank our fans for their continued support of Rock Racing. ?

According to word around town, every hotel, motel, bed & breakfast and backpackers’ inn is booked out in Adelaide, under normal circumstances the fifth-largest city in Australia with a population just over the million mark and apart from its award-winning vineyards, no real world-quality to speak of. But in the few hours we've seen so far and for the next two weeks, Adelaide will be anything but normal. Because Lance is here.

Considering that professional racers spend thousands of hours a year on their bikes, it’s surprisingly rare to find many who actually look comfortable on their steeds. Everyone knows what a bad bike fit feels like and most pros seem to share the same menu of dull aches, pains and injuries encountered by the rest of us. A few are blessed, like Fabian Cancellara, who seems genetically wired to ride a bicycle.

Dear Lennard,
I would like to change my Dura-Ace 7800 53/39 crank set for a compact 50/34 set and am considering the new Shimano 7950 but noticed that Shimano states that to run the 7900 crank set, the new 7900 chain and front derailleur are also required. Can I not simply put a 7950 compact crank set on my 7800 system and if so, will shifting be compromised? If indeed the new front derailleur is required, do I then need to change my shifters to 7900 as well?
Paul

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Matt Shriver (Jittery Joe's) learned Monday that he has been named to the U.S. men's team for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships later this month. Shriver will join Kona's Ryan Trebon on the team. Trebon is the only automatic member of the the team, by virtue of his winning the national championship and leading the USA Cycling national cyclocross calendar. Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) is another likely team member, although his status is uncertain because of a missed doping test in November. Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) also is expected to be named to the team.

Frank Pipp, most recently with the HealthNet-Maxxis team, has joined the Bissell Pro Cycling Team for 2009, bringing the Bissell roster up to 16 riders. Team manager Glen Mitchell said Pipp adds some sprint speed to the team, which already is known for its strong time trialing and climbing. “Frank is a proven performer and will be a great asset for Bissell,” Mitchell said.  “He definitely brings another dimension for the team to utilize. In the final kilometers of races, he will be a key rider, whether setting up another team member or utilizing his own fast sprint.”  

One of the most enamoring aspects of cycling is the community that shares the passion centered on the two-wheeled human-powered velocipede. The bike itself has a romantic attraction to it, and once drawn, cyclists become part of a culture rich in tradition, and a society clustered around the simplicity of its universal medium. The bicycle gives us visceral affirmations of our existence, bringing pleasure through contrast with our physical efforts and self-inflicted pain. Without the human element to give life to the machine, the bike is but a tool whose potential awaits.

Sizes: 8 oz (227g) tube Price: $18 Web site: www.beljumbudder.com Is your chamois rubbing you the wrong way? Perhaps this new chamois creme can help. Beljum Budder is a high quality chamois creme and skin lubricant designed to perform and protect the nether regions of friction-riddled endurance athletes. Not only does Beljum Budder make for a smooth and comfortable ride, it’s safe to use–made with all natural ingredients.

VeloNews.com will offer complete online coverage — including race highlight videos and video interviews — of Australia's Tour Down Under, Jan. 20-25. The ProTour event is the first major race of Lance Armstrong's comeback and features a star-filled roster of ProTour teams.

While you may not have totally obliterated the good eating habits of last season, it's time to get your 2009 nutrition plan into shape.

Specialized Bicycles already owns a prolific World Cup-level professional mountain bike racing team, which is home to 2008 world champion Christoph Sauser and downhill great Sam Hill. But for 2009 the California bicycle manufacturer is adding a North American component to its global umbrella of mountain bike racing. Specialized has teamed with Sho Air International, a Huntington Beach, California-based shipping company to sponsor the California-based Sho Air-Specialized mountain bike team.

The newly formed Trek-Livestrong under-23 team held a training camp this past weekend in Austin, Texas. Ian Dille sat down with Taylor Phinney, who at 18 is already one of the world’s best track cyclists and the team’s most recognizable name (other than its director, Axel Merckx). Below are Phinney’s musings on his plans for 2009, joining forces with Lance Armstrong and leaving the Garmin-Chipotle under-23 squad, and how riding the pursuit is akin to stabbing yourself in the legs. Check back in the next couple days for a full writeup on and photo gallery of the Trek-Livestrong team.

Italian track cyclist Annalisa Cucinotta tested positive for an anabolic steroid in December, the Gazzetta dello Sport said on Sunday. According to the sports newspaper, the 22-year-old failed the test after a World Cup event in Cali, Colombia on December 12. Cucinotta becomes the second Italian woman cyclist after ex-road world champion Marta Bastianelli to test for a stimulant. Bastianelli missed the Olympic Games in Beijing in August due to her offense.

Time is running out to bid on a one-of-a-kind piece of cycling memorabilia that will raise money for pro cyclists Ian MacGregor and Timmy Duggan's "Just Go Harder Foundation" that supports youth mentoring and participation. An official Garmin pro-issue jersey featuring the signatures of racers on the 2008 roster of Team Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30 is up for bid on eBay. In addition to Christian Vande Velde's fourth-place finish at the Tour de France, Garmin won the team time trial at the Giro d'Italia and Vande Velde donned the pink jersey.

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Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said Monday it would be unrealistic to expect him to win his first race in three years in next week's Tour Down Under. The American cycling great declared he was in the best shape of his life at the start of a season as he prepared to return to professional racing at the age of 37. Armstrong's appearance in the Adelaide tour has generated huge international interest, enough for organisers to take extra security measures to protect him during the event.

What a difference a year makes. This time last January, Bob Stapleton’s team entered the 2008 season without a title sponsor, with a largely young and inexperienced team and uncertain about its future. Flash forward to 2009 and Highroad roars confidently into the season with new sponsor (Columbia, introduced ahead of last year’s Tour de France, back as co-sponsor), a new bike sponsor (Scott) and a bevy of young riders that is the envy of the peloton.

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