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With serious training on the back burner for a few weeks (and ski season in full effect) I decided to use today’s column as a letter to Santa of sorts. Not sure if the red-faced, plump one is a VeloNews reader, but hopefully he’ll get wind of my little Christmas list. Here goes:

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was among the guests earlier this week as the country's first fully professional cycling team, Katyusha, convened in chilly Moscow.

Managed by former Paris-Roubaix winner Andre Tchmil, Katyusha features some of cycling's elder statesmen like Australian Robbie McEwen and Filippo Pozzato of Italy, as well as younger talents such as former Olympic points race champion Mikhail Ignatiev.

It is the first Russian-owned team to compete in European cycling's elite, and will do so as of January 200

“Gaining the right to the road was the cycling cause of the late nineteenth century; securing that right will be the cycling cause of the early twenty-first century.”

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The 2009-10 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships have been awarded to Bend, Oregon, the national governing body announced Tuesday. The 'cross nationals were last held in the Pacific Northwest when Portland hosted the 2003 and 2004 editions. Since then, the event has been held in Providence, Rhode Island (2005-06), and Kansas City, Missouri (2007-08).

A yellow jersey worn by Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre during the last stage of this year's race has been sold for 15,000 euros on eBay, Sastre announced Tuesday.

Riders Elodie Touffet and Claudia Häusler, along with sports director Patrick Banfi, have signed with Cervelo TestTeam, the squad has announced. Touffet has been a member of Gauss RDZ Ormu (2008), Menikini-Selle Italia-Gysko (2007), Nobili-Rubinetterie-Menikini-Cogeas (2006) and Pruneaux d”agen (2005), with French National Championship rankings of third in 2006 and fourth in 2007.

Though BMC's Jeff Louder has not made a point of getting out of the cold and snow Utah has offered these last few weeks, he has been pleased with the results from his creative training regime. Content to make use of the wintry conditions by snowshoeing and skate-skiing, Louder nevertheless is looking forward to returning to riding on the road at the team training camp in California, as this chat with team media rep Georges Luechinger makes clear. Q: How are you coping in the cold; has it been snowing for you since September?

USA Cycling has announced the first round of nominations to the United States National Team for the 2009 UCI Cyclocross World Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands, Jan. 31-Feb. 1. Five athletes were named to each of the elite women's, U23 men's and junior men's squads based on competitive performances over the course of the last year. The elite men's nominations will be announced on Jan. 14. Elite Women Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.) Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.) Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa.)

USA Cycling has announced the recipients of its annual Club of the Year awards. Ten USA Cycling-sanctioned clubs received recognition for outstanding programs throughout the 2008 season and will receive complimentary registration fees for the 2009 racing season. Clubs were judged on several key areas including race promotion, membership composition, instructional clinics and seminars, club activities, charitable contributions and racing performance.

Ridding the rim of remnants
Dear Lennard,
I have some carbon tubular rims that I glued Vredestein Fortezzas into, and when I removed them there were parts of the casing stuck to the rim (I think it might have been latex that covered the casing but it wasn't able to be removed before mounting). Is there a safe way to remove this substance from a carbon rim?
Jared Dear Jared,

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The United States’ best-ever female collegiate cyclist is not an American. But someday she might be. South Africa’s Carla Swart, 21, just capped off a mind-boggling collegiate campaign, taking an unprecedented 11 national (both individual and team) titles in road, mountain bike, cyclocross and track. Grabbing that many jerseys in a single year is a feat that no collegiate racer ? man or woman ? has yet accomplished in the history of the National Collegiate Cycling Association.

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• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
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British sportsman of the year, Chris Hoy, may be in line for an even greater honor according to British media reports this weekend. Hoy, who earned three gold medals at this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing, has been recommended for a knighthood, one of the few active competitors to ever have received the honor.

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Italian UCI ProTour teams Liquigas and Lampre-NGC have confirmed their entries for Australia's Tour Down Under next month, organizers said Monday. Liquigas finished fourth overall in the team classification in the 2008 Tour Down Under and race director Mike Turtur said he expected the team to be competitive again in next month's tour around Adelaide in South Australia. This year Francesco Chicchi of Liquigas won stage seven of the Tirreno-Adriatico and was first in a stage of the Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali.

World champion Lars Boom and U.S. women’s champion Katie Compton scored big wins in a muddy World Cup cyclocross race in Nommay, France, on Sunday. Compton topped a strong ride in the women’s field, earning first place as she edged out world champion Hanka Kupfernagel by 19 seconds. Fellow Americans Georgia Gould and Rachel Lloyd finished in third and eighth places at 24 seconds and 2:17 respectively.

Stefan Schumacher told a German newspaper on Sunday that despite the fact that he tested positive for CERA at this summer’s Tour de France that he “never resorted to doping” and fully intends to ride for Quick Step in 2009. Despite his plans to ride, Schumacher conceded that he has is uncertain if he will be able to pull it off in time to join the Belgian team. "I am innocent, I like my job,” Schumacher told Germany’s Sonntag Aktuell. “I'm only 27 years old and I'm super motivated. I want to win races and want to get my career back on track.”

The Astana cycling team on Sunday has denied earlier reports that Lance Armstrong would compete in next year's Tour of the Sarthe-Loire. Organizers said on Saturday the American seven-time Tour de France winner had confirmed his participation in the April 7 to 10 event. The Kazakh-financed team, however, issued a statement on Sunday denying that Armstrong is confirmed. "Contrary to certain announcements, Lance Armstrong will not be competing in the Tour of the Sarthe-Loire. Astana will confirm Lance Armstrong's schedule once it is finalized."

Benjamin Franklin once observed that there is nothing certain in this world but death and taxes. In our own time, we’ve observed that when it comes to the subject of cyclists, it’s all but certain that non-cyclists will bring up scofflaws and taxes.

Australia’s Hilton Clarke (formerly with Toyota-United) and Russian Boris Shpilevsky (formerly with Preti Mangimi) are the two latest signings of the team FUJI-SERVETTO for the 2009 season. With these two transfers, the team’s lineup raises up to 23 riders, the minimum amount required by the UCI for ProTour teams.   Clarke will start his ninth season as professional rider. He has raced almost his entire pro career in the U.S., starting with the NetZero team in 2001. He did race in 2003 for in Europe for Barloworld. He will make his debut with the new team at the Tour Down Under.

Cervélo TestTeam has signed Heinrich Haussler of Germany and Jose Angel Gómez Marchante of Spain.  Born and raised in Australia, Haussler moved to Germany to pursue cycling in 1999.  His wins include a stage in the Vuelta a Espana (2005), two stages in the Vuelta a Murcia, and a stage in the Dauphiné Libéré (2007). José Àngel Gómez Marchante rode for Saunier-Duval (and subsequently Scott-American Beef) starting in 2005.His career highlight to date is an overall victory at the Vuelta al País Vasco in 2006 after winning the final time trial.   

Organizers for the Tour of Italy said on Friday that Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara will join former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong on the start line for the centenary 2009 edition. It promises to be one of the strongest Giro line-ups in recent history with Italian former winners Ivan Basso — returning from a two-year doping suspension — Damiano Cunego and Danilo Di Luca as well as Spaniard Carlos Sastre, the current Tour de France champion, amongst the riders.

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• Keep it short. And remember that we reserve the right to edit for grammar, length and clarity.
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Besides Lance Armstrong, Astana's team roster for next month's Tour Down Under in Australia includes three riders from the 2008 Giro d'Italia, organizers said Friday. Also riding for Astana as Armstrong makes his return to professional cycling is Jose Luis Ruberia who rode in five of the Texan's Tour de France-winning teams. "We all know that Lance Armstrong is a champion, but the rest of his Astana teammates heading Down Under should not be underestimated," race director Mike Turtur said. Giro winner Alberto Contador will not be taking part in Tour Down Under.

Editor's Note: Tom LeCarner, VeloNews' copy editor, is an avid cyclist who has been unable to ride and train for most of 2008 because of knee pain. He is being treated at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and using Specialized Body Geometry equipment and services at Specialized's expense, and reporting on his progress in regular columns.

IMPORTANT SAFETY RECALL MAGURA Durin Race 80/100 Magura USA today announced that long term product testing has revealed a structural flaw in the lower leg assembly of the Durin Race 80 and 100mm suspension forks. The recall only affects early production runs of the fork. If your fork is found to be within the recall serial numbers please do not use it from this point forward. Further use of this product may result in failure and pose a possible risk of danger to the user.

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Colors: Khaki Sizes: 30 to 38 inch waist Price: $90 Web site: www.cordarounds.com You may not be a "hardcore" commuter, but there's a good chance you use two wheels to get around town every once in awhile. In that case, a good pair of commuting pants that are not made of lycra may be just right for you. [nid:86098]

Size: 12" x 12"[nid:86095] Price: $13.95 Web site: www.velogear.com Collected by the editors of VeloNews, here's a full year of the best photographs of road cycling, from the spring classics to cyclocross. Full 12" by 12" color photographs.

It might have been something like what a visiting left fielder at Fenway Park experiences, but some long-time 'cross fans were shocked by the heckling — and then by a following scuffle amongst some expensive bikes — after the men's elite race at U.S. Cyclocross Nationals on Sunday. Although no criminal charges are being pursued, frame builder Richard Sachs may sue to recover what he says was thousands of dollars in damage to his team's bikes, which were trampled in the scuffle. At least one of the participants, Cale McAninch, says he's willing to pay his share of the damages.

Italy's Olympic Committee (CONI) anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri on Thursday asked for disgraced cyclist Leonardo Piepoli to be banned for two years. Piepoli failed a dope test during July's Tour de France for a variant of blood-booster EPO that was undetectable at the time but was later found in re-tested samples. The 37-year-old, who had failed to show for a previous hearing in October, denied knowingly doping during his 20-minute hearing to which he arrived without his lawyer.

German cyclist Stefan Schumacher, who failed two drugs tests at the Tour de France, confirmed Thursday he was suing the French anti-doping authorities (AFLD) for defamation. A statement issued by Schumacher's lawyer Michael Lehner said: "These tests were undertaken ... with a number of possibilities of blood contamination, of mixing up samples and other circumstances which could have distorted the result." The 27-year-old Schumacher is one of four riders to have failed drugs tests at this year's Tour de France.

Fluid and energy packaged together appeals to cyclists.

Bad days come and go. Everyone has one, no one’s immune to a real day “rocker.” It just happens. Well folks, I had mine last weekend and it sucked. Another year is gone and the opportunity at the national title will have to wait 362 days before I get another crack at that jersey. The race was over and done with and I barely even showed up to the race. I never put my face in the wind, I didn’t contribute to my teammates and it was the day I was dreamin’ and screaming about all season long!

Dear Explainer,
How is it that Sue Haywood ended up making more money by missing the mountain bike race at the 2004 Olympics in Athens than it appears Kristin Armstrong has earned off of her gold medal from the time trial in Beijing this year?

It seems like something is a little skewed here.
Alan Johnson
St. Paul, Minnesota

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The Versus cable network will broadcast 30-minute daily reports from the Tour Down Under, the Australian race that will mark Lance Armstrong's return to stage racing next month. Versus also will webcast the entire final stage of the January 20-24 event on www.VERSUS.com. The half-hour telecasts will air at 4 p.m. ET except for the January 24 telecast which will air at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The 2009 Tour of Spain will begin in the Netherlands, in the first overseas launch of the race in more than 12 years, organizers announced Wednesday.