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Momentum Sports Group, owner and operator of Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis, is proud to announce that OUCH Sports Medical Center will take over as the team’s title sponsor starting in 2009. The team, which won an unprecedented fifth consecutive NRC Team Championship in 2008, will now be known as The OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis. The sponsorship presents a unique and timely opportunity for OUCH Sports Medical Center, a leading provider of sports-related medical services in Southern

Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov, who was kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France for doping, was dropped from a Dutchmountain bike event on Friday in what would have been his comeback race. The 35-year-old was to take part in the Beach Challenge in the Dutch town of Scheveningen, but he was withdrawan from the list of entrants, the ANP news agency reported. The organizers, who had originally accepted the Kazakh rider into the race, did not give a reason for their change of mind.

VeloNews technical editor Matt Pacocha took a three-up sprint to win the Colorado state cyclocross championships Sunday in Boulder. Last year's champion Kerry Barnholt (Tokyo Joe's) defended her title, taking the women's open win over Lisa Matlock Strong (Tough Girl). With dry conditions, Pacocha took the hole shot and immediately opened a gap on the field. An elite group of five soon formed, containing Pacocha, Brandon Dwight (Boulder Cycle Sport), Jake Wells (Mafia Racing), Jonathan Baker (Vitamin Cottage) and Yannick Eckmann (Clif Bar).[nid:85762]

Having ridden in the service of Jan Ullrich for so many years at the Telekom and T-Mobile teams, and been an omnipresent in the constant battle with Lance Armstrong for the Tour De France title, Andreas Klöden now finds himself doing much the same job for his former rival at Astana. The German, however, has no reservations about the change of allegiance.

The OUCH Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis will feature returning pro Floyd Landis, much of the former Health Net - Maxxis team and several riders new to the team. The team's title sponsor is the OUCH Sports Medical Center, a provider of sports-related medical services in Southern California. The Center's co-founder and executive director, Dr. Brent Kay, has treated Landis since he seriously injured his hip in a 2003 crash. The roster: returning Heath Net riders: Rory Sutherland John Murphy Tim Johnson Karl Menzies Roman Kilun Floyd Landis

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Fresh off the success of the inaugural season that saw Ryan Trebon and Georgia Gould capture the individual titles, as well as the coveted “champions belts,” the North American Cyclocross Trophy is already looking ahead to its second season. The North American Cyclocross Trophy, created in 2008, is comprised of “the classic cyclocross races” of North America. Each race on the tour has a long history and represent the essence of the sport. The inaugural season included eight events: Full Speed Ahead Star Crossed on September 20 RAD Racing Gran Prix on September 21

Belgian Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) won Sunday's UCI World Cup in Igorre, Spain, retaining his overall lead in the World Cup series after five events. Countrymen Erwin Vervecken, Bart Wellons and Kevin Paulwels finished behind Nys. American Jonathan Page was 13th. Top Ten 1. Sven Nys in 1:06:36 2. Klas Vantornout (BEL) at 15. 3. Erwin Vervecken (BEL) at 27. 4. Bart Wellens (BEL) at 35. 5. Kevin Pauwels (BEL) at 1:09. 6. Zdenek Stybar (CZE) at 1:36.

Thankfully, the apocalypse was called off on Sunday as heavy rains returned to Portland and along with it some serious slop. What was Saturday an obvious motocross course transformed quickly into deep, goopy swamp.[nid:85721] The junior men saw the worst of the weather with heavy rain and cooler temperatures. As soon as the elite women were called up, the rain machine paused and racers had to contend with the leftovers. Katarina Nash (Luna) scored back to back wins and took the USGP series overall.

Dee Dee Winfield (Velo Bella / Kona) and Weston Schempf (C3-Sollay.com) rode to commanding solo wins in MAC Powered by SRAM’s season-ending Capital Cross Classic on Sunday. Winfield’s victory comes in the middle of a tough three-week stretch of travel that saw her working her way through the field to finish 21st in last week’s World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium, before traveling to Kansas City for next week’s U.S. National Cyclocross Championships.

Jamey Driscoll (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Laura Van Gilder (C3/Sollay) swept the final two rounds of the 2008 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series this weekend at Goddard Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, with Driscoll and Rebecca Wellons (Ridley) taking the overall 2008 series.[nid:85723]

"I’m Stein Bagger," the well-dressed man told the desk sergeant at a Los Angeles police station on Saturday. "I'm a fugitive from Europe and I'm here to turn myself in." Understandably skeptical, police at the substation near the city’s toughest neighborhood initially assumed the man with a noticeable accent was somehow delusional. "We've had several people come in and tell us they were the king of Denmark," Officer Jack Richter told the Los Angeles Times.

Normally in Portland, when the sun shines and the temperature reads over 50 degrees in December, many consider it to be a sign of the apocalypse. But even without a drop of rain for days, the first day of the USGP finals still dirtied riders’ race kits, if only just a little.

Jamey Driscoll (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) and Laura Van Gilder (C3 Sollay) won their respective races at Saturday's NBX Grand Prix in Warwick, Rhode Island. Full elite results are posted. Check back for a race report and photos.

California-based mountain bike race promoters have finalized plans for the 2008 U.S. Cup, a 13-race series set to become the premier cross-country racing series on American soil. The U.S. Cup is being sponsored by the Los Angeles-based shipping company Sho-Air, and will offer competition for both professional and amateur riders. The news answers questions about the future of American off-road racing which were raised when the National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) — North America’s premier off-road series since 2004 — closed shop at the end of 2008.

You can tell that Yaroslav Popovych is glad to be back. He strolled out of the Hotel Las Madregueras in Tenerife ahead of Saturday’s penultimate training spin at Astana’s pre-season camp and he was smiling. On Friday, he spent a lot of time on the front alongside Lance Armstrong as the squad took in a four and a half hour spin, with over 10,000 feet of climbing through the rugged lava rock landscaped mountains. Although he still has to wear his Silence-Lotto colors until next year, it’s like he has never been away.

Floyd Landis has dropped his federal lawsuit against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, according to documents signed by both parties on Thursday. Landis had sued earlier in September, seeking to overturn his two-year suspension for doping at the Tour de France and a $100,000 penalty imposed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in June. Landis charged that all three members of the appeals panel had conflicts of interest that would have precluded a fair hearing in the matter. Those conflicts, Landis charged, went unreported by each of the three.

The Tour of the Battenkill Valley, an upstate New York road race that has captured the imagination of many Northeastern riders with its partly dirt route, will be a two-day event with a pro road race next year. But the new pro race will not be UCI sanctioned or part of USA Cycling's America Tour calendar, as the promoter would have liked. USA Cycling and UCI officials say the race's short history and unusual course raise too many question marks, especially after deadlines have passed for requesting UCI sanctioning.

Colavita/Sutter Home Women’s Team Signs Powerhouse Sprinters for 2009 Season will Start with Amgen Tour of California