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Samuel Sánchez continues to soak up the attention that comes with the Olympic gold medal. Everywhere he goes, journalists are knocking down his door for an interview. This week, “Samu” is on vacation in Spain’s Canary Islands and told reporters there more details about his racing schedule for the upcoming season. He’ll skip the 2009 Tour de France (where he finished seventh overall last year) and focus on trying to win the Vuelta a España.

Mud so thick that racers had to pedal downhill set the stage for Day 1 of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross Mercer Cup, in New Jersey on Saturday. In races of attrition, in which time gaps grew to a minute or more among the top five, Georgia Gould (LUNA) and Tim Johnson (Cyclocrossworld-Cannondale) bested the competition through tough, power-stealing conditions.

“This is definitely my favorite race and that’s my main motivation,” said Costa Rican cyclist Federico Ramirez (BCR-Pizza Hut) after finishing the 2008’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores, on Saturday in Limón, Costa Rica.

Johan Bruyneel expressed optimism about the return of Lance Armstrong and promised that the powerful Astana team would ride for the strongest rider. In a lengthy interview in the Belgian daily, La Dernière Heure, the Astana sport director said Armstrong’s imminent return would help him rediscover the thrill of directing a professional team.

Behind the story there is always a greater story, one which is often missed. The Tour of Lombardy unfolded in traditional fashion: a breakaway, a gauged acceleration in the peloton, the knife-stabbing attacks that seal most riders’ fate, and then, finally, the winning attack and the defeated sprints for the places of honor. The favorite won.

A grim reality sets in at the midpoint of any multi-day mountain bike stage race. The anxious buzz of the event’s first half has all-but petered out, and riders no longer speak only in the tone of optimism. Legs are drained and bodies are exhausted, perhaps injured. Bikes creak and squeak. Butts are sore. For some, the knowledge that half of the journey still remains is enough to drive the motivation straight into the basement. Many contemplate quitting, or simply wonder how in God’s name they plan to reach the finish line. [nid:85129]

After trading barbs over a four-year-old incident during the Tour de France, Italian champion Filippo Simeone and American Lance Armstrong have apparently buried the hatchet.

The owner of Team Columbia says the recent closure of the team's internal anti-doping testing firm will not leave his riders unsupervised. The UCI's biological passport testing, along with other testing by anti-doping agencies, will fill the gap while the team hustles to line up new internal testing, Bob Stapleton told VeloNews Friday.

[nid:85117]It was already raining Friday at West Windsor, New Jersey's Mercer County Park as top riders checked out the course prior to the middle weekend of the three-city 2008 Crankbrothers US Grand Prix of Cyclocross series: the Mercer Cup presented by Knapp's Cyclery. "It's muddy, the sand is like oatmeal," Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale) told VeloNews Friday.

Even before Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France this past July, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) had announced that it was ending its long run as a title sponsor of the world’s No. 1 team. And while Sastre’s Tour victory was something of a going-away present to CSC-Saxo Bank, it wasn’t long before news hit that Sastre and bike sponsor Cervélo, both of whom had been with the team since 2002, were also parting ways to start a new project — the Cervélo TestTeam.

TdG Press Release - November 14, 2008 (Atlanta, GA) Following the conclusion of a very successful 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, the Board of Directors of the Tour de Georgia Foundation, Inc., announced today their plans for the future of the Tour.

The Tour de Georgia will not be held next year, but the race's backers say it will be back in 2010. The race's board of directors announced Friday that they will use 2009 to "plan ahead and properly position" the race for 2010. "We believe that this unique and exciting event will endure," said Tom Saddlemire, a member of the board and recently retired CFO of GE Energy. The race backers said that by many measures the event has been wildly successful.

The seventh stop of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup traveled to the village of Northbrook, a suburb north of Chicago. The race brought out the dedicated to mix it up in the treacherous 'cross conditions.

Elite Men

Sizes: Medium and Large Price: $89.99 Web site: www.lezyne.com Lezyne’s Carbon Road Drive is in a class of its own when it comes to road hand pumps. Coming in two sizes, the medium weighs in at a slim 88 grams, and the large at 104 grams. Machined out of aluminum and topped off with a solid lay-up carbon handle, it is light yet durable. They advertise that the carbon mounting bracket is noise and vibration free. As a special feature, it is compatible with Lezyne water bottle cages.

A new brand will appear on the Team Liquigas technical clothing for the seasons 2009 and 2010. To repropose the green and blue uniforms, the team presided by Paolo Dal Lago choosed Nalini, leader firm in the cycling clothing production.

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The most dominant feature on Stage 2 of La Ruta de los Conquistadores is the 25km paved climb from San Ignacio Acosta to Copalchi, which accounts for roughly one-third of the 76km trip from west to east San Jose. In La Ruta’s trusty race guide, the climb’s profile appears a gradual three-peaked slog up 3000 vertical feet.

Cervélo TestTeam is pleased to announce that Castelli has become a sponsor of the team. “Castelli is very excited to become a partner of the Cervélo TestTeam and will provide technical race clothing to the men's and women's race teams,” said Steve Smith, Director of Marketing, Castelli.

On Saturday, November 22nd and Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 the North Carolina Grand Prix will be hosted at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, NC. This is will be the 4th year of the successful UCI sanctioned cyclo-cross races held in Henderson County, NC. A fabulous course that twists and turns, allows racers to gain top notch speeds, and tests their strength riding up “The Wall” has been planned. Some of the countries’ top cyclo-cross racers will be competing for a purse of over $7,100.00.

2009 will bring a unique super elite cycling team to the US scene: an all American-driven primarily U-25 super elite team. This team will be lead and managed by Paul Martin, the current reigning 2008 Master 35-39 National Road Race Champion and 2007 Elite & Master National Road Race Champion as the General Manager and Sports Director. He is a former winner of the Elite U.S. National Road Race championship in 1997, podium finisher in both the Elite Road Race Nationals, and Elite Criterium Nationals in 2002.

Ukrainian cyclist Yaroslav Popovych has signed a two-year contract with the Astana team, which boasts seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong on its books. The 28-year-old Popovych joined up once more with team boss Johan Bruyneel whom he rode for when at the Discovery Channel team from 2005 to 2007.

FOX Racing will produce two commemorative suspension components — a special 40 RC2 fork and DHX RC4 shock — based on development that netted championship titles in men’s and women’s downhill worlds in 2009. Only 200 of each will be produced for consumers.

The maker of Stan's NoTubes wheels and tires is suing Specialized over alleged patent infringement involving Specialized's Roval wheels. The New York-based company sued Specialized in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York on Sept. 15. The suit involves the company's U.S. Patent No. 7,334,846, issued to Stanley Koziatek in February, concerning the design of tubeless rims.

The Agency for Cycling Ethics has shut down, leaving the Garmin-Chipotle, BMC and Columbia teams hustling to line up a new independent doping testing provider for their riders. ACE co-founder Paul Strauss said the California-based business concluded all its contracts last week and shut down. "Our position at this point is that we closed this year due to our financial model and we will have no further comment," he said. Garmin-Chipotle team manager Jonathan Vaughters told VeloNews the team will continue independent testing with a different provider.

It was unfortunate for Matti Breschel that his most important result so far in his young but promising career came on the same day that two Italians finished alongside him on the worlds podium in Varese, Italy. Only one journalist asked the blonde-haired Dane a question during post-race press conference dominated by over-excited Italian journalists lobbing soft balls to winner Alessandro Ballan and silver medalist Damiano Cunego.

Colors: Red, Black, Blue Sizes: Small, Medium, Large Price: $64.95 Web site: www.barmitts.com Are you a cold-weather rider? Then Bar Mitts may be of interest to you. Modeled after hang gliding mitts, Bar Mitts encase your hoods, brakes, and handlebars, creating warm neoprene pockets for your hands. This weather shield for your hands allow you to wear a thinner glove, which leads to better bike handling.

The BC Bike Race has finalized its plans to host two Singlespeed Categories in the upcoming 2009 Event (June 28-July 4th). Leader’s jerseys will be awarded in the Men’s Open and Women’s Open categories*. The BC Bike Race is a seven day epic mountain bike stage race from Victoria to Whistler on the west coast of Canada. The route passes through lush rain forests, over the Coastal mountain range and spends the majority of its time on singletrack built by mountain bikers for mountain bikers.