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Levi Leipheimer couldn’t be in Paris last week to watch the official unveiling of the route of the 2009 Tour de France, but he was certainly following the news. Like just about everyone, the Astana captain was keenly waiting for details of the 96th Tour. VeloNews caught up with Leipheimer while he was in Utah this week to gauge his reaction to the route. Here are excerpts from the interview: VeloNews: What was your first impression after seeing the route?

Cervélo TestTeam is pleased to announce that Rotor Bike Components has become a sponsor of the team.   Rotor Bike Components will supply both the men and women’s Cervélo TestTeams with Q-Rings (oval chainrings), Agilis Evo cranks and Sabb bottom brackets.   “We are very pleased to be part of this new project,” said Ignacio Estellés, Rotor CEO. “In signing our 2-year agreement Rotor commits to apply its engineering to developing exciting new products, technologies and manufacturing methods, to provide the Cervelo TestTeam with the most advanced cycling components.”  

Pinkham Notch, NH— On Saturday and Sunday, November 8 & 9, Great Glen Trails hosts the Porky Gulch Classic Stage Race, a three-stage, two-day cycling race that challenges cyclists in three distinct disciplines. The champion can claim the title of Best All Around Cyclist in New England.

International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid issued the following statement Wednesday:

“The UCI conducts a robust anti-doping programme which consists of a large volume of good quality tests leading to a corresponding number of detections. We’ve worked well with the AFLD in the past so I don’t understand why there should be any confusion as to how we implement testing on riders.

Victoria Pendleton has told 2012 Olympic Games chiefs it will be an embarrassment if women are not allowed to compete in the same number of races as male cyclists. Pendleton triumphed in the women's sprint in Beijing, one of eight golds won in an impressive total haul of 13 medals secured by the British track team at the Laoshan Velodrome. However, in China there were only three women's events on the track compared to seven for men. And that has left Pendleton feeling her achievement was "insignificant" compared to the three golds won in Beijing by British team-mate Chris Hoy.

Jeremiah Bishop (Trek-Volkswagen) and Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) won the National Mountain Bike Oktoberfest in Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday. The eight-hour cross-country race was the final event of USA Cycling’s National Ultra Endurance calendar.

The elite event capped of a weekend of four different cross-country races.

Oscar Sevilla, fresh off becoming the first non-Colombian to win the Clásico RCN in that event's 48-year history, will ride for at least two more seasons with Rock Racing. Sevilla confirmed he’ll stay with the California-based team through 2010 and is keen to return to European racing. The Spanish climber says his Rock Racing team is hopeful of receiving some invitations to compete in an expanded European calendar for 2009, perhaps including the Vuelta a España.

Dear Explainer guy,
Why is blocking such a rarely used tactic? It seems that when there is a long breakaway that teams with riders in the break do not block or slow down the chase. Why is that? More typically, these riders do not take a turn at the front. I would think it would be better if those riders took their turn at the front and slowed the pace.
Cosmo Scrivanich Hello Cosmo,
It does seem like there isn’t a lot of blocking going on in big races, but it does happen, albeit subtly.

Linus Gerdemann, the promising German hopeful who wore the yellow jersey in the 2007 Tour de France, has signed a two-year deal to join Milram. The 26-year-old, who raced three seasons with T-Mobile/Team Columbia, will give the last remaining big German squad a marquee national rider for the 2009 season. “We are very happy about the signing of Linus Gerdemann,” said team manager Gerry Van Gerwen. “After long negotiations, we can finally confirm the transfer. In Linus, we have a rider we most wanted, who will lead Team Milram in the coming years.”

There were some interesting numbers released by the professional cycling group (CPA) this week that revealed the biological passport is being implemented on a wide scale. Over the course of the 2008 season, some 6501 blood and urine samples were collected from 749 racers as part of the UCI’s effort to create a biological profile for each rider. The so-called biological passport is an ambitious anti-doping effort initiated by UCI officials, who insist that creating a biological profile of individual riders is one of the most effective tools in catching cheats.

Czech cyclist Ondrej Fojtik achieved a life’s dream Wednesday, winning the Crocodile Trophy in the most emphatic fashion possible, with a victory in the penultimate stage from Cooktown to Daintree. The General Classification of the Crocodile Trophy – as per race tradition – was decided on Wednesday. Thursday’s final stage to Cape Tribulation will not be timed.

Kozo Shimano is no longer working for the family business, where he had been employed for more than 20 years. Last Thursday was his last day with Shimano American Corp., the Irvine, California, division of the Japanese component giant. Shimano, 46, was president of the company's American division from 2000 to 2006, before switching roles to focus on bicycle and fishing advocacy and public relations. He told VeloNews on Tuesday that he could not yet talk about his departure or the next step in his career.

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Chris Hoy, who won three gold medals on the velodrome at this summer's Beijing Olympics, is launching a program to seek out and develop his successor in time for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The cyclist launched the Chris Hoy Scholarship Tuesday at Murrayshall House Hotel in Scone Perthshire, the location of the Stone of Destiny where Kings of Scotland were crowned. The project will work with companies that invest in grass roots sports and support the development of Great Britain’s future Olympians.

Weston Schempf (C3-Sollay.com) claimed his second consecutive victory in the DCCX Cyclocross Race on Sunday in Washington, D.C. The race, held on the grounds of the historic Armed Forces Retirement Home and presented by DCMTB-City Bikes, is the third in the BikeReg.com MABRA cyclocross series.

Team Type 1 has signed young Belgian all-arounder Willem Van den Eynde and re-signed Australian Fabio Calabria.  Both racers have Type 1 diabete. Calabria and Van den Eynde must constantly monitor their blood sugar and food intake while using insulin that is permitted by a the UCI's Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).  Team Type 1 Sport Director Ed Beamon said Calabria’s success in his first professional season provided the team with the confidence it can meet its stated goal to put a racer with Type 1 diabetes in the Tour de France by 2012.

Kristi Berg (Redline Bicycles) and Nick Weighall (Rad Racing-Hagens-Berman) won the sun-splashed Ft. Steilacoom cyclocross on Sunday in Lakewood, Washington. The track was dry and fast, the weather warm, and the elite women’s race a battle from the gun. Berg, Kari Studley (Velo Bela­Kona), Ingrid Spies (Recycled Cycles) and Ann Knapp (Kona) pushed and pulled each other? for four laps, with no one gaining a clear advantage.

Rock Racing’s Oscar Sevilla became the first non-Colombian in 48 years to win the RCN Classic when the Spaniard finished second in Sunday’s final stage individual time trial to secure a 40-second overall victory. Competing for the “Mayor of Tunja” composite team, Sevilla scored his fifth win of the season and his first in an international stage race since the 2006 Vuelta Ciclista Asturias in Spain. “I am particularly happy with this win because Colombia is my second home,” Sevilla said. “The people here make me feel very much at home.”

Following last weekend's USGP races in Louisville, Kentucky, Jeremy Powers (Cyclocrossworld.com - Cannondale) still leads the USA Cycling National Calendar rankings, while Sue Butler (MonaVie - Cannondale moved past Amy Dombroski into the lead of the women's rankings. The complete USA Cycling cyclocross national calendar is available on.pdf from the USA Cycling Web site. Men's USA Cycling cyclocross standings | ( Women's standings )

The 2009 Giro d’Italia looks to be shaping up into a battle of cycling’s titans, as still more big names have announced plans to race in Italy in May . With Lance Armstrong, Damiano Cunego and Ivan Basso already confirmed, 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and longtime Armstrong sidekick José Luís Rubiera are both expected to start the centennial edition of the corsa rosa. Sastre said last week that he’ll likely skip the Vuelta a España and race the Giro instead as preparation for his Tour defense.

Polishing scratched aluminum cranks, tubeless road tires and Scotch-brite pads

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HUDZ Enhancement Brake Hoods and Miles Ahead Events are joining together to produce the first annual Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show. The November 1st and 2nd event - held in the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado campus - will showcase many of the best framebuilders in the country, and allow consumers the first chance to get their hands on the latest and greatest new components and accessories shown at Interbike.

Retail Price: $199.99 Web site: www.northwave.com/usa Available: March 2009 The Northwave Aerlite SBS was first shown to the public by Gunn-Rita Dahl, who raced in it at the Beijing Olympics this summer. The sole contains carbon powder, and the shoe features a natural rubber tread, an "Ultra Y Heel Cup" and “cats tongue” material lining the heel.

Retail Price: $11.99 for a 17 ounce aerosol Web site: www.finishlineusa.com Finish Line Speed Clean is a surface cleaner that now comes in a high pressure can that allows the user to blast the dirt out of parts like derailleur cages, bearing retainers, and cleat spring housings. It also is an effective surface cleaner for rims, disc brake rotors, cogs, rings, and chains. The Speed Clean combines the effectiveness of a degreaser with the reach and drying power of a compressed air gun into one step.

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Team Milram has signed Robert Förster and Ronny Scholz for the coming season. The two German riders are the seventh and eighth riders that Milram has hired from the Gerolsteiner team, which is shutting down at the end of the season. Mlram has a total of 12 new riders coming for next season. "We have won two experienced riders in Ronny Scholz and Robert Förster, who will strengthen our team," said Gerry van Gerwen, Milram's general manage. "Ronny Scholz is very experienced and a good helper. Robert Förster will surely bring us a few wins."

It may have come by way of a gift from the Czech Republic, but whatever the case, consistent effort was rewarded again today at the Crocodile Trophy as Belgium’s Nic Vermeulen claimed victory in the race’s signature stage from Mount Mulgrave to Laura. Vermeulen, who has toiled long and hard against the Czech powerhouse VIG+ Racing over the past seven days,was in an impossible position once again, outnumberd 4-1 by the Czechs in the final kilometers of Monday’s stage.

Alberto Contador’s road to the Tour de France won’t pass through the Giro d’Italia next year. The Spanish winner confirmed this weekend he wouldn’t defend his Giro title next May and instead focus his season on trying to win a second Tour crown in three years.