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The Czech VIG+ Racing team continued its complete dominance Friday at the 2008 Crocodile Trophy with Martin Horak scoring his first stage win and fourth consecutive stage win for his team as the off-road classic reached the Australian outback town of Chillagoe. The victory will be remembered for all the right reasons, with Horak, in the most sporting of gestures, rendering assistance when his breakaway partner, Kristof Hertsens of Belgium (Team Lingier) crashed.

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Dimensions: 12x12 inches Retail Price: $13.95 Web site:www.velogear.com Also available: Inside Triathlon and IMBA calendars The 2009 VeloNews Road Racing calendar is now available at bike shops and online at VeloGear.com. The 12-by-12-inch full color calendar features images from road racing around the world. The 2009 Inside Triathlon and International Mountain Bicycling Association calendars also are now available from VeloGear.

I think it was about halfway through cyclocross race No. 2 last Saturday when cottonmouth turned to metal mouth. If you’ve raced, run or just ridden hard, you know what I’m talking about — that sickly taste that’s akin to chewing on aluminum foil or gargling pennies. It usually pops up around the same time your legs turn to jelly, your motivation evaporates and you feel like puking.

Tour de France stage winner Simon Gerrans will join up with this year's yellow jersey champion Carlos Sastre at the Cervélo team, it was announced on Friday. The Canadian outfit, which is due to join bike racing's elite in 2009, will not however be managed by Gerrans' fellow Australian, Scott Sunderland. After leaving the highly successful CSC team, which he helped to victories in Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France, Sunderland was all set to take over at Cervélo.

It’s been an interesting end of season for American pro team Garmin-Chipotle and its team manager Jonathan Vaughters. The Garmin squad saw some impressive late-season performances by Dave Zabriskie, who finished third at the world time trial championship, and young riders Tyler Farrar and Steven Cozza.

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Lees-McRae College will once again host the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, starting Friday in Banner Elk, North Carolina. The action begins Friday morning with the cross-country races held on a five-mile loop through the Appalachian Mountains. Both Division I and II men and women will compete over the varying, half-single track course, which is a permanent fixture on the Lees-McRae campus. Later that afternoon, gravity riders will attempt to qualify for the finals on the technical downhill course at Sugar Mountain Resort.

Kestrel is pleased to announce its partnership with Inviscid Design, Inc., creator of the SpeedfilTMHydration System. The partnership will provide consumers the opportunity to purchase custom Speedfil bottles to match the 2009 Kestrel Airfoil Pro SL Special Edition and Airfoil Pro SL. The partnership was first introduced at Interbike and officially launched at Ironman® World Championships; both events showed industry excitement for the unique hydration product. The custom Speedfil bottles will be sold exclusively at participating Kestrel dealers.

Mont Ventoux could play judge, jury and executioner in the 96th Tour de France in what some are already calling a climber’s course. For the 2009 Tour, officials saved the best and hardest for last, with the mighty Ventoux poised in the penultimate day of the 21-stage, 3445km route from Monaco to Paris. Tour officials, who unveiled the course to rave reviews in a ceremony in Paris on Wednesday, are hoping the race will be so tightly packed that almost anything could happen on the storied steeps of the géant de Provence.

Tomas Trunschka took a hard-fought stage win on Thursday — his second in three days — to keep the Czech team VIG+ Racing atop the leaderboard in the 2008 Crocodile Trophy. The Czechs attacked early in the 122km stage from the rainforest of Koombooloomba Dam to the outback cattle station at Gunnawarra Lagoon. Martin Horak got the ball rolling when the lead bunch entered the mountainous, technical powerline track, which has claimed many victims in this race. [nid:84540]

The Crank Brothers U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross celebrates its fifth anniversary this Saturday as the six-race series kicks off in Louisville, Kentucky. The October 24-25 Papa John’s Derby City Cup presented by Toyota will once again be held at Champions Park, a former private golf course just east of downtown Louisville. Both races boast UCI C2 status. In 2007, Louisville debuted as a stop on the USGP, a move that brought Kentucky’s its first UCI cyclocross race. The decision to expand into an untraditional cyclocross market irked many riders and fans.

Due to the start time of a live football game being rescheduled on Saturday, the first showing on October 25 has been moved to 2:00 p.m. MT on Saturday (not 5:30 p.m. MT, as originally announced). The race is being broadcast on Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network, available on cable systems in the western U.S. and on DirecTV and Dish Network in select areas nationwide.

Cervélo TestTeam is pleased to announce the signing of Simon Gerrans of Australia, Martin Reimer of Germany, Inigio Cuesta and Xavier Florencio of Spain as well as Gabriel Rasch of Norway.

Team Liquigas’ Ivan Basso will make his return to pro racing on October 26th at the Japan Cup on fi’zi:k’s new Antares road saddle. The new light-weight, low profile saddle introduced at the fall Eurobike and Interbike shows with a scheduled November aftermarket release, has been on his Cannondale Supersix since mid-August.

The Italian professional cyclists association is calling for a lifetime ban for pro riders caught doping. In a letter sent to UCI President Pat McQuaid, the ACCPI said "lifetime bans should be introduced as an extreme solution to give cycling back its credibility." The letter said cyclists who cooperate with authorities should be offered the chance to race again after shorter bans. The letter was signed by ACCPI President Amedeo Colombo and the association's secretary, former world champion Gianni Bugno. The letter:

Dear Mr. McQuaid,

USA Cycling announced today dates and locations for the eight domestic events slated to appear on the 2008-09 UCI BMX North American Continental Calendar, as well as the 2009 USA Cycling BMX National Championships. For the first time, UCI Continental Calendar events in the United States will be contested at American Bicycle Association (ABA) affiliated tracks. The ABA will also host the third-annual USA Cycling BMX National Championships, which will return to Metroplex BMX in Desoto, Texas on March 21.

Following the recent announcement of Team Inferno developing into Kenda Pro Cycling presented by Spinergy for the 2009 season, two more exciting additions have also been added to the team: U25 cycling sensation Jonathan Parrish, and new sponsor Traveler’s Insurance.

Cycling BC is proud to present the first annual Cycling BC Coaches Conference on November 22, 2008. The conference will welcome coaches from across the province and throughout the Pacific Northwest. The aim of the conference is to provide coaches with a forum to discuss topics relevant to performance and development of the sport. The theme of this year’s conference is: Innovative Coaching: New Approaches to Cycling Success Program 10:00-10:15 Introduction and Sign In. 10:15-11:00 Richard Wooles: The Cycling BC athlete development model 11:00-11:15 Break

BC Bike Race - The Ultimate Singletrack Experience has joined forces with IMBA - the International Mountain Bicycling Association. This partnership represents a unified goal of acquiring, maintaining and developing mountain bike trails both globally and locally. BC Bike Race (BCBR) is an epic seven day mountain bike race from Victoria to the future Olympic town of Whistler. IMBA is an advocacy group who creates, enhances and protects great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide.

Cycling fans and friends of Garmin-Chipotle pro Tyler Farrar are sending best wishes to the Farrar family after his father, Dr. Ed Farrar, suffered a serious spinal injury from a bike-car collision in Wenatchee, Washington, on Wednesday. Dr. Farrar, an orthopedic surgeon, was in "undetermined" condition at Central Washington Hospital Wednesday night, according to the Wenatchee World newspaper.

I’ve often written in this column with my perspective on the aftermath of bike-on-car collisions. This week, I’ve got a different perspective to share ? the perspective of a cyclist who was actually involved in a bike-on-car collision. On July 26, 2007, racers Diana Panchyk and Matthew Barrowclough were on a training ride when they were struck from behind by the mirror of a truck that passed too close. Fortunately, they survived the collision, although they both suffered serious injuries.

What’s most clear from Wednesday’s announcement of the 2009 Tour de France is that the winner will have to maintain top form from the very first day in Monaco on July 4 to the finish in Paris on July 26.

Lance Armstrong says the 2009 Tour de France route, unveiled Wednesday, is "innovative and very interesting" and he said he looks forward to negotiating with Tour officials about "a mutually beneficial future together." In the statement released Wednesday afternoon, Armstrong appeared to be a bit ambivalent about whether he would ride the Tour next year.

Statement from Lance Armstrong on the 2009 Tour de France route announcement For immediate release “The route of the 2009 Tour de France strikes me as innovative and very interesting. From its start in Monte Carlo with a 15k time trial, to the reinstatement of the team time trial, to stages in my old hometown of Girona all the way to another visit to my old friend the Ventoux, I could not have hoped for a different Tour.”

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Colorado’s Summit County has granted provisional approval for a six-day endurance mountain bike stage race in Breckenridge for 2009. The “Breck Epic,” is tentatively scheduled to run from July 5 to the 10th. Mike McCormack, former director of the Mountain States Cup, is spearheading the Breck Epic’s organization. McCormack said the last hurdle the race needs to clear is approval from the United States Forest Service.

A lot of similar questions come along when you’re out at the races. One question I hear frequently is some variation of the famous “How do you know when you’ve made it big?” I usually give a good P.C. answer and move along, because who really knows the answer to that question!? It’s something I’m too humble to try answering. But two weeks ago, it stunned me, even jolted me. It was right there in front of me. I came up over the horizon to the parking lot on a nice Sunday in Ohio and I had my own big orange parking cone with my last name on it! [nid:84490]

Canadian Wendy Simms currently sits atop the Women's UCI cyclocross rankings with 309 points, ahead of Dutchwoman Daphny Van de Brand, who holds 300 points. Simms (Kona) successfully defended her ’07 title at the Canadian national cyclocross championships on October 11 in Edmonton. The Victoria, Canada, resident then finished eighth at the UCI World Cup opener in Kalmthout, Belgium, on October 18. Simms was the top North American finisher, male or female, at that event.

Temptation was all around during the second stage for Belgian cycling great Eric Vanderaerden as the race passed by more than a few outback watering holes. But the man who has shed 20 kilos to return to competition held steadfast against the lure of a cleansing ale, especially while the cameras were upon him. Photographed passing by the pub in the Atherton Tableland Town of Herberton, the former winner of Paris-Roubaix had his eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead and his ultimate objective of finishing the Crocodile Trophy. [nid:84454]