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Even though we focused much of our attention on the electric parts, it's worth noting that the bike was equipped with a prototype tubeless version of the 7850-C24 carbon clinchers.

The shifters in the first photo represent the newest version. We were allowed to ride an older version, like the ones used in the ProTour last year.

The slickest item in the group is the auto-trim function of the front derailleur. The computer knows to trim the front derailleur when the rear is at either extreme end of the cassette.

The first thing people might ask of Shimano’s Electric Di2 drivetrain is: What’s the weight penalty? There isn’t much. The group is roughly 60-grams lighter than the 7800 Dura-Ace group and only 60-grams heavier than the new 7900 group.

Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City, Nevada, has, for the past few years, played host to the traditional opening round of the Interbike Bicycle Trade Show in Las Vegas, offering two days of demo riding before the whole thing moves indoors to the vast Sands Convention Center. VeloNews’s Lennard Zinn and Matt Pacocha were there to get a first-hand opportunity to try out an array of new products, including Shimano’s Electric Dura-Ace group.

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Interbike, the largest bicycle trade show in the U.S., opened Monday with the first of two days of outdoor bicycle testing at Bootleg Canyon, a park about a half hour outside Las Vegas, Nevada. After the demos in Boulder City, the show will continue with three indoor days at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas.

Although he could potentially earn his third successive rainbow jersey in the individual time trial, Olympic medalist Fabian Cancellara has announced that he will skip this week's world cycling championships in Varese, Italy. "I lack the force," the 27-year-old time trial king wrote on the Swiss Cycling Federation’s Web site. "You can't win races with passion alone." Cancellara, who has won the past two world time trial titles, was among the favorites to win the race against the 43.7-kilometer race against the clock on Thursday.

The chance of making history by winning a third consecutive road race crown at cycling's world championships this week has been keeping Paolo Bettini dreaming all summer. But at the men's road race on Sunday, September 28, the energetic little rider known as the 'Cricket' will need to outmuscle, and outfox, at least three potential rival teams aiming to bring home the coveted rainbow jersey. And one rider in particular, Tour de France points winner Oscar Freire, who has arguably more reason than the Italian to push his legs that extra mile.

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Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers of Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com played the numbers on Kona's Ryan Trebon at Sunday's Rad Racing GP in Tacoma, Washington, with Johnson coming away with the win in a two-up sprint. Wendy Simms (Kona) won the women's race after dropping Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale.com) in the final lap. The cyclocross race followed Saturday's nearby Star Crossed event in which Powers was able to get the better of Trebon after the Kona rider crashed in the last lap.

With his third grand tour victory in barely a year, Alberto Contador has quickly grown from cycling’s boy wonder to the peloton’s new alpha male. The 25-year-old Spanish climber lived up to expectations to win the 63rd Vuelta a España to complete cycling’s “triple crown” and becomes just the fifth rider to win all three grand tours.

Vuelta a España director Victor Cordero called the 63rd edition of the Spanish tour the “best in years.” “We are very satisfied to see Contador likely to win and to see the quality of racing during this Vuelta,” Cordero told VeloNews on Saturday evening. “It’s the best Vuelta in years and we hope to build on this momentum in the coming years.”

All the talk about Lance Armstrong’s comeback hasn’t tickled any thoughts of a return by Russian veteran Viatcheslav Ekimov. Now 42, Ekimov is busy enough these days working as a sport director at Astana and as a coach at the Russian national team. “I won’t be coming back,” Ekimov told VeloNews with a laugh. “I already came back once. I am finished with racing. I got it out of my system.”

The domestic cyclocross season began Saturday with a pair of upset wins under lights at the Full Speed Ahead Starcrossed event held at Marymoor Velodrome, in Redmond, Washington, near Seattle. Both the men’s and women’s victories were piloted aboard Cannondales, as Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Sue Butler (Monavie-Cannondale) emerged as underdog victors against Kona riders — Powers ahead of perennial domestic top dog Ryan Trebon, and Butler against Canadian national champion Wendy Simms.

Against the impressive backdrop of the Lehigh Valley’s South Mountain, the best of the MAC Cyclocross Series opened their 2008 season with the UCI Nittany Lion Cyclocross at Penn State University’s satellite campus in Fogelsville Pennsylvania on Saturday.

South African Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and American Melissa Buhl (KHS) won the second round of the 2008 Jeep 48Straight mountain bike series, held Saturday at the Canyons Resort in Park City, Utah. The two took wins under dark skies and rain, which muddied the racecourse. Formerly known as the Jeep King of the Mountain Series, the newly titled 48Straight events pit the world’s premier gravity mountain bike racers in a dual slalom/mountain cross hybrid event. Riders race each other twice, with the rider with the fastest combined time advancing to the next round.

Six hours before kicking off their cyclocross season at the Full Speed Ahead Starcrossed UCI cat. 2 event in Redmond, Washington, Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com riders Tim Johnson and Jeremy Powers sat down with VeloNews.com for a post-lunch, pre-nap chat on a rainy Seattle afternoon. The following day both men were headed to Tacoma for the UCI cat. 2 Rad Racing GP, presented by Kona and FSA, known for its dreaded UCI-limit 80-meter run-up. Top cross racers Ryan Trebon, Barry Wicks, Adam Craig, Carl Decker and Geoff Kabush were also expected at both races.