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Lance Armstrong’s comeback could keep José Luís “Chechu” Rubiera on the bike for another year. The 35-year-old Spanish rider was planning on retiring at the conclusion of the 63rd Vuelta a España, but now he’s considering racing one more season to be part of Armstrong’s planned return to competition in 2009.

Lance Armstrong’s comeback seems to have fueled ambitions in others who’ve hung up the cleats but are now having second thoughts. Dutch rider Michael Boogerd and Spanish climber Joseba Beloki both say they’re open to returning, but Jan Ullrich says he isn’t interested in re-entering the fray.

Columbia’s Edvald Boasson Hagen took his second consecutive stage win of this year’s Tour of Britain with a late surge 700 meters before the finish line in Dalby Forest, holding off breakaway companions Matt Goss (CSC-Saxo Bank) and Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes-Ballan) as the field closed in. The Norwegian had earlier showed his excellent time-trialing skills by bridging a 12-second gap from the peloton to join three other breakaway riders as the race paced through Beverley.

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Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) jumped with 300 meters to go on a rising finish into rainy Suances to fend off an attacking Alberto Contador on Thursday to win for a second time in the 63rd Vuelta a España. Bettini, who won on a similar finish into Toledo in stage 6, fended off compatriot Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) in a wild and wet stage into northern Spain that saw Alejandro Valverde’s podium chances fade when he lost more than three minutes.

Germany's Stefan Schumacher, who won both time trial stages of this year's Tour de France, has signed a two-year contract to ride for Quick Step next season, it was announced on Thursday. With his previous team Gerolsteiner set to disband at the end of the year, the 27-year-old, who won a bronze medal winner at the world road championships in Stuttgart last year, is delighted to sign for the Belgium-based outfit.

Floyd Landis is planning to return to the peloton in 2009 after completing a ban for doping during the 2006 Tour de France, according to a report on ESPN.com. The 32-year-old American is in discussions with a team run by the Momentum Sports Group, owner and operator of the Health Net-Maxxis squad, the sports network reported.

Just days since announcing his plans to return to the European road peloton, Lance Armstrong will compete in the inaugural 12 Hours of Snowmass cross-country mountain bike race on Sunday, September 14. Nat Ross, race director for the event, confirmed Armstrong’s participation, saying the seven-time Tour winner will race as part of a three-man team at the event.

The organizer of the ING DIRECT Capital Criterium powered by CycleLife announced Wednesday that Garmin Chipotle rider Christian Vande Velde, fifth place overall finisher in this year’s Tour de France, will be among riders competing for more than $50,000 in prizes in the Washington, D.C., race scheduled for September 21. The field competing for the big money purse, which will also feature $5000 worth of ING DIRECT Orange Saving account primes, is a star-studded cast representing America’s most decorated teams and riders.

As with elsewhere in the cycling world, there are a number of opinions at the Tour of Missouri about Lance Armstrong’s comeback. Here are those of three men with managerial roles at the top of the sport.

Bob Stapleton

The world championships are still more than two weeks away, but the big dogs are starting to hit their fighting form. Wednesday’s hot and windy 11th stage at the Vuelta a España across the meseta looks nothing like the undulating roads around Varese the pros will square off on Sept. 28, but a thrilling finish-line duel between Tom Boonen and Oscar Freire gave a titillating preview of what’s waiting.

Australia's Stuart O'Grady has inked a new deal with CSC that will keep him with the Danish outfit for another two years, the team announced Wednesday. O'Grady, one of the most successful Australians in the peloton and a former winner of the tough Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, was thought to be winding down towards eventual retirement. However, the 35-year-old Adelaider admitted the lure of another two years with one of the world's most successful teams was too enticing to pass up.

Racing just a few hundred miles from his team sponsor’s headquarters, Garmin-Chipotle rider Christian Vande Velde won the Tour of Missouri’s difficult stage 3 time trial and is poised to take overall victory when the race finishes in St. Louis on Sunday.

An expanded and upgraded MAC series is ready to begin its 2008 cyclocross campaign. With an increase in prize money, races and UCI points, the MAC Series is continuing to build on its reputation as America’s premier regional cyclocross series. Also expanded this year is MAC’s geographic reach. With the inclusion of the Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup, the series now stretches from the tip of Long Island to the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC, a distance almost exactly equal to the length of Belgium and The Netherlands combined; and home to more than 32 million people.

Suggested Retail: $36.95 Weight: 2.3 grams ea. Dimensions: 2m x 1.2mm Web site: www.powercordz.com The PowerCordz 1.2mm Derailleur Cordz Set includes what the company says are the lightest derailleur cables in the world, tipping the scale at 2.3 grams each, about a quarter the weight of steel cables.

When the start gun fires at the inaugural San Francisco Twilight Criterium on Sept. 13, it will unleash some of the most powerful racers on the continent onto Union and Fillmore Streets. In the pro women’s race, Webcor Cycling Team has lined up its best talent for the challenge, including two Olympians and national champions.

Four American Olympic track cyclists want an apology from the United States Olympic Committee for its actions in the wake of their decisions to wear protective facemasks in Beijing last month. On August 4 Americans Sarah Hammer, Jennie Reed, Mike Friedman and Bobby Lea all stepped off their flight at Beijing’s Capital International Airport wearing black masks to protect against Beijing’s air pollution. The masks were issued to the cyclists from the sports science department of the USOC.

A challenging uphill final stretch made for an exciting stage finish to day four of the Tour of Britain, as Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Columbia) came from behind to beat breakaway companion Giairo Ermeti (LPR Brakes - Ballan) on the line in Stoke-on-Trent. Race leader Emilien Berges punctured with around 7k to go, losing over a minute and dropping to ninth place overall. Teammate Geoffroy Lequatre inherited the yellow jersey going into Thursday's stage in Yorkshire. Ben Swift won all of the day’s three E.ON King of the Mountains climbs to overtake Kristian

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The possible arrival of seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong to Astana could complicate Alberto Contador’s plans to win his second Tour crown. If the 2007 Tour champion is quietly cursing Armstrong’s imminent comeback, however, he certainly isn’t giving anything away publicly. The Spanish climber said Wednesday that Armstrong would be welcomed with open arms if the Texan rejoins his former sport director Johan Bruyneel at Astana.

Even Johan Bruyneel doesn’t know where Lance Armstrong is going to race next year in his comeback season. The Belgian director - who led Armstrong to seven consecutive Tour crowns - said the news of Armstrong’s return caught him by surprise, but he’s already greasing the wheels for his return to Astana. “I spoke with him yesterday and he hasn’t decided anything,” Bruyneel said before the start of Wednesday’s stage. “Considering the relationship that we have, we would not permit him to race with another team. There’s no way.”

Lance Armstrong will be able to compete in next year's Tour de France as long as he fully submits to the latest anti-doping controls, the race's director Christian Prudhomme said on Wednesday. The 36-year-old American rocked the world of cycling on Tuesday by confirming that he was planning an audacious comeback with a view to winning a record eighth Tour de France next summer.

Ritchey Design will show a new high-end carbon wheelset — developed with Lew Racing — at the Interbike Expo in Las Vegas later this month. The Superlogic Carbon road wheelset marks Ritchey's first move into the high-end carbon wheel category and includes patent pending, exclusive rim technology from Lew Racing. Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Ritchey said the wheel will include Ritchey World Championship Series (WCS) front and rear hubs mated with Lew rims and DT Swiss bladed spokes.

“A Dog in a Hat is the most authentic book ever written about making a living as a pro cyclist in Europe.” —Bob Roll, Versus TV cycling commentator

Crédit Agricole couldn’t imagine a better going away present than a stage victory Tuesday in the 63rd Vuelta a España in what’s its swansong grand tour. The long-standing French team — set to fold at the end of the 2008 season after a new sponsor couldn’t be found to replace the departing French bank — earned a rare bunch sprint victory with French veteran Sébastien Hinault.

There were no surprises in Springfield. With his second consecutive field-sprint victory at the Tour of Missouri, a mad dash to the finish line in the university town of Springfield, Columbia phenom Mark Cavendish extended his 2008 win streak to 16 road victories as well as a world Madison championship on the track. Additionally, the 23-year-old from the Isle of Man — also known as a Manxman, or, in street slang, a “Manxsta” — has now won multiple stages at this year’s Giro d’Italia, Three Days of De Panne, Tour de France, Tour of Ireland and the Tour of Missouri.

To read the full article, please visit: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/09/armstrong200809 In a VF.com exclusive, Lance Armstrong tells historian and Vanity Fair contributor Douglas Brinkley that he’s “one hundred percent” going to compete in the Tour de France next summer. “I’m going back to professional cycling. I’m going to try and win an eighth Tour de France,” the anti-cancer crusader and seven-time Tour winner says.

Statement by Lance Armstrong Regarding Global Cancer Fight and His Return to Professional Cycling AUSTIN, Texas – September 9, 2008 – Today, Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor, founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) and cycling champion, released the following statement regarding his return to professional sports:

Emilien Berges (Agritubel) won the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Tuesday, taking the overall leader's yellow jersey from Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes-Ballan). Berges broke away from eight other escapees on the flat run into Burnham, crossing the line just ahead of his teammate Geoffroy Lequarte. Italian Gabriele Bosisio (LPR Brakes-Ballan) finished third.

In a statement released Tuesday afternoon and in an article published on VanityFair.com, Lance Armstrong confirmed VeloNews.com's Monday report that he will return to professional road racing in 2009, including making a run at winning an eighth Tour de France.