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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.

Riders and managers at the Tour of Spain Tuesday reacted to the rumors of Lance Armstrong's return to the sport: Johan Bruyneel (Astana general manager): We've heard the rumors starting a few weeks ago when he rode this mountain bike race (Leadville 100). Right now all we can say it's a rumor. What’s sure, if he wanted to come back, I wouldn’t say no. And I could never imagine him riding for another team. It would be here. And if he did come back, it would be to win. But right now, all I can say is that it’s rumors.

Peter Stetina stormed into the leader’s jersey Tuesday at the Tour de l’Avenir and took such a formidable lead that he could become the first American to win the race since Greg LeMond in 1982. Stetina, 21, joined a five-man breakaway that surged away in the opening kilometers of a hilly stage across the Massif Central in the 181.5km fourth stage from Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Saint-Flour. Holland’s Ricardo Van der Velde won the stage out of the breakaway, but Stetina takes a 2:27 lead over Frenchman Jerome Coppel.

Six-time Tour de France stage winner Thor Hushovd will be riding for the new Cervélo TestTeam in the upcoming season. The thirty-year-old Norwegian is the second rider to join the new team, following 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre of Spain. In addition to the six individual and one team stage victories in the Tour, Hushovd also won the green jersey in the points classification in the 2005 Tour. In 2006, he won the Belgian semi-Classic Gent-Wevelgem, and is a three-time Norwegian champion.

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Lance Armstrong’s former sporting director says reports of the American’s comeback are merely “a rumor,” and Astana’s press officer repeated his denial that the team had struck any deal with the seven-time Tour de France champion. In dismissing the story first reported by VeloNews.com, Astana’s Johan Bruyneel told Agence France Presse that it would be “difficult” for the 36-year-old American to return to the top level of the sport. Still, Bruyneel added: "If he were serious about a comeback ... myself having a team I could not imagine him at CSC or Rabobank,” he said.

Dear Readers,
I’m back in Boulder for a few hours after returning from Eurobike in Friedrichshafen, Germany and am working ahead a bit before heading off to Moab. By the time you reading this, I’ll be shepherding 100 middle school students around trails in Moab as I’ve done every third year since 1999 with Horizons K-8, a public school in Boulder of which my wife is principal.

JBV Coaching, in conjunction with Fulcrum Coaching, will be providing a new cyclocross clinic on September 13 at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston Virginia, famed as the location for the MAC series? annual season-ending race, the Capital Cross Classic. The full-day clinic will cover cyclocross techniques, tactics and procedures and is open to riders of any ability level, but is limited to just 30 future stars. Cost is $100. Interested riders can register for the Cyclocross clinic presented by JBV Coaching & Fulcrum Coaching on BikeReg.com