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Fabian Cancellara’s finish-line salute at the end of Wednesday’s Olympic time trial erased any concerns that the big Swiss rider has lost his edge in the race against the clock. He rolled into the finishing straight with 33 seconds in his pocket over Swede Gustav Larsson, stopped pedaling, lifted his arm in a very un-aero fist and punched the air.

It’s not often that a domestic event strives for UCI stage-race designation, falls short on sponsorship, is cancelled and then returns the following year as the country’s highest-elevation stage race. But that’s exactly what the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah has gone through in recent years. After going national in 2006, the Tour of Utah was postponed last year when race owners determined the event was not ready due to fiscal troubles.

Toyota-United's Canadian strongman Dominique Rollin won the 2008 Rochester Omnium after winning the rain-soaked Twilight Criterium and coming in second in the opening time trial of the three-stage event. Rollin, a Tour of California stage winner and former Canadian national champion, also scored points in the road race to lock up an overall win over BMC's Tony Cruz, who won the 101-mile road race.

Tony Martin (Columbia) won the second of two stages on Tuesday in the Tour de l'Ain while teammate Linus Gerdemann retained the leader’s yellow jersey. Martin won the 8.9km time trial in the town of Saint-Genis-Pouilly, crossing the line in 10 minutes and 17 seconds. Gerdemann finished second at 10 seconds back with David Moncoutie (Cofidis) third at 18 seconds.

Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo has been banned for two years after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal by the UCI, the Lausanne-based court said on Tuesday. Mayo tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO on July 24 during last year's Tour. However, the Spanish national federation refused to discipline Mayo, saying the testing process at laboratories in Paris and Ghent, Belgium, was flawed. The UCI appealed, and a CAS panel of three lawyers decided EPO was present in Mayo’s urine.

The Olympic peloton returns to the Juyongguan Pass sector of the Great Wall on Wednesday for a 23.5km individual time trial that has its ups and downs. The circuit, which features a climb and descent just beneath the wall, proved the pivotal point in the weekend's road races and will decide the victors once again on Wednesday. It begins with the gradual 12.5km climb up Badaling Pass, which averages just 4 percent as it winds to the summit. The ensuing descent, on a wide-open highway and into a headwind, is for power riders. Men race two laps, women one.

Editor's Note: In the last two weeks, VeloNews.com has published letters from pro racer Fred Rodriguez, urging his fellow pros to vote for Michael Ball for the position of at-large member of the USPRO Board of Trustees and a letter from Team Type 1 director Ed Beamon, who is running against Ball for the position. Today we are publishing a letter from Nick Reistad of the Jelly Belly team, who is running for the USPRO rider representative position. Other candidates and supporters are welcome to submit letters.

Dear Lennard,
Why would changing a tire on a Zipp 530 be so difficult? I beat my fingers and snap tire levers trying to get a tire off.
Steve Dear Steve,
It’s a good question, but one I thought might be best answered by the folks at Zipp.
Lennard

It’s easy to spot recently arrived journalists in Beijing. They’re the ones haunting the hotel lobby at 3 a.m., emailing like mad to fill the jet-lag time after a 12-hour trans-Pacific flight. By mid day, there is a crowd of new arrivals milling around the information desk at the Main Press Center (MPC), all clutching tattered maps and Chinese-English translation cards as if their lives depended on it. Around 4 p.m., the new recruits make a run on the coffee machines. Or they simply slouch in their chairs and nap. Many drool.

UCI president Pat McQuaid has called for more support from the World Anti-Doping Agency following comments by WADA president John Fahey which placed doubt on cycling's future at the Olympics. WADA chief Fahey said Monday that cycling was among several sports, including weightlifting, that risked their Olympic futures if they continue to be plagued by doping. McQuaid, speaking a day after it was announced that Spanish cyclist Maria Isobel Moreno had tested positive for EPO (erythropoietin), admitted that cycling has been left with an unwelcome legacy.

The 2008 USA Cycling Elite Nationals concluded Sunday in Orange County, California, with the men's elite, U23 and Junior 17-18 road races. U23 Road Race

Get your team ready for this year’s Subaru 24-Hour Champion Challenge. In its ninth year, the mountain biking event combines recreational fun and a challenging adventure, while creating good-natured competition for teams of friends, co-workers and individual racers who compete for prizes and glory.

Alpha Q/True Temper, makers of super premium carbon forks, bars and stems ridden to victory by countless racers, has joined CrossVegas as a supporting sponsor. The international caliber cyclocross race takes place September 24th in Las Vegas during the Interbike tradeshow.

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