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Alberto Contador (Astana) went from beach bum to Spain’s best chance to win the Giro d’Italia since Miguel Indurain won back-to-back editions in 1992-93. Contador rides into Monday’s decisive individual time trial at Plan de Corones nursing a slender but significant 33-second lead to Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir).

Spain's Gustavo Cesar (Karpin Galicia) claimed the overall victory in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Sunday. Jose Leon Carrasco (Andalucia-Cajasur) took the sixth and final stage, a 122.1km run from Palleja to Barcelona. France's Remi Pauriol (Crédit Agricole) took an eight-second overall lead into the finale, but finished outside the top 10 and slipped to third overall behind Cesar and Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d’Epargne).

Susanne Ljungskog (Menikini-Selle Italia) won the Tour de l'Aude on Sunday. The ninth and final stage, a 71km leg around Limoux, went to Germany's Judith Arndt (Team High Road), who outsprinted Ljungskog and Nicole Cooke of the British national team.

Under normal conditions, Alberto Contador (Astana) claiming the maglia rosa might bring some certainty to the 91st Giro d’Italia. But there’s nothing predictable about this explosive and unpredictable race with a week still to go. The defending Tour de France champ faltered in Sunday’s six-climb, 154km 15th stage, but had just enough spin in his legs to slink into the overall lead by 33 seconds — a lead that by his own admission might be only temporary.

David Veilleux (Kelly Benefit Strategies) won Saturday's Kelly Cup criterium in Baltimore's Patterson Park. The 20-year-old Canadian outsprinted Colavita's Kyle Wamsley and compatriot Dominque Rollin (Toyota-United). Mid way through the race a seven-man breakaway formed that included Jonny Sundt and Veilluex from Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast. But with less than ten laps to go the break split and Sundt returned to the field and Veilleux was left in a four-man break. Veilleux went into the last 100 meters on Rollin's wheel then came around Rollin and held off Wamsley for the win.

Venus de Miles, Colorado’s 1st Women’s-Only bike ride is set for Sunday, August 17th, 2008.

High Road speedster Ina Yoko Teutenberg won her second stage of the Tour de l'Aude on Saturday. Teutenberg was the fastest in a group of some 30 riders that broke away on the hilly eighth stage, starting and finishing in the town of Bram. “I was a bit lucky because I was really tired after getting into the break and it was windy, too.” Teutenberg said. “Another rider went for it on the other side of the road at the finish and I thought it would be close but I finally won by about a bike length.”

How do you define an epic? It’s a noun grossly over-used by sportswriters, particularly those who write about cycling. Through the years, European journalists have described heroic deeds by brave athletes on bicycles with gushing prose that was rarely deserved. They even titled road racing’s formative years The Heroic Era.

The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic has been canceled for only the second time in its 37-year history due to heavy snow in the San Juan Mountains north of Durango. Race director Gaige Sippy told The Durango Herald that the Colorado State Patrol pulled the plug at 6 a.m. Saturday after five inches of snow fell at Durango Mountain Resort overnight, with a foot of the white stuff burying the finish line in Silverton.

Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare) swapped tears of frustration for tears of joy Saturday after winning a blockbuster stage as the overall favorites squared off up the grueling 7.7km climb to the Alpe di Pampeago summit in the 91st Giro’s first clash in the Dolomites. The 195km, two-climb stage lived up to expectations to deliver big surprises as Sella pulled away early as part of a 13-man breakaway at 13km that also included Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream-Chipotle).

The 2008 National Racing Calendar turns a page into the summer season this weekend with a trio of NRC events in New Jersey, Michigan and Maryland.

The three races

Race leader Marco Pantani with an elite group of that year's best climbers on the Alpe di Pampeago in the 1999 Giro.

The amazing way in which the Liquigas Team has gelled has been one of its strong points, and also one of the reasons for its many successes. So with this in mind, team manager Roberto Amadio announced today that Franco Pellizotti, Alessandro Vanotti and Dario Cataldo have renewed their contracts for another two years: "They’re important racers for the team. Our decision was based on technical reasons and the obvious need for continuity: the group’s unity will help to create an even better and brighter future. "

I’m going to go against the norm this week and start with the bad news. Right now I’m sitting in the Steaming Bean coffee shop in rainy Durango, Colorado, one day out from what is supposed to be my first A-priority event of the 2008 season, the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race. For those unfamiliar, the Iron Horse is among America’s longest running cycling events, this year celebrating its 37th anniversary.

Alberto Contador (Astana) is poised to become the first Spanish rider to wear the pink jersey since Juan Carlos Dominguez won the opening prologue in 2002. The only question now seems to be which day it will happen as the defending Tour de France champ enters a trio of tortuous climbing stages across the heart of the Dolomites positioned perfectly for a maglia rosa assault.

It’s unlikely that Mark Cavendish will become the peloton’s new gentleman sprinter, but he was gracious enough Friday to say thanks to Daniele Bennati for not closing down the sprint 100 meters shy of his second win in the 91st Giro d’Italia. The High Road sprinter didn’t elaborate on whether or not he also said arrivederci as he burst past his Liquigas rival in what’s fast becoming recognized as the most lethal last-second punch in the peloton.

Forget my ABC's, I want to learn about the Giro!

Masterlink Films announces the world premiere of their debut film, Road to Roubaix, documenting the most difficult and prestigious one-day road cycling race in the world.

Top-level mountain bike racing returns to Angel Fire resort in Northern New Mexico this weekend as the Mountain States Cup’s premier event, the Chile Challenge, celebrates its 20th birthday. And as a fitting double-decade present, the 2008 Chile Challenge boasts a plethora of awards and titles for both gravity and cross-country racers.