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Karsten Kroon (CSC) wanted to win a stage at Paris-Nice earlier this month to demonstrate he’s on track for the upcoming spring classics. He could only manage second in a breakaway stage into Sisteron, but the 32-year-old Dutch rider made up for the close call with a tidy sprint finish Tuesday in the second stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León to prove his point.

The organizer of next month’s three major spring classics named the 25 teams invited to participate in Paris-Roubaix, Fleche Wallone and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Roubaix on Tuesday. As expected, the Astana team of defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador was not included on the list issued by the Amaury Sport Organisation, the private firm that also organizes the Tour.

Our annual Buyer's Guide features some in-depth factory tours. You'll have to pick up a copy for the full story, but here are some photo outtakes from our tour of the Calfee factory in La Selva Beach, California, taken by VeloNews photo editor Brad Kaminski. Make sure to check out the Buyer's Guide to read Fred Dreier's full article on Calfee, as well as factory tours of Specialized, Masi, Primus Mootry and other builders, big and small, around the globe.

The five members of Trek-Volkswagen’s factory team, as well as members of the squad’s regional team, gathered in Moab, Utah, this month for a warm weather training camp. The group spun big miles on Moab’s famous trail systems, hitting Amasa Back, the Sovereign trail and areas of the old Tour of the Canyonlands course.

Going back to the drawing board won’t be an option for Team Australia at the end of the world track cycling championships this week. With the Beijing Olympics just around the corner, the Australians — and fellow track giants Britain and France - know it's now time to set down markers or forget dreaming about gold medal success in China this August. Australia set a blistering pace on the Athens Olympic velodrome in 2004, but for the past two years the Aussies have been playing catch-up to the new track pacesetters Britain.

Are ceramics that delicate?
Dear Lennard,
In your article on ceramic bearings in the recent VeloNews Buyers Guide I got the impression that these things were not only smooth but durable as well. As a result, I ordered a ceramic SRAM bottom bracket with the Red crankset on my new bike. To say the least, I was surprised when I read the SRAM maintenance instructions that came with it and saw the recommendation that one should disassemble and lube the bearings after every 100 hours of use and immediately after riding in the rain or wet.

Lonely Cyclist

Briton Emma Pooley won the Trophee Alfredo Binda, the second round of the UCI's World Cup, soloing to victory by more than a minute in the 120-kilometer race from Cittiglio to Varese in Italy. Pooley finished 1:08 of the field sprint, which was won by the Netherland's Suzanne De Goede, who finished ahead of former world champion Diana Ziliute of Lithuania. Pooley is now tied for first in the World Cup standings with Katheryn Curi Mattis, winner of round one in Geelong, Australia, last month.

TIME Pro Cycling extends opportunity for young riders- and seeks to line up stagiares and future team riders. TIME Pro Cycling has put together a great opportunity for U23 and last year 17-18 men of all ability levels to come together and receive expert-level input into their future cycling careers. Riders will receive valuable physiological testing, the opportunity to establish networks with athletes pursuing similar goals, and the chance to meet informally with the directors of several UCI teams.

Medalist Sports (Atlanta, Ga.), a world-wide leader in the production of professional and cause-related cycling events, has announced the following promotions and a new hire. Kelly Greene, formerly Venue Director, has been promoted to Vice President, Event Management. In her new role, Greene's responsibilities include oversight of Medalist's day to day operations of existing events, including both internal project management and external client communications. Greene started with Medalist Sports in January 2005.

Floyd Landis is expected to learn in June whether or not his appeal to a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel that concluded here Monday will overturn his positive doping test. CAS announced Monday that the closed-door hearing that began last Wednesday, breaking only on Easter Sunday, had concluded with post-hearing submissions due from both sides by April 18. Because of the time needed to study the presentations and later evidence submissions, a CAS statement said that no decision is expected before June.

The first trial involving the BALCO steroid distribution scandal that rocked athletics and baseball began in San Francisco Monday with former Olympic cyclist Tammy Thomas facing perjury charges. Thomas, who was indicted while in her second year of law school in late 2006, pleaded innocent to charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. She is accused of lying in October of 2003 to a federal grand jury looking into the BALCO affair by saying she did not take performance-enhancing drugs.

Are you tough enough for ‘de Hood? The Mt. Hood Cycling Classic and Orange Cat Events have come together to create the Tour de Hood, a two day recreational ride May 17-18, 2008 benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Mt. Hood Cycling Classic Organization. 132 miles of terrain - 14,000 vertical feet - Spectacular views - Mind-numbing climbing pain.

Alberto Contador and his Astana teammates aren’t going to the Tour de France this summer, so they look intent on winning everything else instead. Just a day after Tomas Vaitkus sprinted to victory in Holland, last year’s Tour champ surged to an impressive time trial victory to open the Vuelta a Castilla y León on Monday in northern Spain. Contador stopped the clock on the technical 9.7km course in 11 minutes, 39 seconds, just 3.6 seconds faster than Tour of California champ and Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer.

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