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More bamboo, Commencal lands in the U.S., and more

Sol Cycles growing bamboo frames

Craig Calfee's not the only one making bikes from bamboo. Princeton student and racer Nick Frey is racing this spring's collegiate season on a prototype bamboo frame. Frey and some partners plan to put the frame into (custom) production this summer, to be marketed under the Sol Cycles name. Frey's bike, a 62-centimeter, weighs 16.2 pounds built up with mostly Dura-Ace parts and Zipp 404 wheels.

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Road Racing

Quick Step’s De Jongh wins Kuurne

Quick Step's Steven De Jongh outkicked fellow Dutchman Sebastian Langeveld to win Sunday’s 61st Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in an attacked-riddled race that saw two-time defending world champion Paolo Bettini crash for the second day in a row. The mighty Quick Step train righted itself Sunday with De Jongh’s winning ride a day after missing out on the spoils against an unstoppable Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) in Het Volk.

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Road Racing

U.S. sending small squad to track worlds

Just nine American track racers will journey to the 2008 UCI track world championships, held March 26-30 in Manchester, Great Britain. USA Cycling will send sprinters Jennie Reed, Michael Blatchford and Adam Duvendeck as well as endurance riders Sarah Hammer, Michael Friedman, Bobby Lea, Colby Pearce and Taylor Phinney. Reed races endurance and sprint events.

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Road

Inside Cycling: ASO’s renegade Paris-Nice threatens pro cycling’s future

As the most profitable race promoter in pro cycling, Amaury Sport Organisation wants to dictate how the sport is run. That’s why for the past three years ASO and its surrogates have resisted substantive changes in cycling, particularly those changes involving the elite-level ProTour, which all other parties have embraced. ASO’s insurgency has now come to a head in its bid to independently promote next week’s Paris-Nice. And it appears that this time it has made one step too many.

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Road

Plaza wraps up Valencia, Petacchi takes finale

Rubén Plaza (SL Benfica) wrapped up the overall in the 66th Volta a Valenciana after finishing safely in the pack behind sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), who bolted to victory in Saturday’s final stage. Runner-up Manuel Vázquez (Contentpolis-Murcia) was left without any option to make up the five-second difference to Plaza in the mostly flat stage around Valencia while Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) settled for third overall at 21 seconds back.

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Road Racing

Attacking Philippe Gilbert soloes to Omloop Het Volk victory

Belgian rider Philippe Gilbert (FDJeux) won Het Volk for the second time in three years in the best style possible: with a dramatic solo victory. Gilbert, winner of the Belgian season opener in 2006, attacked a lead group of favorites on the Eikenberg climb with about 60km to go in the 199km course across the Belgian heartland of Flanders. [nid:72951]He then reeled in the day’s main breakaway that included Mike Friedman (Slipstream-Chipotle) and before attacking again with a punishing acceleration with 22km to go to solo home to victory.

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Road Racing

Lorenzetto wins uphill sprint in Valencia

Another stage at the Volta a Valenciana and another breakaway by a rider from Slipstream-Chipotle. For the fourth stage in a row, the American squad put a man into the main move in the five-day Valencia tour in Spain. This time it was Lucas Euser showing off the argyle with Antonio Piedra (Contentpolis-Murcia) in more than 100km at the front.

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News

VeloNews Photo Contest 2/29/08

We know it’s been a while, but our latest reader-submitted photo gallery is now ready for your viewing pleasure.

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Road

Belgian spring kicks off with Het Volk

Major changes are in store for the unofficial kick off of the classics season with Saturday’s running of the 63rd Omloop Het Volk in Belgium. Narrower roads, more cobblestones and tougher climbs are on tap for the 199km Belgian season opener in what’s always one of the most anticipated races of the year among that rare breed of racer who loves to bash the pavé.

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Road

BMC invited to ride Tour of Romandie

There’s more good news for BMC after the team secured its second major European race invitation of the week. Just days after scoring a bid to race Criterium International (March 29-30), the second-year American squad earned its first ProTour invitation from the Tour de Romandie (April 29-May 4).

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Road

McQuaid: Teams are signing away their rights

The Union Cycliste Internationale has warned teams aiming to take part in races run by the powerful race organizer ASO that “unjust” conditions in the company's contract completely eliminate fundamental rights. ASO runs a number of top events including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Nice, the week-long stage race which has become the latest bone of contention in the ongoing feud between the UCI and powerful race organizers.

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News

Cycling attorney Bob Mionske to discuss cyclists’ rights during national speaking tour

Boulder, Colorado —Nationally known cycling attorney Bob Mionske will discuss bias against cyclists and cyclists' rights at events across the U.S. this spring. These events are part of Mionske's national tour in support of his new book Bicycling & the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist. Bicycling & the Law is a complete legal reference for cyclists confronted with questions about traffic law, harassment, theft, and other common issues.

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Road Racing

Valencia stage ends in confusion

The third stage of the Volta a Valenciana ended on a controversial note Thursday as a misdirected peloton split between a highway and a frontage road in the decisive final 5km of the 166.5km climbing course around Ibi. Ruben Plaza (Benfica) stole away the leader’s jersey from José Iván Gutiérrez (Caisse d’Epargne) in one of the most bizarre mishaps in recent cycling history.

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News

Press release: Canada’s national mountain bike calendar

The Canadian Cycling Association is pleased to unveil the 2008 National Mountain Bike Calendar. Seven sites will welcome the best mountain bikers of Canada and elsewhere. On the schedule are nine Olympic cross-country events, six downhill events and two four-cross events. The season will start in Baie-St-Paul on May 11 where precious UCI points will be offered early in the season to help athletes who wish to enter a World Cup event. Since 2007, riders need a minimum of 20 UCI points in order to enter a World Cup event.

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Mountain

Early season news from the offroad world

Lopes and Ibis

Brian Lopes has a new ride for 2008 with Ibis Cycles. The 36-year-old, a four-time four-cross world champion, had been looking for a new bike sponsor since fall, when GT Bicycles let him go. Lopes will race Ibis’ Mojo carbon and SL carbon-fiber bikes, and the new Tranny hardtail.

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News

New rulebook bans caffeine for high school athletes

The NorCal High School Mountain Bike League (the League), which recently released a new rulebook for its 2008 racing season, is banning the consumption of caffeine at their competitions. This progressive stance is motivated by concerns for high school athletes’ health, as well as in response to a tremendous surge of new caffeinated energy products and related marketing seen thus far in the 2000’s.

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Road Culture

Michael Barry’s Diary: Ramping it up in Italy

After three solid off-season training camps, the entire High Road team is now racing, having initiated the season on four fronts: in California, in Portugal, in Italy and France. After being away from the races for the longest period since I was thirteen - seven months - I was happy to get the first race under my belt in Laigueglia, Italy.

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Road

Skil-Shimano moving up

Skil-Shimano, the Dutch-based continental team, seems to be one of the new darlings of ASO after receiving recent invitations to both Paris-Nice and Criterium International. The fourth-year team is a blend of aging and aspiring Europeans mixed in with Japan’s most promising talent, including Fumy Beppu, who joined in 2008 after a three-year stint with Discovery Channel. Maarten Den Bakker, one of the oldest riders in the peloton at 39, said the race invitations are welcome news.

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