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New stuff from Shimano, Fulcrum and Giant
Giant unveils prototype TCR
Team High Road is starting the Amgen Tour of California on prototype Giant TCR Advanced frames, as the company continues a long-term relationship with the team once known as T-Mobile. The California tour will give the bikes their first public showing.Flat route favors Wiggins and Cancellara?
For the first year, the Amgen Tour of California is opening with a dead-flat prologue, a 2.1-mile runway down University Avenue in Palo Alto into Stanford University. World and Olympic individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins and world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara are among the favorites. On paper, the sub-five-minute format has Team High Road’s Wiggins written all over it —it’s virtually the same duration as an individual pursuit effort.
Ivanov wins Tour de Langkawi
Ruslan Ivanov, a man who for two years believed his career was over, has resurrected himself with overall victory at the Tour de Langkawi.
George Hincapie sprints to the finish line of the Prologue at the Tour of California
George Hincapie sprints to the finish line of the Prologue at the Tour of California
David Millar did a trainer ride the evening before the Amgen Tour of California’s prologue
David Millar did a trainer ride the evening before the Amgen Tour of California’s prologue, in which he and teammate Bradley Wiggins are heavily favored.
Most of the CSC bikes had stock Shimano Dura-Ace pulley wheels
Most of the CSC bikes had stock Shimano Dura-Ace pulley wheels on the rear derailleurs, but a few TT bikes, such as Stuart O’Grady's and Jason McCartney’s, were running FSA's ceramic bearing pulley wheels.
CSC mechanic Roger Theel said he didn’t know who made the custom chainring for Julich
CSC mechanic Roger Theel said he didn’t know who made the custom chainring for Julich, who has often favored the elliptical rings for time trials. An Ultegra derailleur is used because Theel couldn't get the funky rings to work with a Dura-Ace model, he said.
Cipo’s TT rig getting put together.
At the 2007 Interbike, Cipollini promoted Max Lelli’s new line of frames. No word on who is making these frames.
Mavic Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels
Mavic has 6 pairs of the Cosmic Carbone Ultimate wheels to support its sponsored squads at the race, Health Net-Maxxis and Saunier Duval-Scott.
Tour of California pre-race gallery
The evening before the prologue of the third annual Amgen Tour of California, mechanics scrambled to assemble the hundreds of bikes that will be raced over the next eight days. VeloNews took a stroll around the parking lot of the race hotel for a perspective on what's happening.
Protest, bike thefts mar inaugural Grosseto tour
The second stage of the inaugural Tour of the Province of Grosseto on Saturday wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty. First, riders refused to contest the final sprint, calling the finishing straight too narrow and dangerous. So instead of barreling headlong down the sprint, the peloton rode at a snail’s pace across the line in protest, leaving Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) in the leader’s jersey going into Sunday’s third stage.
Duque digs for stage win at Med Tour
The sprinters were back in their element in Saturday’s fourth stage at the Tour Mediterranean with Colombian Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) snagging the victory. Duque is unique that he’s fast in the flats while most of his compatriots do best when the road heads uphill. A day after Alexandre Botcharov (Crédit Agricole) climbed his way into the leader’s jersey atop Mont Faron, Duque out-duked French fast man Jimmy Casper (Agritubel) with Belarussian Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJeux) coming through third in the 152km fourth stage between Saint-Cannat and Marignane.
Sevilla, Botero and Hamilton will not ride
It may be the smallest team to line up for the Amgen Tour of California, but Rock Racing has managed to be the biggest story on the eve of this country’s largest stage race. Team owner Michael Ball announced late Saturday that the team would start only five of the eight riders on the roster he had submitted.
Ball: It’s all or nothing
Rock Racing team owner Michael Ball insisted Saturday that his team will start with all eight of the riders whose names he submitted to race organizers — including Tyler Hamilton, Oscar Sevilla and Santiago Botero — or none at all. “We live as a team, and we’ll die as a team,” Ball said.
Fast and Furious: California hosts best-ever sprint contingent
He’s done it two years running, but scoring a pair of stage wins will be tougher than ever this year for J.J. Haedo. CSC’s big Argentinean sprinter currently holds the record for career Amgen Tour of California stage wins at four. This year he will have no fewer than three current and former world champion sprinters to deal with in the form of Paolo Bettini (2006-07), Tom Boonen (2005) and Oscar Freire (1999, 2001 and 2004).