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Holding a precariously small lead in the overall standings at the Tour de Langkawi for the last six days, Matthieu Sprick finally lost his hold on the maillot jaune Friday in Kuantan. Trying his hardest without result, Drapac-Porsche's young sprinter Mitchell Docker knew time was fast running out to lead the Tour de Langkawi, however briefly that now might be, and that the seventh leg could well be his last chance before Saturday’s queen stage to Fraser Hill.

It’s been the biggest race in North America for the past two years, and the third edition of the 650-mile Amgen Tour of California, held over a north-to-south route from February 17-24, will be no exception. This year’s Tour of California field includes two-time and reigning world champion Paolo Bettini and his Quick Step teammate Tom Boonen, two-time and reigning world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC), three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and U.S. national champion and defending Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer in Astana’s U.S. racing debut.

With AEG’s announcement of the start list for this year’s Amgen Tour of California comes the revelation that Rock Racing, the revamped California-based team that hired several controversial riders in the off-season, will start the race with only five riders. All 16 other participating teams have fielded the maximum of eight riders.

A pair of the country’s best known mountain bike race organizers are planning the first epic mountain bike stage race in the U.S., to be held this summer in the ski and bike resort of Brian Head, Utah. Inspired by the growth of events like South Africa’s Absa Cape Epic and Costa Rica’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores, the Brian Head Epic will be held August 21-24.

2008 Amgen Tour of California start list

Pro Tour Teams

Astana (Lux)
Levi Leipheimer (USA)
Janez Brajkovic (Slo)
Vladimir Gusev (Rus)
Christopher Horner (USA)
Serguei Ivanov (Rus)
Aaron Kemps (Aus)
Andrey Mizurov (Kz)
José Luis Rubiera (Sp)
 
Bouygues Telecom (F)
Thomas Voeckler (F)
Dimitri Champion (F)
Perrig Quemeneur (F)
Vincent Jerome (F)

Daily footage of the Amgen Tour of California will kick off Versus’ 2008 cycling coverage, which will again include many of the sport’s biggest events as well as live daily coverage of this year’s Tour de France.

David George in the 2007 Cape Epic

The Cape Epic field in 2007

Following its trend of attracting the world’s top cross-country racers, this year’s Absa Cape Epic stage race in South Africa will boast a deepened roster of elite male and female riders, including four teams from North America.

The Operación Puerto blood-doping affair, which erupted in May 2006, will be reopened, Madrid prosecutors said on Thursday. Last year the case ground to a halt when a Spanish judge ordered it closed. Prosecutors asked an appeals court to review that decision, and a ruling is expected on Friday. The prosecutors' announcement, however, is a strong indication that the court will reopen the case.

Belgians dominated the roads of Mallorca on a day when home country Spanish riders were still trying to make sense of ASO’s decision to exclude Astana and defending champ Alberto Contador from the Tour de France. Tom Boonen’s leadout man Gert Steegmans (QuickStep) bolted out of the pack with a well-timed late surge to cap a wild and wooly fifth and final stage in the Mallorca Challenge. Filippe Gilbert (FDJeux) held off a challenge from an anger-fueled Toni Colom (Astana) to claim the unofficial overall prize.

Riders and managers reacted with resignation, disbelief and even anger at the news that Astana and reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador won’t be allowed to start the Tour and other races organized by ASO. The general feeling prior to the final stage of the Mallorca Challenge in Spain was overwhelmingly in support of favorite son Contador; Spanish newspapers blasted the controversial decision, with editorials across the board demonizing ASO’s decision. Here’s a sampling of the reaction from key riders in the Mallorca peloton:

In reality, a racing season is a full year as we race in three seasons and train hard in the fourth—and, ever-so-slowly we are beginning to race through the entire year as there are an increasing number of races in late October and early January. Fifteen years ago, training camps were where teams gathered for their first rides of the new year having spent a good few months skiing, relaxing and cross training.

A defiant Alberto Contador promises to return victorious to the Tour de France in 2009. Stunned by Wednesday’s announcement by Tour-organizer ASO to exclude his Astana team from all of its races, Contador put on a brave face on the harsh reality that cycling’s marquee race won’t be part of his July plans.

The yellow jersey worn by Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom) is always protected by at least one teammate

Stuart Shaw (Drapac Porsche) brings a load of water bottles up to his teammates

Danilo Hondo (Serramenti PVC) watches as a small group goes up the road

The NGC Medical team waits patiently to be called to the line

A group of cycleball athletes performed for the crowd at the starting line

Jose Perez Serpa (Serramenti-PVC) a climber by trade takes a sprint victory in Kuala Rompin

Fabio Calabria and his Team Type 1 squad have many fans worldwide

Marco Corsini (NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte) and teammate Enrico Rossi (NGC Medical - OTC Industria Porte) take their turn at the front of the break

Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche) takes the last intermediate sprint

Chris Meschenmoser (Team Ista) with the KOM competition in hand, continued to work hard in the break

The TV crews were busy filming the break for their nightly televised coverage of each stage

The break made its way through yet another small town enroute to Kuala Rompin

Alexandre Usov (AG2r - La Mondiale) edges Peter McDonald (Drapac-Porsche) in the second intermediate sprint of the day

The feed zone shrouded in lush greenery

The cemeteries in Malaysia are all built into hillsides

There were plenty of majestic palm trees along the way to Kuala Rompin

Koji Fuchushima (Meitan Hompo – GDR) radios back to his Director Sportif as things exploded on the road

A member of the Malaysian National Team leads Koji Fukushima (Meitan Hompo – GDR) across to the early break

The peloton didn’t seem interested in moving too fast this morning as they lazily made their way out on the roadway at the beginning of stage 6

Nicolas Roche (Credit Agricole), the son of the famous Stephan Roche says a few words to the media prior to stage 6

The Cavalcade made their way out of town an hour before the start

Kurt Jambretz was in Malaysia capturing the action during the sixth stage of Le Tour de Langkawi. Not only did Matthieu Sprick hold his narrow race lead, but the fans were surprised by a sprint win by Colombian climber, Jose Serpa. See the sights and follow the action as it unfolded.

Before the race started, Jose Serpa was tipped to be a serious contender for the overall classification of the 2008 Tour de Langkawi. But with 25 teams and 150-odd riders, controlling the race is near impossible and making the right break is a bit of a lottery. So when things didn't go to plan on Day 1, he decided to tack and change course.

Ask me what was at the root of the most stressful afternoon I’ve had in a while and I’d, somewhat ashamed, have to say “The Blackberry.” Even with some crazy life happenings of late, this past afternoon spent in a hotel room in France nearly put me under. What happened you ask? I’m not sure. IT caught a virus; a bug. A glitch in the software reared its ugly head. I downloaded another third-party application IT wasn’t happy with.

It’s been two weeks since Rachel Lloyd closed out her 2007-08 racing campaign at the 2007 UCI world cyclocross championships in Treviso, Italy. Lloyd, a native of Fairfax, California, was the highest-finishing American during the January 26-27 championship weekend, crossing the line in 9th place. She briefly rode as high as third, until waning fitness from a long season caught up with her.

The exclusion of Astana from any events hosted by the Amaury Sport Organization in 2008, including the Tour de France, put Amgen Tour of California organizer AEG in an unusual situation. This year’s race kicks off Sunday and marks the first U.S. appearance by the new Astana team of defending Tour of California champion Levi Leipheimer.

Chicago Hopeless

Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) has donned the first yellow jersey of the 35th Tour Méditerranéen after winning the first stage, a 120km run between La Crau and Hyères. The 30-year-old Norwegian, winner of the green jersey in the 2005 Tour de France, outsprinted Italian Liquigas teammates Francesco Chicchi and Alberto Curtolo to take the victory.

With rain clouds threatening to dampen Wednesday’s mountainous fourth stage at the Mallorca Challenge, overnight leader Filippe Gilbert (FDJeux) wasn’t sounding too optimistic about his chances of defending his jersey. “It’s going to be too wet and dangerous. It’s not worth crashing to try to stay with the lead group in this mountainous stage,” Gilbert told VeloNews before the stage. “I already won a stage. That was the main goal for this race, along with getting ready for Milan-San Remo. I will take it easy today.”

Minneapolis, Minn., February 13, 2008 – Few teams can claim such a meteoric rise as the Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast pro cycling team. A year ago Jonas Carney was grabbing the reigns of a brand new team with a lot of goals. Fast forward 12 months and he's leading many of those same athletes plus some high performance new additions to the Amgen Tour of California.

Alberto Contador heard the bad news crackle on his earpiece early in Wednesday’s fourth stage at the Mallorca Challenge and then uncorked a rage-fueled solo attack across the rainy mountains. The 25-year-old yelled with emotion to a Spanish television camera: “Astaná, en el Tour!” he said, defiantly grabbing his jersey. “Astaná, in the Tour!”

Amaury Sport Organization, the company that owns the Tour de France announced Wednesday that the Astana team of defending champion Alberto Contador will not be invited to compete in that race or in any other event it organizes in 2008.

When Johan Bruyneel, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer and many of their Discovery Channel colleagues switched allegiance to the Astana team last fall they knew there was a risk that their new team might be excluded from events organized Amaury Sport Organisation — including the 2008 Tour de France. Now that ASO has done just that, we aren’t surprised, but like UCI president Pat McQuaid, we “can’t understand” the logic of ASO bosses Patrice Clerc and Christian Prudhomme’s decision.

Alberto Contador and his Astaná teammates might not be racing in July, but Vuelta a España officials were quick to say that the team is welcome in the season’s final grand tour. Vuelta director Victor Cordero told the Spanish wire agency EFE that the Spanish tour will not follow the lead taken by the Giro d’Italia and the Tour to exclude Astaná and said he hopes to see the team for the Vuelta start in Granada on Aug. 30.

Lost amid Wednesday’s headlines was the official release of the invited teams for the upcoming 66th edition of Paris-Nice. The “Race to the Sun” will have a strong American presence with both High Road and Slipstream-Chipotle earning bids. Twenty teams with eight riders each will take the start March 9 with a 4.3km opening prologue in Amilly. The race concludes per recent tradition on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on March 16. Route details have not been released.

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