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Can stem height affect high-speed shimmy?

America’s Tejay van Garderen slotted into the top 10 on Wednesday at the Tour de l’Avenir after sneaking into the day’s winning breakaway. Van Garderen was among 13 riders to attack early in the hilly, four-climb stage across the French Ardennes in the 166.5km fifth stage. Spanish rider Jonathan Castroviejo won out of the break and Van Garderen came across the line seventh with the same time. Overnight leader Julién Bérard retained his leader’s jersey he’s worn since stage 1 after finishing safely in the main pack, which crossed the line nine seconds in arrears.

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Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) finally got his stage win on Wednesday at the 2009 Vuelta a Espana. It was a desperately long sprint for the American, racing in his third grand tour of the year. And he had to fight his way back to the lead group to do it, having been dropped on the final climb of the day, the Cat. 2 Alto Campo de San Juan. But Farrar gutted it out to take his first victory in a grand tour, crossing just ahead of Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) and Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil).

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Excess weight increases risk for a number of diseases, and the current weight epidemic is actually an overeating epidemic.

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Mark Cavendish has not left a stage race since March of last year without at least one win to his name. The Columbia-HTC sprinter handily kept that streak alive in Missouri, grabbing the first and second stages. This year Cavendish has won stages at nine stage races, including the Tours of Qatar, California, Switzerland, France, Ireland and Missouri, plus the Giro d’Italia, Three Days of De Panne and Tirreno-Adriatico. Last year he won stages at eight stage races.

Tom Zirbel (Bissell Pro Cycling) and Alison Powers (Team Type I) have been crowned as USA Cycling National Racing Calendar champions for 2009. It was the first NRC title for both. Zirbel unseated two-time defending champ Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis), taking the title with 1,127 points, just seven ahead of Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home). Sutherland finished third with 952 points.

Race leader Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) rocketed past Cervélo's Thor Hushovd on Tuesday to win stage 2 of the 2009 Tour of Missouri. It was another chaotic finale as ProTour and domestic teams butted heads in Cape Girardeau, battling to set up their sprinters in the final miles of the 112.3-mile ride from St. Genevieve. No matter. Cav' simply attached himself to Hushovd's wheel when the Cervélo man made his dash for the line, then shot past for his second consecutive win in this year's tour. The Norwegian hung on for second with Saxo Bank's J.J. Haedo third.

Garmin-Slipstream is still waiting for that elusive individual grand tour stage victory, but no one can criticize the U.S.-registered team for a lack of trying. With second to Simon Gerrans in Tuesday’s 10th stage, Canadian Ryder Hesjedal once again put the argyle jersey at the sharp end of the action at the Vuelta a España. The squad won the team time trial at the 2008 Giro d’Italia in its grand tour debut, but has since come enticingly close to a major stage win at the grand tours in two seasons at the elite level of the sport.

It was a close call for America’s Peter Stetina, who crossed the line second in Tuesday’s fourth stage at the Tour de l’Avenir and bounced into the top 10 overall. Denmark’s Troels Vinther won with a late attack that included Stetina and another rider. Vinther sprung his winning move in the final kilometer, gapping Stetina to claim the win by seven seconds. The main pack roared across the line 11 seconds slower, with French rider Julién Bérard retaining the overall lead that he’s held since an opening stage breakaway.

Simon Gerrans (Cervélo TestTeam) wasn’t included in this year’s Tour de France, but he proved to his team that he can be counted on to win in big-time races. The Aussie played it smart to take a four-up sprint out of the day’s winning 19-man breakaway to win stage 10 of the Vuelta a España on Tuesday. The win gave Gerrans a victory in every grand tour (with stage wins in last year’s Tour and this year’s Giro d’Italia) and gave his Cervélo squad a stage victory in all three grand tours in its rookie season.

Editor's Note: For more on Matt's test protocol and tools and a review of three of his favorite 29ers, see Singletrack.com. The 26-inch wheeled hardtail mountain bike is, indeed, dead. OK, so I’ve been intentionally stirring the pot this summer with that proclamation. What you’re about to read is no exception.

The last time many American fans saw Jens Voigt on television, he was sliding along the road on his face, unconscious. Many of those fans in St. Louis saw a much healthier Voigt take the start of the Tour of Missouri Monday, and gave him big cheers.

Ten-lane highways. Venti. And of course, the mere fact that there exists something called a Triple Baconator. There’s no getting around the fact that seemingly everything is bigger in America. This is noticeable the moment I got back on home soil, since the list of “everything” includes the two-hour wait I slogged through immediately after landing while creeping through customs.