Without a doubt, the cycling industry brings its “A” game to Eurobike in Freidrichshafen, Germany, each year. While the week-long Interbike show represents the American trade show scene, Eurobike elevates the entire game with larger booths, larger halls, and larger crowds that have no problem filling vast aisles. It's a bonanza for bike tech hounds sniffing out new and exotic stuff.
The strongest field to line up on American soil since February’s Amgen Tour of California will roll off Monday afternoon in St. Louis on stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri. Tour de France stars Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, Christian Vande Velde, Thor Hushovd, George Hincapie, Jens Voigt and many others will be among those shooting for stage wins or the overall in the seven-day race.
They wanted the win on home roads, but Dutch-backed Vacansoleil are still tickled pink to have a stage victory at the Vuelta a España from Slovenian ace Borut Bozic in Friday’s 175.8km wild ride into Xátiva in the sixth stage. With temperatures pushing 100F, the 28-year-old unleashed a long sprint to upset the favorites and give his underdog team a huge boost in its quest to earn an at-large bid to next year’s Tour de France, which, like this year’s Vuelta, also starts in Holland.
Australians Jared Graves and Caroline Buchanan claimed a golden double in the four-cross events at the UCI world mountain bike championships in Canberra, Australia Friday. Americans Jill Kintner and Melissa Buhl took silver and bronze, respectively, in the women's four-cross behind Buchanan. Graves and Buchanan won Australia's first medals of the championships after each went through the night session undefeated before holding firm in the medal round to claim gold at Stromlo Forest Park.
Aussies grab gold in men's and women's 4X. Americans Jill Kinter and Melissa Buhl pick up silver and bronze. U23 cross-country favorite Burry Sanders takes home rainbow jersey.
The Americans bring a highly competitive team to the 46th Tour de l’Avenir, which clicks into gear Saturday in northern France in one of the most important U-23 races of the season. The preliminary start list reveals an impressive lineup of emerging American talent, with Tejay van Garderen, Peter Stetina, Alex Howes, Daniel Holloway, Kirk Carlsen and Chris Barton leading for the Stars ‘n’ Stripes as 18 national teams line up for the race. Chris Butler and Bjorn Selander are listed as replacements.
Eurobike 2009 is as big as ever. Occupying more than ten huge halls, the show dwarfs almost anything in the industry for size, scope, and attendance. Many European brands produce goods not even distributed in the United States, so for now we’ll focus on what looks good, what’s new, and what could be hot for 2010.
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Singletrack.com's Zack Vestal made the long journey to Friedrichshafen, Germany to report from Eurobike. This is his first dispatch from Euro-Land. Take a look at what's hot. And keep coming back, because Zack is working overtime over there.
Mavic's parent company is exploring selling off the bike component brand as it struggles with manufacturing capacity and a 15 percent sales decline in the first half of this year. Amer Sports, which also owns the sports brands Salomon, Wilson, Precor, Atomic, Suunto, and Arc'teryx, said this week it is looking at ways to refocus its attention, and that may include selling off the wheel and component maker.
Last year's women's criterium held prior to the start of the Tour of Missouri has expanded this year to a four-race women's criterium series in the days leading up the men's stage race. The final event in the series, in fact, finishes on the start line of the Tour of Missouri's first stage.
Georgia Gould burst onto the U.S. mountain bike scene in 2006 and immediately dominated the sport. Three years and an Olympiad later, Gould is a legitimate contender at this weekend's World Championships in Australia.
Reigning Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez says he doesn’t expect to, but still believes he can win the Vuelta a España. That’s how Sánchez assesses things after nearly a week of racing in the Vuelta, sitting 65th at 1:09 back. “Right now I don’t see myself winning, but I know that I am capable of doing it,” Sánchez said. “It’s the same thing as trying to finish in the top 10 at the Tour; it’s one thing to think but it’s altogether something else to actually do it.”
André Greipel (Columbia-HTC) made it look easy in Thursday’s 174km fifth stage at the Vuelta a España, winning his second consecutive stage and bouncing into the race leader’s golden jersey thanks to finish-line bonuses. Wearing the green points jersey, “André the Giant” came off Tom Boonen’s wheel with 100 meters to go at the end of frenetic final 10km to catapult into the double, with the stage win and leader’s jersey to assure plenty of podium time.
In terms of roadside spectators, the opening four stages of the 64th Vuelta a España through The Netherlands and Belgium were a huge success.. “Just like the Tour de France,” some of the riders said. But the interest in North America has been minimal, at best, even though the top U.S teams Columbia-HTC and Garmin-Slipstream are taking part.