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The winner of the 2009 Tour de France mountain competition will start the Tour of Missouri next month. Team Liquigas has announced that Franco Pellizotti will be on its Missouri squad, as will Francesco Chicchi, who won the final stage of the 2008 race. “It is a great sign for the race to have the current King of the Mountain champion from the Tour de France and also a podium finisher from the Tour of Italy come to race in the United States,” said Jim Birrell, the Tour of Missouri’s race director.

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Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) won the final stage of the four-day Tour de l'Ain on Wednesday, snatching overall victory from Astana’s Chris Horner. Taaramae rode off to stage victory on the summit of the Grande Colombiere climb to finish ahead of teammates David Moncoutie and Damien Monier. Horner had started the 128.2km fourth stage in Belley with a 22-second lead on Taaramae but the American failed to defend his lead, finishing 37-seconds behind his Estonian rival on the stage.

Dear Explainer, Alberto Contador is contracted to ride with Astana for the 2010 season, but at the same time he seems confident that he will depart early. Please explain the process of escaping a contract early especially in Contador's case where Astana wants him to stay. Thanks, Arch Adams Hartwell, Georgia Dear Arch, Contador does have an existing contract with Astana and those teams thinking about inking a deal with him for 2010 have that major hurdle to cross before being able to put him on the roster.

Late in the riding season, the best ways to dress up your bike and make it feel like new include new cables and housing, new bar tape or grips, a new chain, and new tires. If you can’t afford new wheels or other components, there are little things that can make a big difference. It’s especially true for shifter and brake cables and housing. Aside from just improving the feel at the levers, actual shifting and braking performance will improve as well.

Caisse d’Epargne has one Tour de France champion who might not be coming back and another they’d love to sign up. So it goes for French-sponsored, Spain-based Caisse d’Epargne as it considers its immediate future. Óscar Pereiro and Alberto Contador are the names that Caisse d’Epargne boss Eusebio Unzue is contemplating right now.

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Maybe the best part of riding in Winter Park is that once there you won't need a car to access some 600 miles of trails - yes, 600 miles.

Time waits for no one, especially in silly season when contracts are up for grabs and riders are scrambling to secure jobs. That appears to be the case with Portuguese rider Sergio Paulinho, who was supposedly Alberto Contador’s right-hand man at Astana during July’s tumultuous and divided Tour de France.

With three of five series events complete, Kain Leonard and Darian Harvey lead the first-ever Pro Gravity Tour.

Lance Armstrong’s growing love affair with Colorado could result in the return of big-time stage racing to the central Rockies by 2011. Armstrong has been in discussions with Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter for the past few months to explore the possibility of creating a stage race that would hearken back to the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, when Colorado boasted the Red Zinger and the Coors Classic. Armstrong met with the governor Saturday for two hours over lunch to continue the dialogue.

Chris Horner (Astana) surged into the overall lead at the Tour de l’Ain in Tuesday’s 8.8km individual time trial won by none other than Alexander Vinokourov. Racing with the Kazakh national team, Vinokourov is back in the winner’s column for the first time since his two-year racing ban for blood doping during the 2007 Tour de France. The 35-year-old Kazakh was fastest on the hilly course, and showed glimpses that he’s back in fighting form. “Vino” covered the course in 9 minutes, 50 seconds; 10 seconds faster than Michiel Elijzen (Silence-Lotto).

Can I combine SRAM mountain and road components to produce hillclimb gearing?

What road wheels do you recommend for a 250-pound rider?

Can I get a Trek Madone seatcap with more setback?

Can I put a 105 compact crank on my Dura-Ace bike?

Why should I always put a spacer above my stem?

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SRAM, in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, has announced a voluntary recall of the SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links. SRAM reports that the PowerLock outer connector plate could crack during installation or early use, causing the chain to separate and leading to loss of bicycle control and possible injury. For this reason, SRAM is recalling and replacing all affected SRAM 10-Speed Chain PowerLock connector links.

American Chris Horner (Astana) narrowly missed a stage victory Tuesday morning at the Tour de l’Ain in France, but positioned himself to make a run at the overall title in the four-day French race. French rider Ludovic Turpin (Ag2r) won the morning sector of Tuesday’s two-stage schedule in a busted up sprint, just nipping Horner for his first victory of the season in the hilly stage into Lélex over the Jura Mountains. Horner crossed the line second, one second ahead of the chasing David Moncoutie (Cofidis).

Achilles had his heel, and Amber Neben has her index finger. The reigning time trial world champion, who lives in Irvine, California, has spent the last month recovering from injuries suffered July 8 at Italy’s Giro Donne, otherwise known as the women’s Giro d’Italia. The day after taking the leader’s jersey, Neben crashed on the third stage of the 10-day race while speeding down a descent at 60 kilometers an hour. The pileup resulted in a torn rotator cuff, as well as the usual cuts, bruises and road rash. Neben’s right index finger, however, took the worst battle damage.

Any tips for traveling with bikes with tubeless tires?

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It’s been a long time coming for José Rojas, but persistence paid off — the Spanish sprinter finally won his first race of 2009, taking stage 2 at the Tour de l’Ain. The oft-injured Caisse d’Epargne fastman finally got into the winner’s column in Monday’s 146.5km stage, out-kicking Belgian bomber Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) with French rider Maxime Bouet coming through third.

Should I re-glue my tubulars annually?