All Content

Sturgis ain't just for the hogs. Yes, South Dakota's Black Hills are the home of a huge Harleyfest, but they also boast sweet singletrack and feature festivities for the fat-tire set.

Columbia-HTC will bring sprinter Mark Cavendish, time trialist/GC rider Michael Rogers and strongman George Hincapie to this year's Tour of Missouri, the race announced Wednesday. Cavendish won three stages at Missouri last year, and Hincapie won the overall title in the race's first edition in 2007. The race is being held Sept. 7-13 this year. “I really enjoyed Tour of Missouri last year," Cavendish said. "Cycling fans in America are genuinely enthusiastic about watching us race, which makes for a great atmosphere.”

What a week it’s been for Euskaltel-Euskadi. First, its captain and Tour de France stage-winner, Mikel Astrarloza, pops positive for EPO in a pre-Tour doping control, some nasty business that raises questions about the team’s future, not to mention its ethical integrity. Then Igor Antón wins Sunday’s Urkiola climbing race in the heart of Basque Country to remind everyone that the “orange tide” isn’t going down without a fight.

Norwegian ace Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) won the fourth stage of the Tour of Poland on Wednesday after outshining teammate André Greipel in a sprint finish. Greipel, wearing the race leader's jersey, finished second on the 239.7-kilometer stage from Naleczow to Rzeszow but was later relegated by race officials after impeding the sprint of Australia's Allan Davis.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Time is still marching on
Dear Explainer, I was happy to see that the Tour de France reintroduced the team time trial to this year’s race. It raised a question that has bothered me for a long time, though. While I understand that teams are assigned the finishing times of the fifth rider to cross the line, what happens to those riders who finish behind the fifth rider? More importantly, what happens to teams that, for whatever reason, have to start the TTT with fewer than five riders? Jonathan Bergner Washington, D.C.

Alexander Vinokourov is back from his two-year doping ban, but his immediate future is anything but certain. In fact, the only thing certain about the charismatic Kazakh rider and his racing plans is shrouded in uncertainty. Besides a few vague public comments, almost no one is willing to go on the record to answer some basic questions on whether or not Vinokourov will be racing in an Astana jersey, a sure sign that something is cooking.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

FatCyclist.com, in partnership with Shimano and Orbea, is holding a fundraiser to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). The winner of the ten-day (August 4 - 13) contest will become the owner of a true dream bike: an Orbea Orca or Diva (winner's choice), outfitted with the Shimano Di2 group and PRO components, a retail value of approximately $9,600.

Some experts believe that poor vitamin D status can often be a problem among athletes, and affect your overall health and ability to train.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Steve Hed has never approached business in a conventional way. When he first met his wife, Anne, she was a struggling young triathlete who wanted to race the Ironman. She went into Grand Performance bike shop in Minneapolis because she’d heard that its owner often helped triathletes with expenses. Her heart sank when the barefoot guy covered in grease in the back of the shop turned out to be Steve Hed, the shop’s owner, but she asked anyway.

This is one tallboy you can't guzzle, but Santa Cruz's venture into the world of 29ers with the carbon Tallboy is sure to instill a buzz.

Roman Kreuziger's recent strong performances at the Tour de France, Tour of Switzerland and the Clásica San Sebastián have moved him up to third on the UCI World Ranking, just behind the much-more-heralded Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. Kreuziger, a 23-year-old with Liquigas, was ninth overall at the Tour de France, and third at the Swiss Tour (which he won in 2008). His second at San Sebastián, behind Quick Step's Carlos Barredo, moved him up from fifth to third in the new rankings released this week.

Teams are already releasing preliminary start lists for the upcoming Vuelta a España (August 29-September 20) and Rabobank will bring a strong team with sights on overall victory and stage wins. The Dutch outfit released 10 names for the Spanish tour and will look to Robert Gesink, who crashed out of the Tour de France with a fractured wrist in stage 5, to take aim for the final podium.

Mikel Astarloza – the Basque climber who facing allegations that he took the banned blood booster EPO – says he never doped ahead of the 2009 Tour de France. Astarloza, winner of stage 16 and 11th overall in the this year’s Tour, is facing a possible two-year ban after urine samples taken in an out-of-competition control June 26, but strongly declared his innocence in an emotional press conference Tuesday.

Carbon mid- and deep-section wheels are all the rage in road racing, and for good reason. A deep aerodynamic profile helps slice through the wind, and using carbon as the rim material helps keep weight to a minimum. Most high-end deep section carbon wheels have that perfect blend of light weight and improved aerodynamics.

Organizers promise some surprises in the third edition of the all-new Tour of Missouri, which kicks off on Labor Day in St. Louis and concludes a week later in Kansas City. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) won last year’s edition, while George Hincapie (Discovery) triumphed in the inaugural event, and race director Jim Birrell says it will take a strong man to win the 2009 tour, too.

Italian Angelo Furlan (Lampre-N.G.C.) dominated a sprint finish to win the second stage of the Tour of Poland Monday. Furlan beat Belgian Jurgen Roelandts (Silence-Lotto) and Argentina's Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) to take the victory in the 219km stage between Serock and Bialystok. Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil), the winner of stage was, retained the overall lead despite a tie on time with Furlan, whose teammate David Loosli sits third overall at one second back. Tuesday’s stage 3 is a 225,1km leg from Bielsk Podlaski to Lublin.

Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) took aim at a first-ever World Cup win and hit his target in round 6 of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, held Sunday in Bromont, Quebec. Lene Byberg (Specialized) also took her maiden World Cup win, thanks to power, prowess and an 11th-hour tire switch when she decided that mud would become a factor.