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The 58th Jayco Herald Sun Tour, Australia’s second-largest stage race behind the Tour Down Under, takes place in Victoria from October 11-17, beginning in Ballarat on Sunday and ending in Melbourne six days later. Confirmed teams include American squads Garmin-Slipstream, led by Bradley Wiggins, Bissell, led by Ben Jacques-Maynes, Jelly Belly, led by Brad Huff, and Rock Racing, led by Ivan Dominguez.
Caisse d’Epargne’s Daniel Moreno won the fourth stage at Mexico’s Vuelta a Chihuahua Thursday, as Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) increased his lead in the overall standings with a third-place finish on the day. Sevilla finished 19 seconds behind Moreno in the 192km stage from Guachochi to Parral. Michael Rasmussen (Tecos Trek), who held the overall lead earlier in the race, was second, two seconds behind Moreno.
Vuelta a España points competition winner André Greipel added another win to an impressive 2009 record as he outsprinted the field at Paris-Bourges on Thursday. Greipel, powered ahead of a 91-rider field, beating JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Cofidis’ Alexandre Usov to the line. The win is Greipel’s 20th of the season. Greipel was quick to credit his team for countering late attacks as other teams attempted to deny the German a shot at a field sprint.
The Bissell team will have seven returning riders for 2010, including the Jacques-Maynes brothers, Frank Pipp, Paul Mach, Cody O’Reilly, Pete Latham and Jeremy Vennell. And the team will pick up three new riders: Kyle Wamsley, Daniel Holloway and David Williams. The most notable absence from the team next year will be Tom Zirbel, who will race for Garmin-Slipstream in 2010. The team is expected to announce more riders later.
It wasn’t a race. There was no prize money or podium ceremony. But crossing the finish line first Saturday at Levi Leipheimer’s inaugural King’s Ridge Gran Fondo, presented by Road ID, was a victory of sorts for Scott Nydam. On a sunny, if breezy, October day in Santa Rosa, California, the Team BMC rider who lives in the area was the first to finish the 103-mile Gran Fondo, one of three distances covered by more than 3,500 participants.
The 2009 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded on Sunday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, and Mitch Clinton was there, clicking away. His gallery can be found below.
A record field of nearly 1,400 racers and their cowbell-clanging families, friends and fans spilled onto the fields of Alpenrose Dairy in southwest Portland Sunday to ring in the start of the 2009 River City Bicycles Cross Crusade series. Home of the Alpenrose Velodrome, the dairy-turned-corporate-headquarters also features a Wild West town, a go-kart race track and a world-class baseball field that plays host to the Little League Softball World Series every summer. And just about all of it played a part in the race Sunday.
The sun shone on Massachusetts' Cape Ann on Sunday, as local boy Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and Canadian Natasha Elliott (Louis Garneau) won on the second day of the Great Brewers Gloucester Grand Prix of Cyclocross, in much different conditions than the first day.
Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) scored a rare win on this side of the Atlantic on Saturday, riding away from all challengers on a muddy course in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Quick Step's Tom Boonen won the third stage of the Franco-Belge stage race on Saturday in a sprint finish ahead of England's Roger Hammond (Cervélo TestTeam) and American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream). Farrar continues to hold the overall race lead after winning the first two stages in the race which finishes Sunday at Tournai.
Tyler Farrar is back in the winner’s circle, sprinting to victory Thursday in the opening stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge. Farrar out-kicked Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) to claim victory in the 213.6km stage from Templeuve, France, to Mouscron, Belgium. Tom Boonen (Quick Step) came across third in the mass gallop and Saxo Bank's JJ Haedo rounded out the top four. The win also puts the leader’s jersey on Farrar’s back after the opening stage of the four-day Franco-Belge race.
Alexander Kolobnev is quickly earning a reputation as a rider who delivers in major international competition. With his second world championship silver medal in three years, and a fourth-place that could turn into bronze from last summer’s Beijing Summer Olympic Games, the consistent Russia knows how to pack a punch come crunch time. “They call me the sniper,” Kolobnev told VeloNews. “You have one shot, then you have to wait 364 days until the next chance.”
We all saw how well American Tyler Farrar performed at this year’s Tour de France, where he placed in the top-five of field sprints an astonishing five times. Sure, like every sprinter, he was overshadowed by Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish. But given that it was Farrar’s first Tour, his consistency was a success in itself. But when Farrar won the Vattenfall Cyclassics on August 16, and then followed it up with three consecutive stage wins at the Eneco Tour of the Benelux, we knew it was time to write a feature on the 25-year-old gentleman sprinter from Wenatchee, Washington.
If you think Xterra riding isn't "real" mountain biking, just ask Conrad Stoltz and Ned Overend. Oh, and they'll also tell you all about the benefits of riding 29ers while they're at it.
British sprint specialist Mark Cavendish has pulled out of Paris-Tours, the road sprint classic on October 11, his Columbia team announced on Wednesday. Cavendish, who won six stages at this year's Tour de France, had already withdrawn from the world championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland with a lung infection. The Isle of Mann rider recently pulled out of September's Tour of Missouri after two stage wins with the same problem.
Dear Explainer, My wife asked me on a ride out on the roads of North Boulder County "what causes washboards?" I promised her I'd pose the question to you; she's gotten wise to my usual male "authoritative sounding but full of BS answers." I used to think washboards were caused by the braking action of cars but their presence on straight away sections makes me rethink that theory. Dig deep, we need to know. Brook Watts Dear Brook,
American national time trial champion Jessica Phillips didn’t win the elite women’s world time trial championship last week. She didn’t take a medal, or even finish in the top 10. And, designated as an alternate, she didn’t participate in Saturday’s road race, either. Yet just rolling out of the start ramp of the world time trial championship wearing national team colors was a victory in itself for the Aspen, Colorado, native. She finished 14th out of 41 starters, 2:11 behind the winner, U.S. teammate Kristin Armstrong.
David Espinoza (Penn State), Colleen Hayduk (Kutztown University of Pennsylvania) and David Williams (Marian University) turned in strong performances during the USA Cycling National Collegiate Track Championships, held last Thursday through Saturday at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. Racing started Thursday at the former Lehigh Valley Velodrome with Espinoza winning the kilometer meter time trial in 1:06:54, 2.3 seconds faster than runner-up Matthew Fox (Midwestern State).
Last year at Vermont's Green Mountain Cyclocross Weekend, Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix) made everyone take notice when he was the only rider to keep in sight of winner Jamey Driscoll. Now the Richard Sachs rider has ascended to the mountain top by sweeping the weekend and taking the overall series lead. Timmerman took advantage of his front-row position to establish a lead on the first lap of each day. Saturday quickly turned into a battle for second place, as no one was able to keep the Ithaca, New York, rider is sight. [nid:98800]
Despite its late-season date, a near-conflict with the Interbike expo and ’cross races around the country, the first-ever TD Bank Mayor’s Cup attracted a deep field of domestic pros and regional elite riders, to race through the warren-like streets of Boston’s government district. Of course, the purse — $40,000 split evenly between men and woman – may have given some racers a little extra incentive to extend their season.
The future is bright for both U.S. men’s and women’s cycling. That’s according to USA Cycling’s director of athletics Jim Miller, who says there’s enough talent to assure more success by American riders on the road at the top levels of the sport. Miller says there’s plenty of firepower to fill the void left by the retirement of Olympic and world champion Kristin Armstrong on the women’s side as well as a bounty of prospects moving up from the U23 to the pro ranks on the men’s side.
Cadel Evans erased a career of close calls with a daring attack on the final climb to drop a super-star group of riders to win the 2009 world road cycling championships. The Aussie climbed out of the saddle in the closing kilometers of the 259km epic battle to win the most important victory of his career. No one can say Evans doesn’t attack anymore. “This is for all the critics I’ve had this season,” Evans said. “I have seven worlds medals from mountain biking at home, but none of them are gold. People say I never win, but today I won something pretty big.”
Kristin Armstrong’s farewell race ended with an exclamation point as she powered into the winning, four-rider move in Saturday’s elite women’s road race. Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) – a bronze medalist in the road in the Beijing Olympic Summer Games – attacked on the final lap and soloed to victory 19 seconds clear of a three-rider chase group featuring Armstrong in the 124km race under cloudy skies in Mendrisio.
Women track cyclists could be among the biggest winners at the London Olympics after the UCI said it has the goal of ensuring "gender parity" at the 2012 Games. There are currently, there are 10 track cycling events contested at the Olympics. But while men compete in seven competitions, the women get to contest just three: the sprint, the individual pursuit and the points race. UCI president Pat McQuaid said it is now time to redress the balance so the men and women compete in five events each, acknowledging that the move will mean losing some men's disciplines.
Unlike a grand tour or a classic, or any other major annual bike race, the world road championships is the sport’s only prestigious event that has the whole world looking on — and the organizers have only one chance to do it right. That’s because the Union Cycliste International selects a different country (and city) every year to be the host.
Rabobank sprinter Theo Bos has signed a two-year contract with the Cervélo TestTeam. The 26-year-old Dutchman and the team made the announcement at the world road championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland. Bos originally made his mark as a track racer, earning five world titles and a silver medal in the matched sprint at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Bos made the move to road racing in 2009, winning several events including the Ronde van Noord-Holland and the Omloop der Kempen.
Australian Cadel Evans said he has virtually no chance of winning cycling's coveted rainbow jersey on home soil next year when the world road race championships are held in Geelong. Evans, who finished runner-up in the Tour de France in 2007 and 2008, is among a handful of contenders looking to end Spain and Italy's domination of the competition's road race here on Sunday. And he feels the profile of the 13.8km circuit that the peloton will race 19 times for a total distance of 262.2km suits his climbing talents better than the 2010 course.
Eric Barlevav won the final race of the USA Crits series Thursday night in Las Vegas, with his Mountain Khakis teammate Mark Hekman winning the field sprint behind to claim the series title. To put the cherry on top, Mountain Khakis won the team overall prize for the 2009 USA Crits. “It’s huge to win here,” said Barlevav. “USA Crits was definitely a big goal for our team. We tried to win all the races, and we tried to win the overall, so this is great for us.”
“Thirty seconds!” yells the UCI official and instantaneously you see the fidgeting of fingers on hoods and legs clipped into pedals. In cyclocross, the sprint is at the beginning of the race, rarely the end. So racers get their bodies ready for that first shock to their systems from the word go. Legs bouncing all around in fast-twitch anticipation of the gun, eyes focused forward or on the wheel or course in front of them, heart rates instinctively racing without even having pedaled a stroke.
The women's podium repeated its 2008 order at CrossVegas Wednesday evening, as thousands of spectators saw a display of raw power and consistency. Later, under the lights at a soccer complex on the outskirts of the city, new faces emerged from the tactical men's race, frustrating an elite group of chasers. In both races, domestic riders prevailed against European challengers in this city that is so uniquely — if sometimes regrettably — American.
Glaring sun, hot temperatures and a stiff wind didn’t snuff enthusiasm for the opening day of the Interbike On Dirt Demo. I managed a couple of mountain bike rides, but spent most of my time checking out road gear. Here are some highlights of the day, which are by no means comprehensive, but stay tuned — we have a whole week of tech reporting still to come. For more on some of the mountain bike finds by my colleague Matt Pacocha, check out Singletrack.com.
There were no surprises in Sunday’s finale at the 64th Vuelta a España: André Greipel kicked to his fourth stage victory to dominate the sprints and Alejandro Valverde secured the grand tour victory that eluded him up to now in his otherwise prolific career. Columbia-HTC dominated the final charge to the line in the 110km stage from Rivas Vaciamadrid to seven circuits in downtown Madrid to stick a fork in the 2009 Vuelta. Greipel made easy work of Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) to win his fourth stage and the team’s fifth during the Spanish tour.
Davide Frattini and Laura Van Gilder won elite races at the UCI C2 Nittany Lion Cross at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center (a.k.a. T-Town Velodrome) on Saturday.
Evald Boasson Hagen secured his overall victory in the Tour of Britain Saturday, safely finishing in the peloton at the end of the final stage in London. Barloworld's Michele Merlo win the final field sprint of the race, followed by Koldo Fernandez (Euskatel Euskadi) and Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream). Sutton, who won one stage of the race, finished second overall, 23 seconds behind Boasson Hagen, who won four stages.
Saturday’s 27.5km time trial at the Vuelta a España was several races within one. In the battle for the stage, David Millar had enough in the tank to fend off some late challenges to win Garmin-Slipstream’s third stage during this year’s Vuelta and claim his first win since 2007. Millar stopped the clock in 35:53 (46.484kph), five seconds faster than Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi ) and nine seconds faster than Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto).
Clink. At the lobby bar of Dallas’ W Hotel on Thursday evening, pro bike racers and bike racing fans alike held their champagne glasses high in toast of Team Hotel San Jose’s Heath Blackgrove, who scored his second consecutive victory at the TX Tough Grand Prix by out-sprinting a breakaway group of five riders. “We missed two big moves and were able to bring them back. It really speaks to the strength of our squad,” said Blackgrove, who placed in front of OUCH-Maxxis’ national criterium champion John Murphy.
Ben Swift (Katusha) took a hugely popular first professional win in Friday's seventh stage to become the first British stage winner in the Tour of Britain since Paul Manning in 2007. The Katusha rider sprinted to victory ahead of teammate Filippo Pozzato, with race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) in third. Boasson Hagen extended his overall lead ahead of Rabobank’s Kai Reus to 23 seconds and retained points jersey.
National level cyclocross begins this weekend with the Full Speed Ahead Star Crossed on Saturday, and the Rad Racing Gran Prix on Sunday. This is also the first of five weekends of the North American Cyclocross Trophy (NACT). Star Crossed is under the lights of the Marymoor velodrome in Seattle, Washington. Racers will put their early-season cyclocross ability to the test. Star Crossed is known for its boisterous atmosphere, thanks to the 360-degree viewing, beer garden, deep prize list and DJs.
Garmin-Slipstream lost three riders in Thursday’s 18th stage at the Vuelta a España, leaving the squad with just four going into the final weekend of the race. Ryder Hesjedal and Christian Meier did not start and Tom Danielson abandoned early in the stage from Talavera de la Reina to Ávila. Hesjedal’s exit was planned to allow him a few days’ recovery ahead of the world championships next weekend while Meier suffered a death in his family.
Columbia-HTC's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a fourth successive stage win to stretch his lead in the Tour of Britain standings to 19 seconds with two stages left to race. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish at the end of the 183.7-km sixth stage in England's west country and he will now expect to hold off second-placed Kai Reus over the course of Friday's penultimate stage and the 92.5-km race to the finish in London on Saturday. Boasson Hagen hit the front at 300 meters to go and nobody was able to pass him. Martin Reimer was second and Russell Downing was third.
What started off as a snoozer ended up as a fairytale, at least for 22-year-old French rider Anthony Roux. With the chasing peloton breathing down his neck, the second-year pro from FDJeux took a huge dig with 2km to go to drop the remnants of the day’s main five-man break, reel in the attacking Martin Maaskant (Garmin-Slipstream) with 1km to go, flick him and then squirt across the line just a few bike lengths ahead of the hard-charging pack.
Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed a third successive stage win to move into the overall lead of the Tour of Britain on Wednesday. The 22-year-old won a sprint finish ahead of Italian Filippo Pozzato and Britain's Russell Downing to claim his sixth Tour of Britain stage victory in two seasons. He now leads Dutch rider Kai Reus by nine seconds. In third place is Australia's Chris Sutton, who believes his hopes of winning the Tour may have gone as a result of Garmin-Slipstream teammate Bradley Wiggins' decision to quit the race.
Everyone knew Tuesday’s long, tedious 16th stage at the Vuelta a España was going to end up in a bunch sprint. Despite some of the top sprinters leaving the race early, including Tyler Farrar and Tom Boonen, there was still enough fight left in the bunch to make it interesting in the closing kilometers. Despite efforts by Milram and Liquigas, the result was much of the same, with André Greipel easily winning his third stage victory of the Vuelta and Columbia-HTC’s fourth. [nid:97891]
Ever since the father of the quick-release skewer, Tullio Campagnolo, founded it in 1933, Campagnolo SPA has been making highest-quality cutting-edge bicycle products in Vicenza, the leather-working capital of Europe.
Australia's Darren Lapthorne (Rapha Condor) saw his bid for glory falter as a fast-finishing Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the third stage of the Tour of Britain on Monday. Lapthorne was part of a four-man breakaway that dominated the 153km Scottish border stage between Peebles and Gretna Green but was caught with 15km from the finish.
Race leader Alejandro Valverde and his Caisse d’Epargne team declared an unofficial rest day as Lars Boom (Rabobank) won stage 15 out of a 13-rider break. Boom attacked a large breakaway on the second of two trips up the Category 2 Alto de San Jeronimo and soloed in for the victory more than 90 seconds ahead of David Herrero (Xacobeo Galicia) with Dominik Roels (Milram) third. "This is something special and important because it is a major tour," Boom said.
David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream) won the 2009 Tour of Missouri on Sunday as Canadian Martin Gilbert (Planet Energy) sprinted to victory in the final stage, a hilly 72.3-mile circuit race in Kansas City. It was the first stage race title in Zabriskie's nine years as a pro. And it didn't come easily for him or his team. Garmin was already a man down (due to Christian Vande Velde's broken hand from a stage 1 crash) when Zabriskie donned the yellow jersey after the stage 5 time trial.
Yuri Metlushenko never stuck his nose in the breeze on Sunday — until the 200 meters when it mattered the most. The powerful Ukrainian sprinter capped a perfect weekend for his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates team, winning his second consecutive Univest Criterium in a field sprint. With the victory, Amore and Vita completed a sweep of the Univest Grand Prix’s three events.
Dutch rider Marianne Vos clinched the overall title in the women’s World Cup after finishing sixth in the season finale at the Tour de Nuremberg. Compatriot Kirsten Wild won the sprint and Vos only needed to finish with the favorites to lock up her second World Cup crown of her career. The 26-year-old Wild won the 129km race ahead of Rochelle Gilmore, with Germany’s Ina-Yoko Teutenberg crossing the line third. Emma Johannson was the only threatening rider to Vos, but couldn’t get ahead of Vos and crossed the line 13th to finish second overall in World Cup points.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre) collected his second win of the 2009 Vuelta a España on Sunday atop the Alto Sierra de la Pandera. Cunego jumped away from a crumbling nine-man break to climb the Pandera alone to victory as the battle for the overall was fought behind him. Fellow breakaway Jacob Fuglsang (Saxo Bank) hung on for second at 2:23, with a resurgent Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) third at 3:08.
A teammate might have been wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, but Volodymyr Starchyk knew he was the strongest at the Univest Grand Prix on Saturday. The Ukrainian attacked a leading group of six — including his Amore & Vita-Detweiler Hershey & Associates teammate, German Philipp Mamos — on the last of 10 three-mile finishing circuits, then hung on to take the race victory and the overall title in the two-day UCI event.
Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) came from behind on Saturday to win a bunch sprint in stage 6 of the Tour of Missouri, sweeping around Thor Hushovd (Cervelo) and Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita) in the final meters to win a Missouri stage for the second year in a row. Garmin-Slipstream's Dave Zabriskie "rode a wave of attacks" to preserve his overall lead headed into what race organizers promise is a difficult final stage on Sunday in Kansas City.
Matthew Goss (Saxo Bank) proved fastest in a bunch sprint on Saturday to win the 217.6km Paris-Brussels. The Australian crossed ahead of compatriot Allan Davis (Quick Step) and Belgium's Kristof Goddaert (Topsport Vlaanderen) to take the victory in the 89th annual classic. It was the 23-year-old Goss's fifth win of the season and his third in Belgium after two stage triumphs on the Tour de Wallonie during the summer. "It was a difficult sprint especially towards the end when it was vital not to go too early," said Goss.
Australia's Chris Sutton (Garmin-Slipstream) sealed the biggest win of his career by claiming the first stage of the Tour of Britain with a sprint finish victory in York on Saturday. Sutton, the nephew of British track cycling coach Shane Sutton, held off Barloworld's Michel Merlo and home riders Ben Swift and Russell Downing following a 172km stage from Scunthorpe to Newcastlegateshead. And he paid tribute to Garmin teammate Bradley Wiggins, fourth in the Tour de France earlier this year, for his stellar lead-out efforts.
Laughter resounds through the camper as Mark’s joke carries from the back to the front where George, who is at the brunt of it, sits. On the puffy pleather couches and fabric chairs we lounge in our cycling shorts, waiting until the last minute, like school kids, before heading to the start. Our radios dangle from our ears, our jerseys are piled along with our helmets and race food ready to be pulled on at the very last minute.
After four days of racing that left the first two riders tied and the first 85 riders within one minute of the leader, the 2009 Tour of Missouri finally took shape Friday in the stage 5 time trial. Garmin-Slipstream's David Zabriskie demolished the field, taking the stage victory and the yellow jersey on the same day his teammate Ryder Hesjedal took a historic stage win at the Vuelta a Espana.
There were no major shakeups in the Tour de l’Avenir on Friday and America’s Tejay van Garderen and Peter Stetina remained securely in the top 10 going into Saturday’s decisive individual time trial. The Colombian team tried to shake things up, putting two riders into the day’s main breakaway in the 182.5km run from Gérardmer to Ornans. The pack came back together for the bunch sprint, and German rider Andreas Stauff out-kicked Russian Timofey Kritskiy to take the flowers.
Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream) launched a desperate, last-ditch attack in the final meters to win the 12th stage of the 2009 Vuelta a España atop the Alto de Velefique on Friday.
JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank) took the yellow jersey in the 2009 Tour of Missouri on Thursday after winning a tough uphill sprint against race leader Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) on the “capital wall” in Jefferson City. It was another mass dash after the peloton gobbled up a four-man break — Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly), Bradley White (OUCH-Maxxis), Michael Creed (Team Type 1) and Jeff Louder (BMC) — as they began the first of three circuits around the Missouri Capitol.
Throughout his long career on the road and mountain bike circuits, some of the Canadian’s best performances have come in September. Part of that is purely coincidental, especially since some of mountain biking’s biggest events (World Cup finals and worlds) often fell in September. But there’s no denying the tall, all-rounder from western Canada seems to rise to the top when the leaves start falling.
Thor Hushovd took advantage of a difficult final 2km and a tired Columbia-HTC team on Wednesday's third stage of the Tour of Missouri to take his first stage win and the overall lead.
Tyler Farrar got the monkey off Garmin-Slipstream’s back. After a string of close calls, with no less than nine second places in grand tours in 2009, including second by Ryder Hesjedal in Tuesday’s 10th stage, Farrar was first across the line in a major three-week race in Wednesday 11th stage at the Vuelta a España. It’s an important milestone for both Farrar and Garmin.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) hit the deck within sight of the finish line on stage 1 of the Tour of Missouri, and X-rays later disclosed that he fractured a bone in his hand. Still, he said he plans to start stage 2 — without a cast. “Luck hasn’t been on my side this year,” said Vande Velde, who crashed out of the Giro d’Italia this year on stage 3.
Longtime criterium stalwart Frank Travieso (Championship Porsche) scored the biggest victory of his career Monday in Marietta, Georgia, by winning the 2009 edition of the US 100K Classic. The Cuban-born rider leapt out of the slipstream of Team Type 1’s Aldo Ino Ilesic at the tail end of a blistering 90 kph downhill sprint just in time to come around the Slovenian and take his first NRC title. Jake Keough (Kelly Benefit Strategies), who still holds the lead in the USA CRITS Series, was third.
Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) survived a chaotic finale to win stage 1 of the 2009 Tour of Missouri on Monday in St. Louis. Cavendish's train was derailed in the final kilometer, and a pair of crashes threw additional monkey wrenches into the works, but he managed to close the deal anyway, finishing ahead of J.J. Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam).
America’s Alex Howes was one of the main protagonists in Monday’s 189km third stage at the Tour de l’Avenir. Howes snuck into the day’s main breakaway, which built up a menacing lead and put pressure on the French team to work hard to neutralize the dangerous escape.