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.

A heavy Spanish accent was back on the Vuelta a España in Monday’s wild and unpredictable seven-climb stage from Alcoy to Xorret de Catí. After a week of stages dominated by non-Spanish riders, Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Xacobeo-Galicia) found himself the sole survivor of a daylong breakaway that tore itself to shreds on the final obstacle, the Category 1 Alto Xorret de Cati at 185.6km. Veloso became the first Spanish winner so far in the 64th Vuelta, having just enough in the tank to fend off the fast-chasing GC favorites.

You may not recognize many of the new names on the Columbia-HTC 2010 squad, but take note, says team owner Bob Stapleton, as they will likely be big names in the near future. Among the 10 new riders on the men’s roster, eight are under 25. They are: twin brothers Peter and Martin Velits, 24, Slovakia Matt Goss, 23, Australia Patrick Gretsch, 22, Germany Tejay Van Garderen, 21, USA Jan Ghyselinck, 20, Belgium Rasmus Guldhammer, 20, Denmark Leigh Howard, 20, Australia

Another French rider won at the Tour de l’Avenir, taking a bunch sprint in Sunday’s second stage. Jean-Lou Paiani (France B) was first across the line in the 138km stage from Dreux to Tourville-la-Campagne, outkicking European U-23 champion Kris Boeckmans (Belgium). Compatriot Julien Bérard, winner of Saturday’s opener, retained the overall leader’s jersey in the nine-day race across France.

Columbia-HTC's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg racked up her 23rd win of the year in Saturday's stage of the Ladies Tour of Holland. Teutenberg outpowered Netherlands rider Kirsten Wild in the bunch sprint that decided the 108 kilometer stage in Nieuwegein. Teutenberg has now taken 23 victories this season, whilst her latest win takes the tally for Columbia-HTC women's team this season to 45.

Nino Schurter and Swiss teammate Florian Vogel work together to keep Julien Absalon in second place at the mountain bike World Championships in Canberra, Australia. Canada's Geoff Kabush and the USA's Todd Wells finish in top 10. Complete Results

Although his team didn’t walk away with a stars-and-stripes jersey for its efforts, Kelly Benefit Strategies director Jonas Carney feels his squad was collectively the strongest across August’s national criterium, time trial and road championships. It’s an biased opinion, to be sure, but results sheets don’t lie.

Astana’s Levi Leipheimer broke his wrist during this year’s Tour de France, and returned to his home in California to recover. He was soon back on the bike training — although it was often the time trial bike so he wouldn’t stress his wrist. Now, the man who took third at the 2007 Tour de France prepares to return to racing at the Tour of Missouri, which he last raced in 2007. VeloNews caught up with him to get his thoughts on the 2009 edition. VeloNews: 2008 Tour of Missouri winner Christian Vande Velde says you are the big favorite.

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.

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.

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Chris Horner was among the major victims of a horrible high-speed crash Tuesday as scores of riders crashed near the end of the rainy fourth stage at the Vuelta a España. The Astana captain hit the deck with dozens of riders in a pile-up caused by a narrow run through a rain-slickened traffic circle within the 3km-to-go banner. The team later announced that Horner had broken his left hand and would leave the Vuelta.

André Greipel doesn’t think there should be an asterisk next to his victory in Tuesday’s stage at the crash-marred finale at the Vuelta a España. Greipel was only one of six riders to make it past a horrible accident that wiped out nearly all of the major sprinters, including Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) and Tom Boonen (Quick Step).

With this year’s expiration of UCI restrictions on public disclosure of new signings, the Garmin-Slipstream team has announced the addition of six new riders to its roster for 2011, including American Tom Zirbel and classics specialist Johan Van Summeren. The team has also signed Barloworld’s sprint specialist Robbie Hunter, Fuji-Servetto’s Fredrik Kessiakoff, moved Peter Stetina up from its U23 counterpart, the Felt-Holowesko Partners squad, and signed 21-year-old Michel Kreder, who currently rides for the Rabobank Continental team.

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Perhaps it’s no mistake that Greg Henderson’s biggest road win of his career comes in the Vuelta a España. Monday’s stage-3 sprint victory for the 32-year-old Henderson caps a breakthrough season that’s also included major victories on Spanish roads, at the Clásica de Almería, the Vuelta a Murcia and the Volta a Catalunya. Holland isn’t quite Spain, but it is still the Vuelta a España despite its popular start in Benelux.

Planet Energy’s Keven Lacombe emerged from a stacked field of sprinters to win Sunday’s Chris Thater Memorial, coming to the line ahead of Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Yosvany Falcon (Champion Porsche). In Saturday's women's race, Team Tibco's Brooke Miller outsprinted Theresa Cliff_rayn (Verducci) and Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home) for the win. The race was both a National Racing Calendar event and a round of the USA Crits series.

New Zealander Greg Henderson (Columbia-HTC) sprinted to his first grand-tour victory on Monday in stage 3 of the 2009 Vuelta a España. The former track racer proved the fastest in a furious finale, crossing ahead of Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) and Oscar Freire (Rabobank). Going into the final tricky corner, Henderson had a couple of Quick Steps in front of him and teammate André Greipel on his wheel. The idea was to launch the big German to the line. But things didn't work out as planned.

George Hincapie (Columbia-HTC) rode through a wall of sound as he outsprinted Andrew Bajadali (Kelly Benefit Strategies) to win the road race Sunday at the USA Cycling Professional National Championships in his adopted hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. The pair overtook Jeff Louder (BMC Racing Team), who attacked an elite group of seven riders in the final lap of the 185km race, which featured four trips over Paris Mountain.

Gerald Ciolek (Milram) has been lurking on the edge of greatness ever since he came out of nowhere to beat Erik Zabel and claim the 2005 German national title as a 20-year-old neo-pro. After winning the 2006 U23 world title, Ciolek has patiently been collecting minor wins and close calls in bigger events. He finally got his just reward in Sunday’s second stage of the 2009 Vuelta a España, a pan-flat 203.7km ride from Assen to Emmen in the Netherlands.

The 64th Vuelta a España clicks into gear Saturday on the Assen race track with one of its deepest and most competitive fields ever. Not only are riders racing the Vuelta to prepare for the world championships, but some of the biggest names are lining up with nothing less than all-out victory as their stated goals. With none of last year’s top-3 back to defend their podium spots, the 2009 Vuelta is wide open. A challenging course well-suited for aggressive attacks in the mountains will promise to keep things interesting all the way into the final week.

The Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships return to Greenville, South Carolina for the fourth year August 29-30 and pit the bulk of the domestic peloton against select ProTour riders in a battle for stars and stripes jerseys in the time trial and road race. 2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the one-day road race national championships.

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As we drove to the course, the small team camper bounced and creaked as it followed the motorcade of team cars along the small sinuous roads through the rural Brittany countryside. We passed dozens of cyclists ranging in age from 12 to 70, dressed in a mosaic of pro team and club colors, who were also on their way to the circuit to watch us race in Plouay.

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Greenville, South Carolina, resident Craig Lewis (Columbia-HTC) will miss the start of the USA Cycling Professional Championships this weekend, having been diagnosed with the H1N1 Flu Tuesday morning. When reached for comment on his hometown race, Lewis' wife Courtney reported that the 24-year old had been diagnosed with Swine Flu at the hospital Tuesday morning. Lewis was expected to support neighbor and teammate George Hincapie in a bid to win the road race championship Sunday.

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) will take a pass on Tuesday’s final time trial at the Eneco Tour despite sitting second overall just 21 seconds out of the lead. With three stage victories in the bag and the ever-important Vuelta a España looming ahead this weekend, the American sprinter decided that it was better to rest for more important goals in his third grand tour of the year.

Ivan Basso is taking aim at nothing short of overall victory for the 64th Vuelta a España, which clicks into gear Saturday in Holland. The Italian said he’s better prepared for the Vuelta than the Giro d’Italia earlier this season, where he finished fifth overall. “I trained myself in the best way without any stress,” Basso said in a team statement. “The final victory is a concrete goal.”

American Pua Sawicki notches a top-10 finish at Marathon World Championships in Austria while Belgian Roel Paulissen and German Sabine Spitz take men's and women's titles.

Six-time national criterium champion Tina Pic (Colavita - Sutter Home) is ending her career with a bang as she outsprinted Tibco's Lauren Tamayo and Brooke Miller at the Marion Classic Two-Bridge NRC Criterium in Indiana on Sunday. It was a double-win weekend for Pic's team as Luis Amaran solo'd to a classic win in the men's race, holding off a late charge by OUCH-Maxxis' Karl Menzies.

Technical course

Team Columbia-HTC believes powerful German sprinter André Greipel can help continue its impressive 2009 season once the Vuelta a España clicks into gear this Saturday. Mark Cavendish's stunning haul of six stage wins from this year's Tour de France took his tally to 10 in two participations, and was the highlight of a hugely successful season for the American outfit so far.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) consolidated his lead in the Eneco Tour by beating some of the more specialist fast men in a sprint for the finish of Monday's sixth stage. Boasson Hagen grabbed precious bonus seconds for the win, extending his lead over American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) to 21 seconds going into Tuesday’s final 13.1km individual time trial. Farrar, the winner of three stages so far here and the leader until Boasson Hagen took over on Sunday, finished third on the stage, just behind Australian Matthew Goss (Saxo Bank).

Bernie Sulzberger (Fly V Australia) overtook the OUCH-Maxxis sprint train roaring out of the final corner of the Downtown Salt Lake Criterium on Sunday to win the bunch sprint in final stage of the 2009 Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah. Sulzberger powered away from U.S. criterium champion John Murphy (OUCH-Maxxis) and Chris Barton (BMC Racing Team) in the final 200 meters to take the win.

The Rocky Mountain Bicycle Show kicked off its second year on Saturday at Denver’s National Western Complex. Eye candy abounded, and a steady stream of visitors kept the 70 or so exhibitors busy talking most of the day. Free microbrew samples ensured that spirits were high, and the relative coolness of the vast hall sheltered visitors and exhibitors alike from the 96-degree heat outside.

Edvald Boasson Hagen (Columbia-HTC) took the leader's jersey from Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) after placing second in Sunday’s fifth stage of the Eneco Tour behind Lars Bak (Saxo Bank). Bak made his dash for the line 5km out to edge Boasson Hagen by two seconds with Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-N.G.C.) third. Farrar missed out in the late breakaway and came in 30 seconds adrift to see Hagen pass him overall by 15 seconds following the 204.3km stage to Sirrard in the Netherlands.

Russell Downing (Candi TV) stuck it to the ProTour squads at the Tour of Ireland Sunday, escaping on the weather-shortened circuits of Cork to take the overall win and second on the stage behind Norway’s former road and cross-country champion Lars Petter Nordhaug (Joker-Bianchi). Saxo Bank animated the rain-drenched stage from Bantry along the southern coast to Cork. With five riders within shooting distance of the GC, the Danish ProTour team stacked many of the day’s early breaks and pushed the pace.

Martin Reimer isn’t a household cycling name. Yet. The 22-year-old Cervélo TestTeam rider captured his first pro win in his rookie year at the German national championships in June. This weekend he’s riding in the Tour of Ireland, where on Saturday he placed sixth on stage 2 behind Mark Cavendish. As with the other Cervélo riders in Ireland, Reimer hopes to help teammate Philip Deignan win a stage or climb up the general classification. After placing fourth on stage 1, Deignan sits fourth overall headed into the final stage Sunday.

Liquigas-Doimo heads to the 64th Vuelta a España with a strong team and even stronger ambitions. Led by GC threats Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas will start the Spanish tour with high hopes for a shot at overall victory as well as stage victories with the likes of Daniele Bennati and Manuel Quinziato.

British rider Emma Pooley (Cervélo) won Saturday’s GP de Plouay in a solo move in the ninth round of the 10-race World Cup series. Pooley won 2:30 ahead of the nearest rival after leaving the pack behind in a lone breakaway of more than 50km. The Olympic time trial silver medalist was surprised she hung on to win. Nicole Cooke gave chase on the last lap at the Cote de Kerihuel, but the Olympic champion couldn’t hold the pace, and Pooley stayed clear to claim her second World Cup win of the year.

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) did what he does best at the end of stage 2 of the Tour of Ireland. After a fast, slightly downhill leadout from his man Bernie Eisel, Cavendish turned on the afterburners to take the victory ahead of Rabobank’s Michael Van Staeyen and Saxo Bank’s Stuart O’Grady. “It’s great to win,” Cavendish said. “It was a tough circuit but once the peloton came back together we took control with 2km to go.”

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Romain Feillu (Agritubel) snatched the sprint in Friday’s finale at the 42nd Tour du Limousin as the main bunch roared into Limoges for the fourth and final stage. Feillu out-kicked Perrick Fedrigo (BBox) to claim the 180.1km stage from Chalus to Limoges to wrap-up the four-day stage race across western France. Mathieu Perget (Caisse d’Epargne) finished safely in the pack to claim the overall victory, the first stage-race win of his young professional career.