I love rest days! Nothing feels quite as luxurious as spending an entire day lying around doing nothing after nine days of racing. I have been trying to make the most (or maybe I should say the least) of my day off. A little spin in the morning to loosen up the legs and then a lot of time getting acquainted with my bed. I'm sure it's going to be game on from kilometer zero again tomorrow, so I need all the recovery I can get!

As the Tour de France wraps up its first week of racing on the lower slopes of the Pyrénées, it seems the racing action among the general classification favorites has been put on hold for a while. Stages 8 and 9 had similar scripts — allow a lead break of non-GC contenders to escape, race the major Category 1 climbs at a cautious pace, and limit all losses.

Columbia-HTC sport director Ralf Aldag is content with the opening week of the 2009 Tour de France. Two stage victories by Mark Cavendish and runs in the green and white jerseys bode well for the U.S.-registered team heading into the last two weeks of the race. The team took stock on Monday’s rest day as it prepares to head toward the Alps with all options on the table. While the team’s GC hopes have taken a blow, the team is quietly optimistic Kim Kirchen will find his best form in the decisive final week.

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When the first phase of the 96th Tour de France ended on Sunday with a near 80-man field sprint (on a mountain stage!), we knew that the race leaders were already looking ahead to the final week. They all know that the stages in the Alps, followed by a time trial at Annecy and the penultimate day’s finish on Mont Ventoux, are going to decide this Tour’s outcome — and that the middle week between Monday’s rest day in Limoges and next Sunday’s stage 15 finish in Verbier, Switzerland, is just a period in which to tick things over.

Veteran sprinter Laura Van Gilder (Mellow Mushrooms) lit up the night at the fifth annual Iron Hill Twilight Criterium Saturday, taking the win and the lead in the USA Crits series. In the men's race at the Westchester, Pennsylvania, event, Luca Damiani (Colavita-Sutter Home) took a hard-fought victory from a field of hardcore sprinters. Tom Soladay (Team Mountain Khakis) took the lead in the men's USA CRITS overall standings.

Early break in the women's race

Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) countered a late attack by fellow breakaway Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) to win stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France on Sunday. The two were the survivors of a 13-rider break that went clear early on in the 160.5km race from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes, which took in two of the most storied climbs of this part of France, the Category 1 Col d’Aspin and the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet.

Repeating the top of the leader sheet from the previous year, 30-year-old Anthony Colby and 46-year-old Marti Shea won Newton’s Revenge, a 7.6-mile bike race to the summit of Mt. Washington, the highest mountain in the northeastern United States.

Caisse d'Epargne's Luis Leon Sanchez won Saturday's second day in the Pyrenees, a 176-km romp from Andora back into France for the start of the race's second week. Sanchez was part of a nearly day-long break that shook down to just four men rolling into Saint Girons. He smartly monitored a late attack by Ag2r's Vladimir Efimkin and benefited from Sandy Casar's too-early jump to take a solid win less than two minutes ahead of the main field.

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It usually takes a highly-publicized doping scandal to bring Tour de France chief Christian Prudhomme to the brink of tears. But on Friday it was 24-year-old debutant Brice Feillu, giving the hosts their second stage victory of the race, who brought the emotions flooding out after an impressive ride to victory on the first day in the mountains. Feillu, a specialist climber who rides for Agritubel with his brother Romain, took his chance by attacking his small group of breakaway companions inside the final 6km of the 10.1km climb to Arcalis.

Stage 5 of the Tour de France was another seaside route along the French coast with brutal crosswinds. However, unlike stage 3, Team Saxo Bank and Chris Anker Sorensen were prepared and present at the front of the race when it counted. The final 50 miles of the stage were raced at full throttle and Chris set new personal-best Tour de France power records to prove it. 

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It should come as a surprise to no one that Garmin-Slipstream’s David Millar went out on the attack on Thursday’s stage from Girona to Barcelona.

Thor Hushovd’s sprint victory up Montjuic gave a huge boost to the start-up Cervélo TestTeam just as the continental squad prepares to lead defending champion Carlos Sastre into the Pyrénées starting with Friday’s stage to Arcalis. The sprinting Viking out-kicked three-time world champion Oscar Freire to claim his seventh career Tour stage win and deliver the Canadian-sponsored continental team a prestigious victory in its first-ever Tour de France.

Australian Michael Rogers was among the big name riders who crashed on the rain-hit sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday. Rogers, riding for the Columbia team, appeared to take down Cervelo sprinter Heinrich Haussler and American David Zabriskie of Garmin as the peloton negotiated a roundabout. The Australian, who finished ninth overall in 2006 but had to abandon after a serious crash on the eighth stage in 2007, was later taken to hospital for X-rays complaining of a sore elbow.

On a day of crashes, wet roads and rolling climbs, Cervélo’s Thor Hushovd powered his way to a sprint win ahead of three-time world champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank). Garmin-Slipstream’s David Millar survived from an early breakaway until the final kilometer, where the lanky time trialist was reeled in as the course kicked sharply upwards. Although not a categorized climb, the pitch hit 6.6 percent before easing off near the finish, and was enough to shake points leader Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) from his position near the front.

Columbia-HTC's Judith Arndt won stage 6 of the GiroDonne (the women's Giro d'Italia) on Thursday, the team's third stage win so far. Cervelo TestTeam's Claudia Hausler took the overall lead, but the win for Arndt moved her into second and teammate Mara Abbot is now in third.

Top professional and amateur men’s and women’s teams will take to the streets of West Chester, PA for the 5th Annual Iron Hill Twilight Criterium on July 11, 2009, the second event on the USA CRITS National Series calendar. In attendance will be last year's winner, Mark Hekman, riding for Team Mountain Khakis. The 2009 season for this professional bassoonist turned pro cyclists has been spectacular, with top 5 finishes at Tulsa Tough and the Kelly Cup, as well as a 2nd place finish at the Athens Twilight Criterium. The illusive win, however, has escaped him thus far.

Mark Cavendish's domination of the Tour de France bunch sprints is likely set to come to an end, temporarily at least, on the race's sixth stage which ends at Barcelona's Olympic stadium on Thursday. A day before the first summit finish of the race at Arcalis in Andorra, the Tour heads over more challenging undulating terrain, with an uphill finish likely tempting the peloton's 'punchers.'

Fabian Cancellara’s yellow jersey might be hanging by a thread, but it’s going to take more than a snip of scissors to take it away from him. Despite leading Lance Armstrong by just 0.22 seconds, Cancellara says that margin will be plenty to fend off the seven-time champion on the hilltop finish atop Montjuic overlooking Barcelona in Thursday’s stage 6.

Julian Dean says it’s only a matter of time before Tyler Farrar wins a stage at the Tour de France. The New Zealand veteran sprinter said Farrar might just be the man who gets past dominant sprinter Mark Cavendish. “I think he can win a stage at the Tour,” Dean said after Wednesday’s stage. “It won’t be easy. We just started working together at the Giro, but if we get our timing right, we can win.”

Columba-HTC's Mark Cavendish tightened his grip on the Tour de France green jersey on Wednesday despite losing out on the chance to claim a third stage victory on this year's race. Cavendish, who stylishly won stages 2 and 3 from bunch sprints to take his tally on the race to six in three participations, was among those who fell victim to a vicious headwind as the peloton chased down an earlier breakaway.

The teams of Tour de France contenders Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov suffered further setbacks during the race's fifth stage on Wednesday. On the descent of the Cote de Treilles as the peloton upped the pace in chase of a six-man breakaway, 23-year-old Dutchman Robert Gesink crashed and picked up injuries to his wrist and left leg. He was later diagnosed with a fractured wrist and pulled out of the race by his Rabobank team, who have been left reeling with the relative demise of their yellow jersey contender Menchov.

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler scored a popular stage victory Wednesday in the fifth stage of the 96th Tour de France, a 196.5-kilometer (122-mile) race from Le Cap d’Agde to Perpignan. Voeckler (BBox Bouygues Telecom) was away in a six-man break for more than 180 kilometers, attacking the other five with about five kilometers to go and riding into Perpignan alone, with the chasing peloton in sight behind him at the finish line.

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When Specialized began making the bikes for Tom Boonen, he was not exactly complimentary about their stiffness. The company’s engineers worked hard to get him what he wanted, and when they delivered the S-Works Tarmac SL2 to the Quick Step team, the riders gave it a thumbs-up. Nonetheless, they decided for 2010 to again re-engineer the Tarmac from the ground up. Knowing that the SL2 was already a home run made the goals for the Tarmac SL3 different.

Bob Stapleton was already in a good mood Monday morning before the start of the third stage of the 2009 Tour de France at Marseille’s old harbor. The president of Columbia-HTC was enjoying the warm afterglow of Mark Cavendish’s explosive victory in stage 2 and Andre Greipel’s win at the Tour of Austria.

Zach Bell (Kelly Benefit Strategies) and Evelyn Stevens (Team Lip Smacker) won the men’s and women’s final general classification at the 50th Annual Fitchburg Longsjo Classic NRC stage race on Sunday. Stevens, a 26-year old New York City rider who only started racing bikes last July, finished 20 seconds ahead of second-place Alison Powers (Team Type 1) and 23 second in advance of third place Jeannie Longo (Vitall Plus).

Katusha's Danilo Napolitano hit back Monday at allegations that his race tactics prevented team Cervelo from pulling off a sprint coup on the second stage of the Tour de France. Cervelo's Brett Lancaster, the main lead-out man for the team's Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, was left frustrated and angry Sunday with what he called the "amateur' racing of Katusha sprinter Napolitano. "We got Thor right up there and then typical Napolitano just smashing people like he's in an amateur bloody under-19 race. It's just disgraceful," Lancaster told AFP. "The guy needs to pull his head in."

Belgium's Tom Boonen said Sunday he was more concerned about staying on his bike than sprinting for victory after a crash just before the finish of the second stage of the Tour de France. A right-hand bend just under 2km before the end of the 187km stage between Monaco and Brignoles caused confusion in the peloton, causing some riders to crash and forcing the Quick Step sprinter to ride around the pileup.

Tyler Farrar stuck another feather in his sprint cap on Sunday by finishing an impressive second on his first real Tour de France debut. The Tour de France clicked into action on Saturday when Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara grabbed the race's yellow jersey when he won the opening stage time trial in Monaco. But for sprinters like Farrar, who as an American is a rare breed in his craft, Sunday's hot and sweaty 187 km ride from Monaco to here was the real start of the three-week epic.

The road back to his second Tour de France was different for Ryder Hesjedal this year. While most of his Tour-bound teammates followed the successful blueprint from 2008 and raced the Giro d’Italia in May, Garmin-Slipstream brass put the brakes on the tall Canadian and told him to rest instead of race.

Watching Mark Cavendish totally dominate the other sprinters at Sunday’s stage 2 of the 96th Tour de France set me thinking about the first time I saw him race. It was in early 2005 at the world track championships in Los Angeles, when he was only 19.

Temperatures surged into the high 90s on Sunday as searing summer heat took a grip on the peloton at the Tour de France. Riders sprinted for the line into Brignole with extra intensity Sunday because it seemed like they just wanted a cold drink and some shade. “It was brutal heat out there. I couldn’t get enough drinks down,” said Cervélo’s Heinrich Haussler. “I was getting goose bumps with so much heat. I was almost feeling cold.”

Britain's Mark Cavendish is likely to find out the real strength in depth of his rivals on the Tour de France in the race's third stage from Marseille to La Grande Motte on Monday. The key to Cavendish's four stage wins from the bunch sprints last year, apart from his unstoppable top end speed, was the disciplined riding of his Columbia team who helped crank up the speed before unleasing him a few hundred meters from the line. On Monday Cavendish will find out if sprint rivals Thor Hushovd, Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar, among others, have learned anything from those performances

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) sped to victory on Sunday in stage 2 of the 2009 Tour de France, a 187km race from the principality of Monaco to Brignoles. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) took second behind the Manxman with Romain Feillu (Agritubel) third. Race leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) finished safely in the field to retain the maillot jaune.

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It was a non-American Fourth of July Saturday at the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, as Canadian Charles Dionne (Fly V Australia) won the tough 110-mile third stage road race with a dramatic uphill attack half a kilometer from the finish. Australian Rory Sutherland (OUCH-Maxxis) finished second and 19-year old Canadian David Boily (Probikepool/Kuota) capitalized upon his low profile — he is a first-year senior rider, has no teammates at Fitchburg, and lives in Quebec City — to latch onto Sutherland’s wheel and finish third.

Editor's Note: Garmin-Slipstream's sprinter Tyler Farrar will be contributing daily journal entries to VeloNews.com throughout the Tour. Well, here we go! The Tour kicked off today with a spectacular time trial through Monaco. Cancellara won with an impressive ride, which I don't think

Fabian Cancellara knew if he could stay close to the climbers on the first half of the course in Saturday’s individual time trial to open the 2009 Tour de France, the yellow jersey was his. Cancellara’s plan worked like a charm, staying within six seconds of 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador (Astana) at the Cat. 4 Cote de Beausoleil with 8km to go before turning on the afterburners in the final half to claim the double prize of stage win and yellow jersey by 18 seconds.

If there was any doubt about Fabian Cancellara’s time trial superiority, the big Swiss rider erased it by stomping his way to a commanding win in the 15.5km opening stage of the Tour de France in Monaco. His finishing time of 19:32 put him well ahead of second-place Alberto Contador. "I was one of the favorites to win here before the race and I knew if I got things right it would be very difficult for my rivals to beat me," Cancellara said. "That was special motivation. To be back in the yellow jersey again is a great achievement both for me and my team, I am proud of it."

British sprinter Mark Cavendish said Friday his Tour de France objective is solely to reach Paris with any thoughts of winning the green jersey far from his mind when the race begins here on Saturday. The 24-year-old exploded onto the scene last year by winning a remarkable four stages on only his second Tour but pulled out early to race at the Beijing Olympics. That ended any hopes he might have had of battling for the green jersey, which usually rewards the most consistent rider in the points competition.

Averaging 29 mph over a 75-mile circuit, Bissell Pro Cycling’s Kirk O’Bee won stage two of the Fitchburg Longsjo circuit race on Friday, sprinting away from a seven-man breakaway that stayed away for the final 50 miles.

Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath stamped their authority on this year’s BC Bike Race, winning the sixth stage and putting nearly seven minutes into their chief rivals, the Kona duo of Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon. The two Canadians attacked from the gun in the 65km stage, which strung together a loop around the town of Squamish, and never looked back. The course included sections of the Gear Jammer and Test of Metal cross-country races.

Back before Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France he lived in Nice, France. In 1998, he, like many pros in the area, started using the Col de la Madone to test his fitness. At 10 kilometers, the climb has been described by Armstrong as not easy, but not too hard, a perfect road to gauge fitness. Armstrong’s most magical moment on the Madone came in 1999. He went there by himself, on a normal training ride, and did the climb on his own. He recalls the time as 30:45, “with a lot of watts,” adding that he’s never gone any faster.

After eleven years overseeing USA Cycling’s junior development camps you’d think Barney King would have some crazy stories; maybe a zinger about kids sneaking out of dorm windows or losing someone on a ride. “About the only thing I can think of is a broken collarbone a few years ago.” That’s it. Really. Yet at this year’s camp, held last week at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, one comes to understand that a lack of surprises is just how King likes it. “We try to run a smooth camp. No surprises.”

BH Bikes USA president and CEO Chris Cocalis stopped by the VeloNews office this week to show the new BH G5 frame and fork, which will be debuted at the Tour de France by Team AG2R-LaMondial this weekend. If the G5 bike is any predictor of the team’s pending performance, expect AG2R riders to be climbing and sprinting to victories left and right.

BH Bikes – Big in Spain, still growing in the USA

Tyler Farrar will be something of an oddity when he lines up Saturday for his Tour de France debut – an American sprinter. For the first time in several years, since Fred Rodriguez lined up at Mapei and later at Silence-Lotto, an American will have a legitimate shot at winning a bunch sprint in the Tour. And unlike Rodriguez, who rode his last Tours in support of Robbie McEwen, Farrar will see strong support from his Garmin-Slipstream teammates. Veteran lead-out man Julian Dean will be Farrar’s guide through the high-speed duel of nerves and speed.

Team sport directors are rallying their opposition to plans to ban race radio during two stages during the upcoming Tour de France. Representatives from some of the top teams Monday criticized efforts by Tour officials to ban the use of earpieces and radio links between sport directors and racers during two stages at this year’s race, calling the measure “outdated and inappropriate.”

Rock Racing’s Rahsaan Bahati won his third consecutive Manhattan Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. Colavita Sutter-Home p/b Cooking Light rider Lucas Sebastian Haedo took second in the seaside Southern California NRC criterium while Ken Hanson of Team Type 1 placed third. In the women's race, 16-year old Proman Hit Squad rider Coryn Rivera took the win after riding a smart race and outkicking the competition out of the final turn.

With Damiano Cunego giving the Tour de France a skip to prepare for the world championships, Lampre-NGC will instead focus on trying to win stages and leave the fight for the GC to the other teams. The Italian team brings a nine-man squad full of stage-hunters, with the lone exception of veteran Marzio Bruseghin, who will do what he can to try to finish among the top 10 overall. The improving condition of reigning world champion Alessandro Ballan, who missed the spring classics with poor health, gives Lampre a shot to fight for a stage in the breakaways and transition stages.

French veteran Christophe Moreau will headline Agritubel in what’s expected to be his final Tour de France. The 38-year-old Moreau will anchor an Agritubel team that brings a mix of youth and experience that will be on the hunt for stage victories and perhaps a spell in one of the jersey for Moreau’s exit.

Tom Boonen (Quick Step), whose participation in the next Tour de France may depend on a court order, won the Belgian road cycling championships on Sunday. The 28-year-old outsprinted Philippe Gilbert and Kristof Goddart to claim his first national title as an elite on an undulating 234km course that some felt would not favor the big rider’s strengths. "Philippe was the strongest today,” said Boonen. “I had no legs but I raced with my head. I am especially happy for my team, which did a great job.”

Liguigas is betting on youth for the Tour de France overall, with improving youngsters Roman Kreuziger and Vicenzo Nibali selected to head the Italian team’s hopes. With star rider Ivan Basso skipping the Tour to focus on the Vuelta a España later on this season, Kreuziger and Nibali will be aiming to slot into the top 10 overall.

Gert Steegmans ? the Belgian sprinter who’s refused to sign an anti-doping charter that includes hefty penalties for violations ? has been left off Katusha’s nine-man Tour de France team. Steegmans was put on “non-active” status and not included in the Russian team’s nine-man roster. “All I can say is it’s too bad, I can’t say much more on the topic,” Steegmans told the Belgian daily La Derniere Heure. “I cannot answer anymore questions. I am not even sure I am going to be able to race the Belgian championships (Sunday).”

Ten days before the start of the Tour de France is a busy time for any ProTour team manager, but Wednesday was a particularly crazy day for Garmin-Slipstream team manager Jonathan Vaughters. During the same news cycle that reported rumors of Garmin’s interest in signing 2007 Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, the team also released its nine-man Tour roster, leaving off three active riders from last year’s squad.

Garmin-Slipstream brings back some familiar faces with a few new ones for the 2009 Tour de France. The squad released its nine names for next months’ Tour, with Christian Vande Velde as the team captain and Tour debutante Tyler Farrar the man for the sprints. Returning with Vande Velde from last year’s Tour team are David Millar, Ryder Hesjedal, Danny Pate, Dave Zabriskie and Julian Dean. New riders for the team’s Tour hopes this year include Farrar, Irish national champion Dan Martin and Olympic gold medalist Bradley Wiggins.

Milram, the peloton’s lone German team starting the Tour de France, will place its trust and hopes on a pair of young talented but untested riders. Linus Gerdemann and Gerald Ciolek headline Milram’s nine-man Tour squad that includes six German riders.

In a year full of pro cycling surprises — Lance returns, Tyler retires, ASO and the UCI seem to get along — Cervélo’s entrance into the team sponsorship game had to rank high on the unsuspected scale. After a long and fruitful relationship with Bjarne Riis and his CSC squad, the Toronto-based bike company opted to go out on its own and get in the ProTour game. Even more surprising, the new squad managed to sign two of the sports biggest stars in reigning Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre and Norwegian sprint stalwart Thor Hushovd.

The Columbia-Highroad team continued its dominant pace, sweeping the top-three places at the RaboSter Tour in Holland. The three-day event was won for the second year running by Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, taking her 18th victory of the season. Second was Chantal Beltman, just three seconds behind, while prologue winner Linda Villumsen was third at 11 seconds. Columbia-Highroad also finished first in the teams classification, whilst Teutenberg was top rider both in the intermediate sprints and the points competitions.

British climber Emma Pooley (Cervélo TestTeam) wrapped up the Grande Boucle Feminine Internationale after fending off a last-gasp bid by archrival Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) in Sunday’s finale. The Dutch rider Vos won Sunday’s hilly final stage into Anglet, but Pooley was able to mark the moves and finished fourth in a five-up sprint to secure the overall prize of the so-called “women’s Tour de France.” Despite the victory and a 10-second time bonus, Vos couldn’t overcome Pooley.

When national criterium champion Rahsaan Bahati rolls up to the start line of the June 28 Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, he will do so once again as a professional cyclist. Bahati, a two-time winner and the defending champion at Manhattan Beach, signed a pro contract with Rock Racing, the team he has ridden with since 2007, he told VeloNews Friday.

Columbia-Highroad’s André Greipel won his second straight stage win and his ninth win of the season in the Ster-ElektroToer in Holland on Friday, and has now become the race’s overall leader. Greipel was the fastest in the bunch sprint which decided the 179-kilometer hilly stage starting and finishing in Schimmert, outgunning Australian Allan Davis and Slovenian Borut Bozic.

Euskaltel-Euskadi will be hoping for big performances at the Tour de France following relatively lackluster spring campaign.

The Basque Country-based Euskaltel team will ride this year without the services of consistent top-10 threat Haimar Zubeldia (who’s already punched himself a ticket back to the Tour with Astana), so the team will look to Igor Antón and Mikel Astarloza to fill the void.

Astarloza has already finished in the top-10 and rode well to a top-5 finish at the Dauphiné Libéré.

California’s Tour de Nez began Thursday with the downtown Truckee criterium, the first of three days of racing in the 17th edition of the race. Run under sunny skies, warm temperatures and stiff winds, the pro men’s field put on a show for the thousands of assembled fans, as it was Lifetime Fitness/VeloVie rider Chad Gerlach who took the pro men’s race in a one up sprint against Jonathan Baker of the Natural Grocer’s team.

Mark Cavendish earned his second stage win at the Tour of Switzerland on Thursday, the 178 kilometer sixth stage from Oberriet to Bad Zurzach. The 24-year-old Columbia-Highroad rider – winner of four stages in last year's Tour de France – won in a sprint finish ahead of Spain's three-time world road race champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank). Cavendish had already won Monday's stage from Davos to Lumino. "It may have appeared easy but it wasn't that evident to me," said Cavendish. "We had to cope with a second category climb eaarly in the stage and then a strong headwind."

Rabobank will bring a strong and balanced team to the 2009 Tour de France, with a quiver full of stage hunters and podium contender Denis Menchov. It will be interesting to see how Menchov performs in the Tour after being pushed to the limit by Danilo Di Luca to claim a thrilling victory at the Giro d’Italia in May. Third last year at the Tour (after Bernhard Kohl's results are negated), Menchov will be one of the favorites for victory, especially if he can ride as consistently and strongly as he did at the Giro.

Tejay Van Garderen (Rabobank) finished with the bunch on Tuesday to take the overall victory in the Circuito Montañes in northern Spain. Vicente Grau Jorda (Camargo-Ferroatlantica-Floortex) won the 152km seventh stage from Potes to Santander in a bunch sprint ahead of Van Garderen’s teammate Boy Van Poppel, with Jorge Martín Montenegro (Andalucía-Cajasur) third. But Van Garderen crossed safely in 39th place to claim the final leader’s jersey by 35 seconds over Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Orbea). Sergio Pardilla Bellón (Carmiooro-A Style) finished third overall at 1:01.

Matti Breschel (Saxo Bank) triumphed in the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland on Tuesday. The Dane held off Astana's Maxim Iglinsky by a whisker to take his third victory of the year in the 195km ride from Biasca to Staefa. Tadej Valjavec (Ag2r-La Mondiale) finished third in the nine-man sprint to take the leader's jersey from Saxo's Fabian Cancellara, who crossed 1:03 down on the escapees. Cancellara had led the race since winning the opening time trial.

The Tour de Suisse takes center stage this week as the “other” grand tour enters its decisive stages in the mountains. Going into Tuesday’s fourth stage, Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) is stubbornly hanging onto the leader’s jersey he earned with victory in the opening prologue and shows no signs of letting go. A string of upcoming mountain stages will put Cancellara to the test. There’s a clutch of other races later this week, with events in Slovenia, France and Holland while women’s racing continues with the Grande Boucle Féminine in France.

Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara held on to the lead of the Tour of Switzerland as Britain's Mark Cavendish powered to victory on the 195.4km third stage on Monday. The 24-year-old from the Isle of Man, who won four stages at last year's Tour de France, produced an impressive decisive surge in the dying meters after Norwegian Thor Hushovd's final dash for the line ran out of steam. As Cavendish soaked up the win, Spanish ace Oscar Freire of Rabobank came through late to leave Cervelo's main sprinter Hushovd in third place. [nid:93406]

The 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix concluded on Sunday in Stillwater, Minnesota, with a GC shake-up in the men’s race and a win by women’s race leader Kristin Armstrong. Philip Mamos (Amore e Vita) and Armstrong (Cervélo TestTeam) both took stage wins by attacking from small breakaways. Armstrong sealed up her fourth consecutive overall victory with her win, and Rory Sutherland (Ouch) took home his third overall victory in as many years by ousting Tom Zirbel (Bissell) with a late attack.

Judith Arndt (Columbia-Highroad) won Sunday’s finale and secured the overall at the four-day Iurreta-Emakumeen Bira in Spain. After Columbia-Highroad teammate Mara Abbott and rival Claudia Hausler of Germany had attacked on the last climb, Arndt powered across to the two stage leaders on a dangerous rain-soaked descent. Arndt then outpowered Hausler in the final sprint for the line in the town of Orduña, while Abbott took third. It was Arndt’s third stage win in four days, and her first stage race victory since winning the Tour of Tuscany in Italy last September.

Tyler Farrar did what he had to do in to wrap up the overall title at the Delta Tour Zeeland in Holland on Sunday. The Garmin-Slipstream rider sprinted ahead of archrival Alessandro Petacchi (LPR Brakes) in Sunday’s 185km stage, finishing second to winner Robert Wagner (Skil-Shimano), but ahead of Petacchi, who crossed the line third. When the time bonuses were added up, Farrar came out on top, winning the three-day race in southern Holland by 11 seconds ahead of Petacchi. Wagner claimed third overall at 13 seconds back.

There were two races for Bernhard Eisel in Sunday’s 150km second stage at the Tour de Suisse — the first to try to win the stage, and the second to try to confirm a spot on Columbia-Highroad’s highly competitive nine-man Tour de France team. The Austrian sprinter achieved the first and went a long way toward securing the second after out-kicking the bunch in a tightly fought sprint to win Sunday’s romp around Davos.

Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) on Sunday won his second successive Dauphiné Libéré cycling race as Dutchman Stef Clement (Rabobank) won the final stage, a 146km hump from Faverges to Grenoble. American Timothy Duggan (Garmin-Slipstream) took second ahead of Frenchman Sebastien Joly (Française des Jeux), all three having been members of an initial 28-man breakaway. World time-trial champion Bert Grabsch (Columbia-Highroad) enjoyed a long spell at the head of affairs before being reeled in 37km from the finish.

The breakaways finally found success in Saturday’s Mankato Road Race at the 2009 Nature Valley Grand Prix, in Minnesota. Andrew Crater (Wheel & Sprocket) and Alexis Rhodes (Webcor Builders) both delivered wins from small escape groups after 92 miles of aggressive and unpredictable racing.