Category: Cycling

Stephen Roche tips Contador and Cancellara for Tour

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/4/09 8:56 AM

Former Tour de France winner Stephen Roche has added his voice to those who have said that they expect Alberto Contador to take a second Tour title this month. The Irishman, who triumphed in 1987, outlined his favourites for the race, nominating the Spaniard as the clear leader of the Astana team. He felt that Lance Armstrong would have a solid, rather than a spectacular performance overall. "I think Contador will be the winner," he told Cyclingnews . "Menchov will be good too. I ... ...read more

Category: Cycling

Some surprises in L'Equipe's list of favorites

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 8:36 AM

Predicting the outcome of the Tour de France is a hazardous undertaking, but it's one that the editors of L'?quipe ? the French sports newspaper that invented the Tour and is still part of its organizational team ? always take a stab at. They generally get it right, but not always.

After Jan Ullrich won the Tour in 1997, L'?quipe predicted that he would become the first man to win the race six times. He didn't win it again. In Saturday's edition, previewing the 96th Tour, ...read more

Category: Cycling

Cav: stages, not jersey, are the goal.

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 8:11 AM

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 ...read more

Category: Cycling

Time Trial Starting Times

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 8:06 AM

199. Kenny Robert Van Hummel (NED) Skil-Shimano, departs at 4:00:00 p.m.

189. Peter Wrolich (AUT) Team Milram, departs at 4:01:00 p.m. 174. Brice Feillu (FRA) Agritubel, departs at 4:02:00 p.m. 166. Danilo Napolitano (ITA) Team Katusha, departs at 4:03:00 p.m. 154. Steven De Jongh (NED) Quick Step, departs at 4:04:00 p.m. 145. Sa?d Haddou (FRA) Bbox Bouygues Telecom, departs at 4:05:00 p.m. 134. Angelo Furlan (ITA) Lampre - N.G.C, departs at 4:06:00 p.m. 122. Stephane ...read more

Category: Cycling

A fast day at Fitchburg

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 8:01 AM

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.

Riding in thunderstorms that dampened the latter half of the race, Team Type 1's Darren Lill sprinted across the line in second, just in front of race revelation, local amateur rider, and points jersey winner Will Dugan (CCB). Thanks to a dramatic effort on the final ...read more

Category: Cycling

Caisse d'Epargne shifts focus to Pereiro in Valverde's absence

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/4/09 7:56 AM

An admittedly battered, but not beaten Caisse d'Epargne outfit showed up at the Tour de France team's presentation on Thursday evening. Rolling up the ramp towards the stage in front of Monaco's glam harbour, one could not help but feel the absence of the team's main leader, Alejandro Valverde, and wonder if the riders of the Franco-Spanish squad were going to be able to make up for it. Due to his alleged involvement inOperacion Puerto, Valverde was banned to race on Italian soil by the Italian ... ...read more

Category: Cycling

Beppu and Arashiro want to be first Japanese Tour finishers

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 7:56 AM

Japanese rider Fumiyuki Beppu is aiming to become the first cyclist from the land of the rising sun to reach Paris and finish the race which starts on Saturday.

The 26-year-old former national road race champion, who turned professional with Discovery Channel in 2005, will be competing for Skil-Shimano when the first stage begins with a time trial around the tiny Principality. And, along with Bbox Bouygues Telecom's Yukiya Arashiro, Beppu wants to be the first rider from Japan to reach ...read more

Category: Cycling

Powers back on top in Fitchburg

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/4/09 6:26 AM

Reigning US National Time Trial Champion Alison Powers (Team Type 1) hopes to maintain her early lead in the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic despite the tough competition that follows her after the opening time trial. Powers showed the Massachusetts crowds the reason why she wears the stars and stripes skinsuit, winning the opening 14-kilometre time trial ahead of Lip Smackers duo Evelyn Stevens and Anne Samplonius. French National Time Trial Champion, Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli (Vital Plus) placed a ... ...read more

Category: Cycling

McGrath, Sheppard blow BC Bike Race open

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 6:01 AM

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. ?(Sheppard) hit the gas hard on the first ...read more

Category: Cycling

Boonen may struggle in Tour opener

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/4/09 5:36 AM

Quick Step team officials have said that Tom Boonen, admitted to the Tour de France only a day before its scheduled start in Monaco, may have difficulty even making the time cut in the opening time trial on Saturday.

"Tom does not feel very well today,? said general manager Patrick Lefevere. ?He is feeling weak, due to abdominal pain and diarrhea. "Frankly, I think it's his body's reaction to all of the stress he's gone through these few weeks." "Tom is a tough, though, ...read more

Category: Cycling

Trek Speed Concept preview

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/4/09 4:26 AM

Trek Bicycles has borrowed a page from automotive aerodynamic design for its latest Speed Concept time trial machine, first seen under Alberto Contador (Astana) at last month's Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and soon to be used by teammates Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer as well for the Tour de France start in Monaco. Just as the sharply squared-off trailing edges reduce drag on high-performance vehicles – and high-mileage ones like the Toyota Prius – Trek ... ...read more

Category: Cycling

Sastre respects his rivals, Armstrong should do the same

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/4/09 3:26 AM

"It's his point of view, his words, his life – I'm not interested in anything about that. I think he's a great champion – he won seven Tours de France, the world [road] championship… he's a great rider. But just behind every rider must be a person, and in that respect, maybe he needs to learn something more." No guesses for working out who Carlos Sastre was referring to at the Cervélo TestTeam press conference Friday in Monaco. The defending Tour de France champion ... ...read more

Category: Triathlon

Tour Tech on Show in Monaco

from The Workbench on 7/4/09 1:41 AM

What are we in store for in France this month? Have a look...Everyone in the industry seems to think I am in Monaco for the Tour. Sadly, I am not. As they say in France, C'est la vie. But this technical editor, however, on vacation in Switzerland, visiting my wife Donna Phelan, just as I did last year at TeamTBB camp in Leysin. It's great seeing old friends (coach Brett Sutton and athletes Rebekah Keat, Lizbeth Kristensen and Erika Csomor), and all the new faces on the team. I brought my road bike and am excited to head out today after a day of jetlag sorting? got some new stuff to test, in a beautifully appropriate locale, the Swiss Alps. It's a beautiful day today, and am sure it will be the same around the corner in Monaco for the race s ...read more

Category: Triathlon

Jason Lester Up for a 2009 ESPY Award

from Triathlon Juice (TRIJUICE) - triathlon news & resource blog on 7/3/09 9:16 PM

Jason Lester Has Been Nominated for an ESPN 2009 ESPY Award in the Category of Best Male Athlete with a Disability.

Kona, Hawaii ? July 1st, 2009 ? Ironman and Ultraman athlete Jason Lester, whose right arm is paralyzed, has been nominated for an ESPY Award www.espys.tv in the category of Best Male Athlete with a Disability. The 2009 ESPYs, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be taped on July 15th at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, and will air on July 19th at 9pm Eastern time. "I want all my fans to go check out nominees at www.ESPYS.tv,? says Jason. ?Naturally, if you feel I deserve an ESPY then I'd appreciate your vote.? Jason Lester is an Ironman athlete who has the use of only one arm, and his story of triumph over traged ...read more

Category: Triathlon

Review of Desoto Cool Wings Arm Coolers

from Triathlon Training Blog on 7/3/09 7:21 PM

I recently purchased a pair of Desoto Cool Wings Arm coolers. They look like arm warmers, but with a section that goes across your shoulders connecting the two. They are white, and made of a fabric that is supposed to have a cooling affect on the skin.?

I purchased them from the Trisports.com website. I wanted ...read more

Category: Cycling

Tour de Pez: Five Minutes With Maxime Monfort!

from PezCyclingNews.com on 7/3/09 6:51 PM

Message by Gordan CameronInterview: One of the nicer guys in the pro peloton is Team Columbia-HTC's Belgian star Maxime Monfort, a smart and erudite guy, whose journalistic background means he has a fuller understanding of the press pack's needs ... and maybe explains why he's so patient when confronted by a stream of hacks, myself included. ...read more

Category: Cycling

Kelly Benefit Strategies dominate top five in Fitchburg opener

from Cyclingnews News Headlines on 7/3/09 5:56 PM

Bissell's Tom Zirbel won the 50th Fitchburg Longsjo Classic's opening time trial on Thursday and took the early race lead ahead of a slew of Kelly Benefit Strategies riders. It was his second time trial victory since he took the win in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in June. KBS' Scott Zwizanski took second place, David Veilleux third and Zach Bell came fourth, setting up a favorable situation for that team in the road races. Zirbel acknowledged the tough competition he and his Bissell team are about ... ...read more

Category: Cycling

Flash: Cannondale's 16.5 pound cross-country bike

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/3/09 5:16 PM

On the last day of the 2010 Cannondale release in Park City, Utah, the research and development team were excited to unveil a new high-end hardtail cross country bike.

The age-old weight gap between mountain and road bikes is now becoming smaller. Of course getting weight down is always a major goal for bike manufacturers, but with the strength and specific performance depends of cross-country racing, ideal weight and actual never seem to finish together. For the Cannondale research and ...read more

Category: Cycling

Tour De Pez: Three Minutes With Gustav Larsson!

from PezCyclingNews.com on 7/3/09 4:41 PM

Message by Gordan CameronOnce things had wrapped up at the SaxoBank press conference, Gustav Larsson was one of the guys who'd managed to slip out relatively unseen, giving a pretty laid back interview to Swedish radio ... but Pez was waiting and we grabbed a few words with the genial giant. ...read more

Category: Cycling

Fireworks and stars and stripes at Saturday's Firecracker 50

from VeloNews | The Journal of Competitive Cycling on 7/3/09 4:36 PM

For most Americans, the Fourth of July is associated with flags, fireworks, parades, and independence from another English speaking country. For the 750 registered racers of the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race in Breckenridge, Colorado, the Fourth of July will represent four to seven (the time limit) hours of exhausting singletrack followed by all those things that normal Americans do on this holiday.

Beginning in 2001 as a grueling mountain bike race to celebrate our sovereignty, in 2007 ...read more