The Vuelta is upon us and as well as the final GT of the season it’s a final chance for a fine-tuning before the Worlds. Back Stateside, it’s USPRO this weekend and then come Tuesday, the transfer madness will all be out in the open. It’s a huge weekend of cycling as the back end of the season ‘drops it to the 11’ and really gets cranking.
It’s a big week in the Netherlands as the top cycling teams in the world descend on the Dutch town of Assen for the start of the 2009 Vuelta a España. While the final of the three Grand Tours of the year is better known for sun scorched plains and ridiculously steep mountain finishes, this year’s race will kick off with a few short sharp climbs and some flat windy racing around low lands of The Netherlands and Belgium (with a quick trip across the border into Germany), which might just have the potential to open up some time gaps before the race heads “home” on Thursday.
With the opening 4.8km time trial scheduled for this Saturday, we’ve got time to take a look at who is going to the race and who is going for the win.
Check the full PEZ Preview of the course and be sure to stay tuned for daily stage reports and PEZ Spanish Bureau Chief Al Hamilton’s reports from the roadside, just as soon as the caravan heads back over the border on Thursday.
Astana And The Defending Champ
No Alberto Contador to help secure Astana yet another Grand Tour win, but with Klöden out with a wrist injury, one name has stepped up to make sure that the Kazakh team will not be short on publicity for the close of season 2009: Alexander Vinokourov.
The 2006 winner is back from his suspension for blood doping, and back in the “New” Astana Team (that went to so much trouble to distance itself from Vino after his, ‘troubles’), with the announcement this week that he has signed a contract from August 24th through to the end of 2010.
While I’m sure that he wouldn’t be riding if he wasn’t somewhere close to his top condition, it remains to be seen whether the fans will have ‘forgiven and forgotten’ Vino’s doping indiscretions if the recently crowned Asian TT champ steps onto the podium with a result in a stage or for the overall.
Astana: Assan Bazayev, Maxim Iglinskiy, Jesús Hernández, Chris Horner, Daniel Navarro, José Luis Rubiera, Michael Schär, Alexandr Vinokourov & Haimar Zubeldia
Basso Sets Sights On Win
After a reasonably successful comeback ride at the Giro (after his two year suspension for ‘intention to dope’) Ivan Basso skipped the Tour de France and is now targeting the Vuelta as part of his end of season campaign.
For his Vuelta debut, Basso says that this year’s route is an appealing one to him, where he can utilize the training he has completed over the summer months, “Five climbing arrivals, hard stages full of climbs and two difficult time trials. I can’t deny that is adapted to my characteristics. This factor, together with the good condition that I reached thanks to August races, allows me to be optimist: the final victory is a concrete goal,” he said.
The Liquigas-Doimo team are not putting all of their ‘eggs in the one basket’ and staking their success on Basso’s GC. At the Giro, this ‘shared leadership’ actually caused some resentment within the squad, however after the Tour de France, team manager Roberto Amadio feels there is still a good balance to be had, saying, “In the Giro and Tour we fought in the front line to conquer both stages and leading placements in the general ranking. This philosophy brought us many satisfactions. We want to face the Vuelta with the same conviction: we choose to present riders like Basso, Bennati, Kreuziger and Quinziato to testify this.”
Benatti will be the man in the sprints for the first week, before the team focuses their attention on Basso for the remainder of the race. The team will be missing the talents of Vincenzo Nibali at the Vuelta, after one of the season’s revelations broke his collarbone this week and ruled himself out of not only the Vuelta, but the World Championships in Mendrisio next month too.
Liquigas Doimo: Ivan Basso, Daniele Bennati, Roman Kreuziger, Manuel Quinziato, Maciej Bodnar, Kjell Carlström, Fabio Sabatini, Sylwester Szmyd and Oliver Zaugg.
Triple Attack From Columbia HTC
After brilliant team efforts at both the Giro and Tour, 2009’s most ‘winningest’ team have their sights set on more than a few of the spoils on offer in Spain (and The Netherlands and Belgium) in the coming three weeks.
With 71 wins and counting this season, the team will be looking to André Greipel to extend his own personal win-fest this year (15 personal victories so far) on the flat sprinters stages, while world TT champ Bert Grabsch will have three final opportunities to roll out the worlds stripes before he has to defend his jersey late next month.
For the overall classification, Columbia HTC will be putting their effort behind Kim Kirchen, with sports director Brian Holm saying, “Kim is very motivated to take a strong result in the overall classification. His start to the season was all but ruined by injuries so he's really aiming to have a good end to the year.” Holm also pointed out that both Michael Albasini and Adam Hansen were motivated to ride well on GC too.
Columbia-HTC: Michael Albasini, Andre Greipel, Bert Grabsch, Adam Hansen, Greg Henderson, Kim Kirchen, Frantisek Rabon, Vicente Reynes, Marcel Sieberg.
Stage Hunters At QuickStep
With a ‘home roads’ advantage in the opening stages, QuickStep will be looking to open their stage winning account early at the Vuelta with Tom Boonen having a more successful and relaxed run in to this three week race, than he did to the Tour de France. While the QuickStep train will have plenty of talent to draw on in the sprint finishes, Boonen will be sharing the sprinting duties with Aussie Allan Davis, who will be looking to score some wins of his own to back up the great results he had at the Tour Down Under way back at the start of the season. Davis had great form leading into the Tour de France, but headed back to Australia for a holiday (after appearing on stage at the team’s presentation) when an out of form and out of sorts Boonen was allowed to start the French stage race.
“We’ll be on the starting line with a very competitive team made up of highly valid and motivated characters,” said team director Wilfried Peeters.” Our main objective is to win some stages, even if it won’t be easy to repeat last year’s result of 5 stage wins. This year starting in Holland and passing through the roads of Belgium in front of our fans will give us even more motivation to do well.”
QuickStep Tom Boonen, Wouter Weylandt, Stijn Devolder, Kevin De Weert, Maarten Wynants, Matteo Tosatto, Marco Velo, Allan Davis, Carlos Barredo.
Cervélo Banks On Proven Winners
Simon Gerrans will be hoping to carry his current top form into his second Grand Tour of the year and a possibly add a Vuelta stage win to his palmares to go with his Tour win from ’08 and Giro win from this year, to make a nice matching set. After being left out of the Tour de France squad in favour of riders more suited to the Green Jersey/Sastre GC campaign, Gerrans’ win in Plouay last weekend showed he has judged his form well with World’s just around the corner.
While fellow ’09 Giro stage winner Ignatas Konovalovas will also be on the hunt for stage wins with Gerrans, the team will be basing their overall campaign on José Angel Gomez Marchante. Britains Roger Hammond will be making his Grand Tour debut at the ’09 Vuelta, which is kind of hard to believe for a guy who has been a pro as long as Hammond. Here’s hoping he can make a big impact and get his name on the GT start lists as a regular deal in the future.
Cervélo Test Team: Iñigo Cuesta, Philip Deignan, Xavier Florencio, Simon Gerrans, Roger Hammond, Ignatas Konovalovas, Jose Angel Gómez Marchante, Gabriel Rasch, Dominique Rollin.
MILRAM Seeking Stage Glory
German ProTour squad Team Milram will be without Fabian Wegman for the Vuelta, as the team believes his back injury will not stand up to the rigours of a three week, 3000+ km stage race. The squad will be looking for stage wins from Gerald Ciolek, who struggled at the Tour de France against the top sprinters in the world, but may have a better chance without the likes of Cavendish to contend with in Spain.
With Gerald Ciolek, we have a sprinter in our ranks whose fitness curve clearly points upwards,” said Gerry van Gerwen, the team’s general manager. “Linus Gerdemann is also highly motivated. In addition, we have a real mountains specialist in Thomas Rohregger, who has already shown at the Giro that he will be able to aim at the general classification in the future.”
Milram: Gerald Ciolek, Linus Gerdemann, Christian Knees, Thomas Rohregger, Dominik Roels , Matthias Ruß, Björn Schröder, Martin Velits, Paul Voß.
Ballan Back For Vuelta
After a successful campaign in 2008 that saw him win a stage and wear the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta before going on to win the world road championships, Alessandro Ballan is hoping to follow the same path 2009.
With eight out of nine riders heading to the Vuelta coming from Italy, there is no problem at all with members of the squad using the race as a tune up for the World’s in Mendrisio. “Our aim is to try to win stages and the work of improving the fitness of athletes such Ballan and Cunego in view of the World Championship,” said Giuseppe Saronni, Lampre-NGC's general manager.
Also back on the GT program is Damiano Cunego who had a less than stellar Giro. Cunego rode a strong supporting race at last year’s worlds and if he comes out of the Vuelta with solid form, could be an outside chance on the undulating course in Mendrisio.
Lampre: Alessandro Ballan, Emanuele Bindi, Vitaliy Buts, Damiano Cunego, Enrico Gasparotto, Marco Marzano, Massimiliano Mori, Paolo Tiralongo, Francesco Tomei
2009 Vuelta a España Stages Stage 1: Sat 29 Aug, Assen – Assen, ITT, 4.8km Stage 2: Sun 30 Aug, Assen – Emmen, 203.7km Stage 3: Mon 31 Aug, Zutphen – Venlo, 189.7km Stage 4: Tue 1 Sep, Venlo – Liège, 225.5km Rest Day 1: Wed 2 Sep. Stage 5: Thu 3 Sep, Tarragona – Vinaros, 174km Stage 6: Fri 4 Sep, Xativa – Xativa, 176.8km Stage 7: Sat 5 Sep, Valencia – Valencia, ITT, 30km Stage 8: Sun 6 Sep, Alzira - Alto de Aitana, 204.7km Stage 9: Mon 7 Sep, Alcoy - Xorret del Cati, 188.8km Stage 10: Tue 8 Sep, Alicante – Murcia, 171.2km Stage 11: Wed 9 Sep, Murcia - Caravaca de la Cruz, 200km Rest Day 2, Thu 10 Sep. Stage 12: Fri 11 Sep, Almería - Alto de Velefique, 179.3km Stage 13: Sat 12 Sep, Berja - Alto de Sierra Nevada, 172.4km Stage 14: Sun 13 Sep, Granada - La Pandera, 157km Stage 15: Mon 14 Sep, Jaén – Córdoba, 167.7km Stage 16: Tue 15 Sep, Córdoba – Puertollano, 170.3km Stage 17: Wed 16 Sep, Ciudad Real - Talavera de la Reina, 193.6km Stage 18: Thu 17 Sep, Talavera de la Reina – Ávila, 165km Stage 19: Fri 18 Sep, Ávila - La Granja. Real Fábrica de Cristales, 179.8km Stage 20: Sat 19 Sep, Toledo – Toledo, ITT, 27.8km Stage 21: Sun 20 Sep, Rivas-Vaciamadrid – Madrid, 110.2km
ENECO Tour Wraps Up
Edvald Boasson Hagen gave team Columbia HTC their 71st win of the season by taking out the final time trial stage and overall classification of the ENECO Tour on Tuesday.
Boasson Hagen took over the race lead on the race’s fifth stage and further extended his time gap over Sylvain Chavanel of QuickStep by winning the penultimate stage in a bunch sprint.
The Norwegian beat home Sebastian Langeveld by four seconds (with the Rabobank rider moving up into 3rd place overall) and finished a comfortable 45seconds clear of prologue winner Chananel on the overall classification.
Sports director Tristan Hoffman praised Boasson Hagen's Columbia-HTC teammates for their hard work for the race leader, saying "without them, winning wouldn't have been possible for Edvald, and he knows that. The Eneco Tour is a race which is always decided by very small margins, so that makes it hard to win and easy to lose, and a strong team like Columbia-HTC is vital for success."
2009 ENECO Tour Final GC
1. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Team Columbia HTC, 26h49m40sec
2. Sylvain Chavanel, QuickStep at 45sec
3. Sebastian Langeveld, Rabobank, at 47sec
4. Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Silence Lotto, at 58s
5. Maxime Monfort, Team Columbia HTC
6. Juan Antonio Flecha, Rabobank
7. Lars Ytting Bak, Team SaxoBank
8. Maarten Tjallingii, Rabobank, at 1m07s
9. Jan Bakelandts, Topsport Vlaanderen, 1m12s
10. Francesco Gavazzi, Lampre 1m22s
Top US Talent Heading To Greenville
The 2009 US PRO titles will be contested this weekend in Greenville South Carolina, with a strong line-up of pro’s from the international circuit heading back stateside to tackle their domestic counterparts in the race for the stars and stripes jersey.
Three-time U.S. Pro Time Trial Champion David Zabriskie (Garmin-Slipstream), and two-time U.S. Pro Road Race Champion George Hincapie (Team Columbia-HTC) will be among the star-studded fields for the Greenville Hospital System USA Cycling Professional Championships. While Hincapie’s record alone should make him one of the outright favourites, his broken collarbone – sustained during the final days of this year’s Tour de France – has limited the pre-race preparation of the Columbia HTC veteran. Other cyclists confirmed for the event are Craig Lewis (Team Columbia-HTC), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream), Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream), Tom Zirbel (Team Bissell), John Murphy (OUCH presented by Maxxis), Floyd Landis (OUCH presented by Maxxis) and Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team). Defending champion Tyler Hamilton will not be at the race after announcing his retirement, shortly before receiving an eight year ban due to a second career doping violation, earlier this year.
On Saturday, the individual time trial title will be contested over 20.7miles, commencing at 11.30am at the Clemson University-International Center for Automotive Research, while on Sunday, the road race will start in down town Greenville at 1.00pm with riders racing over 110miles to decide the new wearer of the national champion’s jersey.
Full course details as well as recommendations for viewing positions are available online at the event website, USACyclingChampionships.com .
The PEZ team will be represented at the USPRO titles on Sunday with ‘recently-returned-from-Austria’ PEZ Man, Jered Gruber lining up to start. We wish him all the best and while he won’t be staring in the PEZ Kit (The Pez didn’t pay his UCI bank guarantee in time), keep an eye out for familiar socks or gloves as the action hots up in Greenville. Good luck Jered!
Transfer Rumours
As the magical September 1 deadline approaches and teams and riders are permitted to disclose who has signed contracts with whom, the reports of who is going where are starting to carry the word ‘confirmed’ and awful lot.
By refusing to rule out that Floyd Landis might be coming to Team Radio Shack, Lance Armstrong set the Internet alight with speculation that the former team mates might be reunited in 2010. Landis is still under contract, however, for next year with team Ouch and while Armstrong said “I wouldn’t rule anything out,” it is a long way from hinting that it is actually a possibility. One confirmation that was given in the report from Bloomberg.com was that Bruyneel would be moving to RadioShack. ‘Big surprise’, you might say, but the Belgian sports director is under contract with Astana until the end of next year and with the move a definite, all that needs to be finalised is how much it is going to cost Armstrong and his backers to buy out Bruyneel’s contract.
Sébastien Rosseler and Gert Steegmans have also been linked with team Radio Shack, with the Belgian press reporting that Rosseler has signed a two year deal with the team after five years at QuickStep.
Another (supposed) confirmed rumour is the move of Simon Gerrans to Team Sky. Again, riders and teams are prohibited from discussing their contracts until Tuesday, but this one seems to be pretty solid info coming out of The Netherlands.
Voigt Signs On Again
After surviving his terrible crash at the Tour de France without any lasting damage, Team SaxoBank’s likeable German, Jens Voigt has extended his career with the team of Bjarne Riis through until the end of 2010. While riders normally prefer to take a two year contract whenever they can, at 37 years of age, Voigt may have set his sights on ‘one more season’ and certainly doesn’t sound like a man who would happily move elsewhere.
Team owner Bjarne Riis said that Voigt has a very important role to play in the team, saying, “He is in many ways a role model for both the young and experienced riders. I believe he will return to the peloton with the strength he had before his crash and we are delighted that he wants to be a part of Team Saxo Bank for another year.”
“I am honoured to be offered a contract for another year and I definitely want to proof that I'm back well and alive to do what I still think I can do,” said the German. “Team Saxo Bank is the Barcelona or Real Madrid of the world of cycling and I don't want to degrade myself to a lower standard. I'm grateful to know that Bjarne still thinks I'm good enough to compete at this level.”
McEwen’s Comeback On Track
Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen is continuing his return from an almost career ending injury, undergoing an operation this week to remove the final screws from his leg, that he broke during the Tour of Belgium at the end of May.
McEwen said on his website, www.mcewenrobbie.com that, “The operation went well without any complications. After a week of rest I can get back on the bike and concentrate on getting the patella tendon 100% right.”
The Australian returned to competitive cycling last month in a series of post Tour criteriums, however he has said that his still needs to build strength in the knee before he can return to ‘proper’ racing, but said, “The removal of the screws should make a big difference to my comfort while riding as one of the screws was poking through the bone into the soft tissue and muscle attachments on the medial (inside) side of my knee causing irritation.”
While not prepared to give out a comeback date just yet, McEwen did reveal some of his aspirations for 2010 in an in-depth interview with The Sydney Morning Herald’s Rupert Guinness.
With the advantage of spending the off season back in the warm weather of his native Queensland, McEwen told Guinness that he would be looking at being fit for the Tour Down Under at the start of the new season, saying, “That's one of my biggest goals for next year. I want to ride at the Tour Down Under, go through to Milan San Remo and then again ride the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.”
With the 2010 World Championships in the southern Australian state of Melbourne, McEwen also sees that as a race suited to his style of riding. “That's a once in a lifetime world championship on home soil on a course that suits me.”
The Shack Schedules
In a press conference at the Global Cancer Summit in Ireland this week, Lance Armstrong announced that he would be heading back to Australia with his new RadioShack team to race the 2010 Tour Down Under.
Earlier in the season Armstrong suggested that the clash of schedules ij the calendar might see him head to the Tour of Qatar instead, however with the strong bond he has formed with South Australian Premier Mike Rann (whose Government have been big investors in the fight against cancer), it is no surprise to hear the Texan is heading back to Australia next year.
The only obstacle of course, is Team Radio Shack securing a ProTour licence or being awarded one of the wild card spots for the race. With Lance on board, I doubt there will be any problem on that front.
Down Under Gets New Sponsor
Speaking of the Tour Down Under, the race will now be known as the Santos Tour Down Under, with wine producer Jacobs Creek ending their long running association with the race. The four year deal signed with Santos, a major Australian oil and gas exploration and production company who started operations in South Australia 55 years ago, will increase the marketing of the event, to attract even more visitors from interstate to travel to the state.
In 2009, thanks in no small part to the participation of Lance Armstrong in his return from retirement, over 36,200 people travelled from interstate and overseas to be part of the excitement of the Tour, contributing $39million to the South Australian economy and officials hope to build upon these numbers in 2010.
The 2010 Santos Tour Down Under will be held in South Australia from 17-24 January 2010.
Beyond The Peloton
As the season rolls on, so to do the episodes of Beyond The Peloton at the Cervelo Test Team’s fan site, BarTape.net. The final of three instalments of the team’s successful Giro campaign is now available to view or download from the website.
Giro d’Italia Part Three focuses on stages 15 and 16 and goes behind the scenes to see exactly what happened when Belgian rider Serge Pauwels was called back from the front of the race to assist team leader Carlos Sastre, in a move that almost certainly cost the team and Pauwels a stage win.
It’s interesting to see Sastre’s measured reaction to the situation as well as the way Pauwels made up for his error the following day.
Riding The CatWalk
Interbike, producers of North America's largest bicycle industry trade shows, will host the second annual Urban Legend Fashion and Art Show, presented by Giant Bicycles, at Interbike 2009 on the show floor, Thursday, September 24 at 5:00 p.m.
"Interbike uses the Urban Legend Fashion Show to showcase the industry's growing enthusiasm for urban cycling and the exciting products that the segment supports," said Rich Kelly, Interbike marketing manager. "As with all of the products exhibited at Interbike, urban cycling gear and apparel is best appreciated in action."
Instead of a traditional catwalk, a road loop surrounded by bicycle-inspired art will be laid out on the main show floor in hall D of the Sands Expo Center. The Urban Legend audience will gather in and around the loop while models ride through it. The innovative layout allows attendees "front-row seats" to watch the models show off the function and fashion of urban bikes and cycling apparel.
"We loved what Interbike did with the fashion show last year and thought sponsoring it this year would be a great way for Giant to highlight its new lifestyle products," said Elysa Walk, general manager of Giant Bicycles. "There is a lifestyle boom taking place in the consumer market and Giant wants to be part of it."
Inspired and styled by Momentum magazine, the Urban Legend Fashion and Art Show will be a celebration of urban sustainability, culture and style. Highlights will include stylish, smart, sexy and professional clothing for every season that fits into everyday life and works great on a bike. Instead of typical athletic shorts and jerseys, models will sport practical urban and casual cycling wear while riding urban, folding, utilitarian and commuting bikes.
To complement the cycling fashion on the runway, cycling-inspired art by a variety of artists will be on display at the fashion show venue.
DiLuca Gets Another Month
Following his appearance to answer charges of using CERA on his way to second place in this year’s Giro, Danilo Di Luca has been granted another 30days in which to finalise his defence against the charges.
In his hour long hearing before CONI anti doping officials, the 2007 Giro winner said that he and his lawyers had doubt about the methods used in the testing of the samples and also said that he couldn’t rule out a conspiracy.
We have another month to wait before we see exactly how the Italian will try and evade what could end up being a four year ban.
We Love Fantastically Crazy People Here At PEZ
The thing is, riding from Georgia to Wisconsin, 1046 miles, really isn't all that crazy - it's a damn good idea! Anyhow, few of us have the time, guts, or desire to suffer through that kind of wild adventure, so it's always fun to be able to follow along on the web, support, think about, or all of the above - when someone does something a little wild. So read up, and if you're bored, follow along as MJ rolls ever northward!
Dear Friends,
For some of you this will be new "news". For others you've already heard the story and have had the opportunity to question my sanity.
On September 19th I will be embarking on a solo 10-day, 1046 mile bicycle ride from my home in Atlanta, GA. With luck, I will complete my journey on Sept 28th in Green Bay, WI.
I have been an avid cyclist for 14 years, but riding 9-10 hours per week wasn't going to get me to Wisconsin. Since I began training in earnest in early July I have logged over 2220 miles and burned in excess of 155,000 calories (the equivalent of 267 Big Mac's). I've also shed 30lbs since Memorial Day.
My journey will take me from Georgia, to Tennessee, through the back roads of Kentucky, into southern Indiana, through the farm country of Illinois and finally into Wisconsin. For those of you interested, I have created a website/blog which I will update on a daily basis. Currently you can find my route maps and details on my training at RideToWisconsin.com
As part of my trip I have decided to join the Lance Armstrong Foundation's fight against cancer. I've pledged to raise $2,000 or approximately $2 per mile for the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help provide those with Cancer become Survivors.
I am not asking a lot. A penny per mile is only $10.46. Trust me, there will be days when I will be suffering. I have days scheduled where I will ride more than 120 miles, almost 8 hours of pedaling. It will help to know that every mile counts and will help someone else live a better life.
Thanks for your support.
Michael Johnson
p.s. Please pass this along to any cyclists you know who may find this interesting, or may want to join me out on the road.
Support Team Mountain Khakis By Saving!
Mountain Khakis have, without question, some of the best outdoor and indoor clothing around. I don't know about you, but I like cheap stuff - and that's just what Mountain Khakis is offering right now.
With the 2010 racing season just around the corner Team Mountain Khakis is out to impress our title sponsor and celebrate a very successful 2009 season with our supporters and fans. In celebration of our success on the bike, Mountain Khakis has worked with us to increase the “cyclemk” discount to 25%. We encourage all of you take an active part not only in the team but in your support of cycling and let us show Mountain Khakis that their continued support of the sport is valued.
To take advantage of this opportunity go to MountainKhakis.com and at checkout enter the promotional code “cyclemk”.
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
As the final Madison got underway the arena was packed to the rafters, all the talk of Six Days in crisis forgotten for now. The finale was ... More....
Six Day racing comes to Berlin for the 99th time on Thursday, 28th January, 2010 with the great tradition of winter track racing in Germany in a ... More....
American Classic spent the last couple of years reworking their line up and the 420 Aeros are the latest to leave the bench. Take a look at the new ... More....
A couple years in the making, Pez head up to see arguably the top custom builder on the planet. We hit Serotta's NY shop, take a peek at their ... More....
You’ve still got today and all of tomorrow to ‘git ‘er done! Your holiday shopping that is… and armed with the complete set of 4 gift guides ... More....
If the stocking's not full - somebody's not doing their job. Good thing we're here to help with a big ol' bag full of the kind of stuff we'd love to ... More....
Winter riding is almost upon us - except for you lucky Aussies - and that means less riding outdoors. But with an indoor trainer and a Netflix ... More....
Many ergogenic aids, both legal and illegal, have been touted as the magic bullet that will improve cycling performance. What about something that ... More....
Having goals is one of the important first steps in achieving your dreams. They can be small goals or they can be big goals, but without them you’ll ... More....
Is cycling your religion, or at least one of them? If so, you’re not alone. Many people define themselves as “spiritual,” even if they don’t practice ... More....
Post-Giro Roadside: I love Scotland; but there’s no Gazzetta in the morning, most of the coffee tastes like John Wayne brewed it beside the ... More....
Sunday July 20th 1969; that’s 40 years ago now but I remember it clearly as the day that I first became aware of professional bicycle racing – I was ... More....
Roadside Recap: As we make our merry way through the rounds of the PEZ Looks Back, Ed is up for his retrospective on the Tour that was. As the ... More....
Coming on four years ago, Saul Raisin was one of THE big things in US pro cycling. Top 40 in a hard Tour de Suisse and mountain king at the Tour de ... More....
The last time we spoke to Garmin's Steve Cozza was after the 2008 Paris - Tours; where he produced another solid performance from a consistent and ... More....
Just about to start his second season with Cervélo - thanks to strong Classic rides and his first Grand Tour finish, in the Giro - Englishman, Dan ... More....
In October, nine-time Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu announced that he would be Director Sportif of the Ohio-based KENDA Pro Cycling p/b ... More....
With so many (too many?) others looking back to best-of-2009 or decade highlights, why not look ahead? A new decade beckons, after all, so who better ... More....
We first talked with Lostende Bike Tours owner and avid cyclist Allan Reeves about his Pyrenees Cycling Challenge, from the Atlantic to the ... More....
So, riding in Texas is mostly flat, with only tumbleweeds and armadillos to avoid right? Well, not exactly. You see, Austin is situated in what’s ... More....
Roadside St. 14 When you start each new Giro you understand you’re a year older. You feel a stranger to the village approach and for a moment ... More....
Professional cycling has, over the years, attracted only a few documentary film makers. A few, such as Jorgen Leth’s “A Sunday in Hell,” have even ... More....
I’m just digging out from a few days at the BMC training camp, and while I won’t be reporting on doing Jaeger-bombs and Redbulls with Cadel & George, ... More....
Race report: Alejandro Valverde stayed upright to seal his Vuelta victory – the first Grand Tour win of his career. On such a short stage, ... More....
Race Report: Today David Millar won his 5th stage in all his Vuelta’s, he was given one of the swords that Toledo is famous for along with the ... More....
The loss of Franco Ballerini is not one that will be forgotten anytime soon. The sport's best are at a loss and two of the greatest riders of our ... More....
Updated! Hallelujah, they're racing in Qatar, and I just got back from celebrating with every other New Orleanian on Bourbon Street. There's ... More....
It was a dark Sunday morning in Italy when the news services announced that Franco Ballerini, ex-professional, former dual Paris-Roubaix winner and ... More....
The maracas shake, 'Cara mia, mine !' blasts from the PA. Bang! The little cannon fires and the hall fills with smoke. Yes, this is the right place, ... More....
When the K-Mart Classic of West Virginia stormed through the state in the mid-90s, it opened awareness as to just how great the bike riding is in ... More....
After riding the final 17 sectors of Paris-Roubaix yesterday, and typing to you with still swollen, sore, and blistered hands, I understand to my ... More....
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/amclass/amc420alarge.jpg",900,698);)
![](javascript:showpic("http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/photos/tech/serotta/meilarge.jpg",2000,1244);)
