Konovalovas and Samoilau sign with Movistar
September 08, 2010 (14:46) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Ignatas Konovalovas and Branislau Samoilau have signed for Movistar for 2011 and 2012. The Spanish squad has been strengthening its roster ever since the announcement that Movistar would take over sponsorship from Caisse d’Epargne. The team has lost Luis Leon Sanchez to Rabobank but has signed Xavier Tondo (Cervélo TestTeam), Beñat Intxausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Sergio Pardilla (Carmiooro-NGC). They will be joined by Konovalovas and Samoilau. Lithuanian time trial champion ... More...

OGrady rethinks his world championship build-up after Vuelta expulsion
September 08, 2010 (13:46) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Stuart O'Grady has admitted he has ridden his last race with Bjarne Riis’s Saxo Bank team after he was sent home from the Vuelta a España for going out for a late night drink. O’Grady and Andy Schleck went out after dinner on the first rest day in Tarragona but Riis deemed their behaviour broke internal team rules and they headed home instead of starting Monday’s tenth stage. O’Grady will now have to rethink his build-up for the world road race championships in ... More...

Praud back in the game at the Vuelta
September 08, 2010 (13:08) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Jean-Christophe Péraud of Omega Pharma-Lotto is back in the game for a shot overall classification of the Vuelta a España as the first big mountian finish in the Pyrenees looms on the horizon. The Frenchman is now fifth overall, 54 seconds behind Joaquin Rodriguez of Team Katusha. He had been virtually the race leader with less than 10 kilometres to race on stage nine but Igor Antón's Euskaltel-Euskadi team rode intelligently to save the red jersey that day and spoil Péraud's ... More...

Rollin eyes strong showing in Canadian ProTour races
September 08, 2010 (13:08) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Canadian rider Dominique Rollin (Cervélo Test Team) is looking forward to the rare opportunity of competing at the highest level of cycling in his own backyard at the two Canadian ProTour races taking place in Québec City on Friday and Montréal on Sunday. The Boucherville native will use the pair of events as an opportunity to mingle with the on-hand ProTour, Professional Continental and North American domestic teams in search of a new contract for 2011. "It's an honour ... More...

Tondo invests for next year
September 08, 2010 (13:08) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Lying in fourth position prior to the Pyrenees at the Vuelta a España, Xavier Tondo is confirming that he’s probably the most improved stage race rider of the 2010 season. “It’s not such a big surprise to find me up there, I think,” said the 31-year-old from Cervélo. “After fifteen days at the Giro, I was third, so I can improve my position here as well.” In Italy he benefited from his part in a 56-man breakaway during the legendary stage 11 to L’Aquila ... More...

Phinney faces Tour de l'Avenir and team decisions
September 08, 2010 (11:37) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Taylor Phinney faces a tough decision ahead of stage three of the Tour de l' Avenir today - whether he should he continue in the race after crashing out of the lead yesterday. He faces a more delicate decision when it comes to choosing his team for next year however, having three of the most powerful suitors in the sport scrambling for his signature: RadioShack, BMC and the newly-formed 'Team Schleck'. Phinney went into stage two of the French stage race in the leader's jersey but treacherous conditions ... More...

Transfer news: Geox signs Duarte, Wyss and more
September 08, 2010 (09:21) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Team Geox, which will form out of the current Footon-Servetto squad, confirmed the signing of 10 young riders for 2011. Joining team leaders Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov will be Rafael Valls, Arkaitz Durán, Noe Gianetti, Fabio Felline, Marco Corti and Matthias Brandle, all of whom are members of Footon-Servetto. New to the squad for 2011 will be former U23 World Champion Fabio Duarte (Café de Colombia); Italian neo-pro Matteo Pelucchi (Trevigiani Dynamon Bottoli); Slovenian Marko ... More...

Cooke extends Saxo Bank contract
September 08, 2010 (09:21) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Team Saxo Bank has extended Baden Cooke's contract for another year, the Australian signing on to ride the 2011 season with Bjarne Riis' squad. The 32-year-old will continue at the team, which will be known as Saxo Bank-SunGard in 2011, having moved there at the end of 2009 and developed into a key domestique for its Spring Classics campaign. That was seen during this year's editions of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, where he did vital work for Fabian Cancellara, who won both races. "I'm ... More...

Reactions from the Vuelta's 10th stage
September 08, 2010 (06:08) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) - 38th on stage, third overall @ 0:04: "The riders from Xacobeo-Galicia set the pace on the Alto del Rat Penat. I suffered a little bit at the beginning of the climb as it's always hard to find the race rhythm again the day after a rest day but I felt good at the end. "I spoke with [Italian national coach Paolo] Bettini during the rest day and he said that we'll speak again after the Vuelta. For now, he'll let me focus on the Vuelta exclusively. I'm in ... More...

Danielson destined for Vuelta revival
September 08, 2010 (04:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Lying in 15th overall, less than two minutes behind new race leader Joaquin Rodriguez, Garmin-Transitions' Tom Danielson is in a situation to repeat his top 10 performance at the 2006 Vuelta a España when he finished sixth. But the American told Cyclingnews that he won't be setting any clear objectives for overall ambitions until stage 17, a 46km individual time trial with the probability of a lot of wind in Peñafiel. "I had troubles with the punchy finishes of the first week ... More...

Eurobike 2010: Cyclingnews' complete video coverage
September 08, 2010 (04:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
At Cyclingnews we've already comprehensively kept you up to date with the 2010 Eurobike trade show in words and pictures. Now it's time to unleash our complete video coverage , in conjunction with Bikeradar.com , of the world's biggest bicycle show. Our video crew was hard at work combing the halls of Friedrichshafen, Germany to bring you three-five minute clips from 36 different companies. We've covered 3T, Bionicon, Bottecchia, Canyon, Cinelli, Colnago, Cube, Easton, Elite, Fizik, Focus, Fondriest, ... More...

Mourey, Page to start season in Seattle
September 08, 2010 (00:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
The UCI cyclo-cross scene will have its first races of the season on US soil, with several European professionals choosing to take part in Seattle's StarCrossed and Rad Racing Gran Prix on September 18-19. While the first race of the year will be in Pennsylvania where the Nittany Lion 'Cross takes place on September 11, the first large international field is shaping up for the pair of races the following week in Washington state. French national champion Francis Mourey (Française Des Jeux), ... More...

Rodriguez aiming to be world's number one
September 07, 2010 (23:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Team Katusha's Joaquin "Purito" Rodriguez scored an important victory by taking over the Vuelta a España race lead on stage 10 to Vilanova i la Geltrù. With a two-second time bonus for an intermediate sprint, he inched ahead of the previous leader Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and will now wear the coveted red leader's jersey in his home region of Catalunya. After soaking up his time on the podium, Rodriguez announced that he is not only riding to bring home the overall ... More...

Riis explains Schleck and O'Grady expulsion
September 07, 2010 (21:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis has revealed that he sent Andy Schleck and Stuart O'Grady home from the Vuelta a España because they stayed out until 5 a.m. last night. The duo were withdrawn by their team ahead of today's stage 10 from Tarragona to Vilanova i la Geltrú. "They haven't respected the rules of the team," Riis said after the stage. "Whether it's one glass or ten, at 5 a.m., it's inexcusable. I've done what I had to do. The rules of the team are the same ... More...

Reus takes time off from cycling, return is questionable
September 07, 2010 (19:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Kai Reus is taking a one-year leave of absence from cycling, and it is not known whether he will return at all, Rabobank announced Tuesday afternoon. General manager Harold Knebel said that the team was willing to give the 25-year-old time to consider his future. Reus suffered serious head injuries in a training crash in July 2007, which led to him being placed in an induced coma for 12 days. He did not return to racing until September 2008. In 2009 he won a stage at the Tour of Britain and wore ... More...

Belgian Worlds team announced
September 07, 2010 (18:01) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Philippe Gilbert will be able to count on the support of four of his Omega Pharma-Lotto teammates at the world championships in Geelong next month. The Belgian team was announced by national coach Carlo Bomans today and his line-up of nine riders is built largely around Gilbert. Mario Aerts, Jan Bakelants, Jürgen Roelandts and Greg Van Avermaet will ride the race in support of their trade team leader Gilbert. Bakelants and Van Avermaet are currently competing in the Vuelta a España with ... More...

Wiggins fired up for Tour of Britain
September 07, 2010 (15:26) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Bradley Wiggins says that he’s relishing the opportunity to get back to racing when he leads a strong Team Sky line-up into the Tour of Britain on Saturday. Speaking to Cyclingnews in London after a photo shoot to publicise the team’s one-off kit for the Tour of Britain, Wiggins said he would love to do well in his home tour and believes he has the form and the team to make an impact. Wiggins said he has been working hard at getting back to racing since his “disappointing” ... More...

UPDATED Andy Schleck, O'Grady removed from Vuelta
September 07, 2010 (14:56) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Bjarne Riis has removed Andy Schleck and Stuart O'Grady from the Vuelta a Espana. The Saxo Bank team owner claimed the two violated unspecified internal team rules, according to TV 2 Sport. Riis is expected to explain the circumstances in a statement after the stage is ended. None of the parties involved could be reached for a comment. Neither Andy Schleck nor O'Grady was at the start of the tenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday in Tarragona. Schleck, who finished second in this year's Tour ... More...

Jalabert regrets France's Vuelta absentees
September 07, 2010 (14:56) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
French national team manager Laurent Jalabert has bemoaned the fact that so few of his riders have opted to compete in the Vuelta a España as build-up for the world championships. Jalabert has spent two days following the Spanish race and reiterated his believe that it constitutes the best preparation for Melbourne. “For many years, we’ve seen that the world champion and the majority of the top twenty were in Spain before the worlds,” Jalabert told L’Équipe ... More...

Contador to return to Vuelta in 2011
September 07, 2010 (13:26) [ Indexed from Cyclingnews.com ]
Alberto Contador has announced his plans to return to the Vuelta a España next season. The Spaniard last participated in the event in 2008, when he took overall victory. “If everything goes normally, I will do two major tours,” Contador told Marca . “It’s not completely certain, but in principle, I will do the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.” Contador’s only previous Vuelta start was his winning ride in 2008, a year in which he also won the ... More...