2015 Cyclocross National Championships - Belgium and France LIVE.

The 2015 Belgian Cyclocross National Championships are being held at Erpe-Mere.  The Belgian Elite Women championship gets underway at 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern) Sunday.  The Belgian Elite Men championship gets underway at 3:00pm CET (9am U.S. Eastern) Sunday. 

The 2015 French CX National Championships are being held in Pont-Chateau.  The French Elite Women Championship gets underway at 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern) Sunday and the French Elite Men championship gets underway at 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern) Sunday.

Peta Mullens wins Australian women's national title.

Having gone clear with Rachel Neylan on the second last of 10 laps, Peta Mullens out sprinted her breakaway companion to claim her first national road title after 102km of racing in Buninyong in a time of 2:55:29.

Mullens, who raced with Wiggle-Honda in 2014, had planned for the national championships to be her only road race of the year as she switches her focus to racing mountain bikes with her eye on Rio.

Villumsen solos to elusive NZ road championship.

Linda Villumsen, who has won medals and honors at the highest level around the world, finally grabbed her first major victory in New Zealand with a dominating ride at the Calder Stewart elite national road championship in Christchurch.

Scotson wins U23 national title to complete the double.

Miles Scotson added his name to the list of U23 riders to have won the road race and time trial at the same Australian national championships to cap off a successful week of racing for the SASI team.

Scotson soloed over the line with a time of 3:22:57 minutes having attacked from the remnants of the day's breakaway and joins Jonathan Davis (2003), Jack Bobridge (2009) and Rohan Dennis (2012) in winning the double.

Nys: The divorce has been harder than expected.

Much has been said and written about the poor performances by Sven Nys. His age – he is 38 years old – illness, his divorce in the summer.

Until now, Nys has not tried to use the break with his wife as an excuse but now he admits for the first time that the new private situation certainly had an impact.

"And perhaps more than I wanted to believe. Mentally I had the feeling that I had everything under control in the summer. I found myself physically stable. 

"But maybe I have subconsciously been thinking more about it. You know that. Everyone wanted to help me, but I was determined to prove that I could do it alone. I was stubborn.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (Stages & Results),

Santos Tour Down Under 2015 - Jan 18-25 (Stages),

Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (Stages),

Giro d'Italia 2015 - May 9-31 (Stages),

Tour de France 2015 - July 4-26 (Stages),

UCI Road World Championship 2014 - Sept 20-27 (Results),

Vuelta a España 2014 - Aug 23-Sept 14 (Results),

Tour de France 2014  - July 5-27 (Results),

Giro d'Italia 2014 - May 9 - June 1 (Results),

More ...

 (cyclingnews.com)

Cyclocross Nationals 2015 Preview: Jeremy Powers ‘has to win’.

2014 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships LIVE.

The 2014 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship Junior Men, Elite Women and Elite Men races are being held Sunday, January 12 at Boulder, Colorado.  There will be live streaming video.

Live streaming video:
Junior Men: 11am MST (19:00 CET).
Elite Women: 1:30pm MST (21:30 CET).
Elite Men: 2:45pm MST (22:45 CET).

Women’s Elite Dutch National Championships: Elite Predictions.

This Sunday, Marianne Vos will aim to defend her Dutch National Championship title. Of the five races entered this season, Vos has collected three golds and two silvers. “I’m favorite but who knows if someone can pull off a surprise on the day,” explains Vos to Start-Box.be.

When asked who she looks to who can be that “someone”, she is quick to name her three teammates taking the start alongside her. Of those, current U23 European Champ Sabrina Stultiens has the highest chances of pulling off such as stunt as to dethrone Vos.

Dutch Championships, Elite Men 2015: Two World Toppers battle for the Dutch Jersey.

At the Elite Men’s National Cyclocross Championships in The Netherlands, there are two powerful guys expected to battle for top glory. They are U23 rider Mathieu van der Poel and current National Champion Lars van der Haar, arguably two of the top five world’s best crossers.

If the race plays out as expected on paper, Van der Poel will emerge from the field first to take the jersey as he’s often come out on top when the two of them have gone head to head. But thankfully races are not contested on paper, but rather in the field where anything can happen.

This course is a particularly tricky one, in fact. Covered with mud from the recent high influx of rain, mixed with long stretches of sand, it can certainly play a role in the outcome.

BMC to push Flakemore outside his comfort zone during debut season.

Australian rookie professional Campbell Flakemore could find that his time trialling prowess will book him a berth in his BMC team for the Giro d’Italia in 2015. However, BMC sporting manager Allan Peiper has said that the 22 year-old Tasmanian shouldn't bank on his race program for the season being based around events that include time trials, and that he will be challenged to perform outside his comfort zone.

Peiper also said while the world under 23 time trial champion is an important asset for the American WorldTour team, he will have to learn “how to race to win.”

Gunn-Rita: New challenges in a new year.

"A New Year lies ahead of us, with new challenges, opportunities and experiences. Mostly a mix of excitement and enjoyment, but also a flavour of trepidation. I live in the belief that anything is possible if one really wants it and is prepared to work hard every day to reach the goal.

After last year’s season was over, the autumn passed very quickly, as usual. Two longer trips to Asia to promote cycling and Merida made the three months before Christmas seem like only a 2-3 weeks, but with a year’s worth of experiences."

(cyclingnews.com)

Interview: Dain Zaffke, Giro Sport Design.

Giro Sport Design has been leading the way in bike helmets since 1985, when founder Jim Gentes created the game-changing ProLight.

Since then, the Californian company has developed the most advanced helmet design and testing facilities around.

BikeRadar caught up with marketing director Dain Zaffke while in Santa Cruz, California, to talk about riding, careers and the company's product plans.

Women’s movement: The slow march toward equality.

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

2015 Vuelta a Espana features tough mountain stages, Madrid finale.

The 70th edition of the Vuelta a España will see the race return to Madrid on its 80th anniversary after a break from tradition to finish in Santiago de Compostela in 2014.

The grueling 21-stage race will start with a 7.4km team time trial in Marbella on Saturday, August 22, and finish with a parade around the center of the Spanish capital on September 13.

As usual, the organizers have crammed in a number of mountaintop finishes, with nine such stages making their first appearance in the race.

African cycling continues to grow with inaugural Continental Track Championships.

MTN-Qhubeka’s emergence as Africa’s first Grand Tour team is not the only positive cycling development emanating from the continent. Later this month the first African Continental Track Championships are due to be held in South Africa.

The Sax Young Cycling Track in Alexandra Park, 85km from the east coast city of Durban, will be hosting four days of competition from January 21 to January 24 – with January 25 set aside as a reserve day should weather intervene.

Talk: Tomasz Marczynski.

Twice Polish Road Champion and former Vacansoleil rider Tomasz Marczynski is headed to Turkish squad Torku-Sekerspor for 2015, a team that is going through big changes under new management as former GreenEdge director Lionel Marie takes the reins.

2014 was a memorable year for Polish Cycling with Rafal Majka taking sixth on GC in the Giro then two stages and the King of the Mountains in le Tour before winning his home Tour of Poland. The icing on the cake came courtesy of Michal Kwiatkowski and his stunning win in the World Elite Road Race Championship in Ponferrada. But Majka and Kwiatkowski apart we don’t hear much from the hard men from the East.

Kwiatkowski: I want to be a worthy world champion.

With the rainbow jersey on his shoulders, everyone will expect more from Michal Kwiatkowski next season. "I had to get used to this new status, but I do not think I've changed," the Pole told Sporza.

"I've always been a very ambitious rider. I aim for as much as possible. I'm still only 24, so basically my best years are still to come. Of course I want to show that I am a worthy world champion.

Ridley X-Night 20 Disc.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Blisteringly rapid frameset with carbon tubulars for the uncompromising racer, though the Di2 shifting and hydraulic discs aren't issue-free.

The X-Night is designed to channel energy into outright off-road speed, and its burly frame and fork do that unapologetically, wasting nothing, and powering through the terrain to the line."

FatCyclist: Fatty’s Book Club 1.0 - Fat Tire Flyer.