Oligarchs left pedaling into sunset as Putin's Russia cracks.

Oleg Tinkov is typical of the billionaires who have grown wealthy in the shadow of Vladimir Putin’s modern Russia.

The founder of Tinkoff Credit Systems bank is from a gilded generation of Russian businessmen who have accrued vast wealth during the Putin years. In the shattered remnants of a country that emerged in the early 1990s from under the communist shroud of the Cold War, battered and bankrupt, Mr Tinkov saw – like many of his peers – vast opportunity among the ruins of the old Soviet Union.

Provided they support the regime, these men are more or less allowed to do as they please in a state that is profoundly polarized between the miserably poor, who struggle to make ends meet, and the fabulously wealthy, who can afford to live in Moscow’s exclusive Ostozhenka street where apartments have been known to sell for $48m (£31m).

Vantornout wins after a battle in the Erpe-Mere mud.

Klaas Vantornout used his running skills and ability in the mud to win the Belgian cyclo-c tile after an epic battle in the Erpe-Mere mud.

The 32 year-old from Tourhout crossed the finish line pointing to his jersey a few seconds ahead of Tom Meeusen and Wout Van Aert.

Sven Nys buonced back from his spell of poor form to be among the fight in the front group and finish fourth. He lead the race at one point but like every one in the race, was affected by the incredibly muddy conditions.

Cant takes her sixth consecutive Belgian title.

Pre-race favorite Sanne Cant won her sixth Belgian women's cyclo-cross national title on a very muddy course in Erpe-Mere.

24 year-old Cant fended off a strong challenge from outsider Ellen Van Loy. Githa Michiels worked her way to a muddy bronze medal.

"It was very hard. It was difficult to choose between riding or running," Cant told Sporza "I'm glad that I can head to Spain now to prepare for the World Cup final in Hoogerheide and the world championships."

Van der Poel brothers dominate Dutch championship.

Mathieu Van der Poel started the race furiously. While van der Haar saw the danger, he clearly was unable to respond. After one lap, the difference between the two was already 20 seconds. Van der Poel steadily continued his path and saw the gap with van der Haar grow every round.

In the end van der Haar didn't even finish second. Surprisingly van der Poel’s brother David managed to catch and pass the defending champion and made it an even bigger day for the family.

Earlier, Marianne Vos unsurprisingly defended her Dutch title successfully for the fifth time in a row.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Australia Road National Championships - Jan 7-11 (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)

2015 Tour de San Luis LIVE.

Monday's (January 19, 2015) Tour de San Luis Stage 1 departs San Luis at 1:49pm local (11:49am U.S. Eastern, 17:49 CET) and is expected at the finish at Villa Mercedes at around 6:15pm local (4:15pm U.S. Eastern, 22:15 CET).  Tour de San Luis live video streaming is expected for the start and the finish.

Terpstra’s ambition not sated by Paris-Roubaix victory.

Niki Terpstra was a latecomer at the Etixx-QuickStep media day in Calpe during, jetting in from the Netherlands after sealing victory in the Rotterdam Six Day with Iljo Keisse the previous night. By the time he emerged on the terrace at the rear of the Hotel Sol y Mar, television crews were already swarming around teammates Tom Boonen, Mark Cavendish and Michal Kwiatkowski, and the Dutchman was able to help himself to a coffee on arrival before he was ushered across to speak to a small group of reporters.

Terpstra’s victory at Paris-Roubaix in 2014 was enough to earn him a new three-year contract but in what is arguably the WorldTour’s most star-studded team, he feels that there has been no discernible change in his status and, for that matter, seems quite glad of the fact.

Kwiatkowski's 2015 Specialized S-Works Tarmac.

World champion Michal Kwiatkowski will make his 2015 racing debut on a special Specialized S-Works Tarmac at the Tour de San Luis later this month but Cyclingnews got an exclusive chance to see the Polish rider’s bike was  at the Etixx-QuickStep training camp in Spain.

Kwiatkowski's special world champion colors were unveiled at Il Lombardia last October However, while the frameset has remained similar, there have been a few alterations in components and wheelset for 2015.

Peta Mullens wins Australian women's national title.

Anger, confusion reign as cyclocross nationals reschedule for Monday.

They came bearing cowbells, faces painted, bundled against an unseasonably cold Texas morning. They came early, excited, gliding through slick mud on bikes hardly cleaned from the week’s amateur races. They came to cheer, to heckle, to scream themselves hoarse, to be part of the roar that would zigzag across Zilker Park on Sunday afternoon, following the nation’s best cyclocrossers on their quest for a national championship.

They were met by police cars, six of them, parked across the entrance to Zilker Park in the heart of Austin.

They were met by a cry: “’Cross nats is canceled!”

The tweets went out, the headlines were posted, the rage poured in. Riders and fans lined up under the star-spangled finish banner, thumbs down in protest. Angry.

Cyclocross canceled for mud? Surely not.

2014 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships LIVE.

POSTPONED: The championships are scheduled to continue Monday on an altered course, which will open for pre-rides at noon. Racing begins at 12:30.

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).

Haussler out kicks Ewan for Australian national title.

Heinrich Haussler won a thrilling Australian national road championships as he out sprinted Caleb Ewan to claim victory after 183km of racing around Bunninyong in a time of 4:47:24.

Haussler lost contact on the final climb up Mt Buninyong with the seven-man break that had formed on lap four of 18, and had been whittled down as the pace lifted in the second half of the race, but regained contact in the final kilometres of the race and despite having "lactic acid coming out of his ears" held off Ewan for his first national title.

Silver medal for Ewan further confirmation of talent.

In 2014, Caleb Ewan came home with the gold medal from the Australian national championships in the U23 road race and criteriums. In his first attempt at the elite level, the 20-year-old won silver in the road race and criterium to claim the only medals for Orica-GreenEdge at the championships. Since its debut in 2012, Orica-GreenEdge had won the green and gold jersey three years straight and despite losing the jersey, the team's sports director Matt White was pleased with the result.

"I am happy with the ride," White said after the race. "A 20-year-old has run second at his first national championships in the pros, the guys rode tactically well and the form is there just as we want it to be at this time of the year."

Mechanicals sap Rogers' chances in Australian road race.

Asked why he was racing so hard when he had the time trial national title that he last won in 2012 and might normally have been better off resting for that, Rogers just smiled and said, "I am a real racer. I saw a good opportunity open there. To tell you the truth I only had one gear because my battery failed. I had one gear for half the race [a 53x 14]. I tell you what … had I had of had gears it would have been close.

"I don’t think they would have got me back but … that’s cycling isn’t it?"

Wyman wins her ninth title.

Helen Wyman beat Nikki Harris to take her ninth British cyclo-cross championship in Abergavenny.

The 33-year-old beat Harris by around 15 seconds after a close race.

Annie Last produced a late charge to pick her way through the field to take third place.

Women’s Elite Dutch National Championships: Elite Predictions.

PEZ: Daily Distractions.

(pezcyclingnews.com)

Steve Tilford: Cyclocross Nationals Cancelled – Crazy.

Dave Brailsford annoyed by UCI's Astana inaction.

Team Sky boss Dave Brailsford has accused the new leadership at cycling's governing body of failing its first big test in the fight against doping.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) gave Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali's Astana team a license to race this year despite five positive tests.

Many in the sport hoped new UCI president Brian Cookson would take a tougher line against serial offenders.

All for the Tour: Froome more motivated than ever.

Chris Froome doesn’t want to be remembered as a one-off winner of the Tour de France.

Coming off a frustrating, crash-filled 2014 campaign, the 29-year-old is focusing on only one thing coming into this season, and that’s to regain his Tour de France crown. No Giro d’Italia, no talk of the triple crown. His season will be all about regaining the yellow jersey.

“After what happened last year, that means that I am coming into this season feeling even more eager to be in the best possible place at the start line for the Tour,” Froome said Sunday. “And be ready to go for the Tour.”

Peta Mullens Re-signs With Wiggle Honda after winning National Titles.

Less than 24 hours after Peta Mullens won the elite National Road Title racing with the “Sram Seight” team and intending on returning to Mountain Bike racing this season to focus on Rio 2016, Peta has signed another one season contract with Wiggle Honda Professional Women’s Cycling Team.

“I’m the Australian National Road Champion & feel some responsibility to ensure that the jersey returns to Europe with a professional team,” she said.

Mullens signed her first professional road contract with Wiggle Honda ahead of 2014 in order to compliment her MTB career, Peta spent 2014 juggling very demanding road and mountain bike commitments which resulted in her being completely burnt out just a couple of months ago.

Roads to Ride: Monte Zoncolan.

For decades the Giro visited its classic climbs. For good reason as the Stelvio, Pordoi and Gavia are as challenging as they are beautiful. But it wasn’t enough for some and the hunt was on for new challenges and in 2003 the Giro tackled Monte Zoncolan.

Viewed from afar it’s just 10km long and only reaches 1,730m above sea level but it is one of the steepest roads in the sport..

Cooper leads Avanti team mates home to win NZ national title.

While many were looking to the star WorldTour professionals, it was the homegrown Avanti Racing team riders led by Joe Cooper who took a clean sweep of the Calder Stewart elite national road championship in Christchurch.

Cooper led teammate Tom Davison home after a superb break late on the penultimate lap of the 183km race that comprised 12 laps including 10 climbs up the famed Dyers Pass in Cashmere hills.
 
The pair took advantage of outstanding teamwork to hold off all challengers with Cooper taking the title from the former triathlete Davison, who was third last year, while their Avanti Racing teammate Jason Christie broke clear of the chase group to claim third after being in the original break.

Boonen: I can return to my best level.

"I think that, if I can stay healthy and I don’t have too much bad luck in the next weeks, for sure I can be on a good level again and just hope that it is enough. It has been enough for a while and I hope that it will still be enough."
 
Boonen wants his Etixx-Quick Step team to focus on getting the numbers into the finale but making sure that in 2015, they dont let their advantage slip away like it did in 2014 Flanders, after having four riders in the initial selection but only one guy in the final four to contest the win.
 
"It was a strange situation and that is something that we need to talk about; how we can take care that doesn’t happen again. If you are beaten by a stronger guy then no problem, but if you have four guys in a group like that then I think that we could have handled that differently and I think that we will in the future."

Pez Bookshelf: Beyond the Finish Line.

Unlike other sports that take place in a confined environment—the tennis court, football stadium, or cricket pitch, for example. Bicycle road racing is open to the elements and events happen in front of a diverse backdrop featuring geographic highlights of many countries. Add to this ever-changing weather, different road surfaces, colourful jerseys and the rolling circus atmosphere provides the photographer with limitless opportunity.

Philipp Hympendahl is a commercial photographer working for one of the world’s leading detergent companies in Germany but when he is not taking snaps of soap boxes or whatever he might do there he turns a passionate lens on bicycle racing. His aim is not that of a typical sports journalist. Rather than capture the well-known champions and classic races, he and Tim Farin, who has contributed short essays, state in their introduction to their recent book “Beyond the Finish Line” that “they encourage their audience to take a different view: to relax, to observe, to feel the beauty of the moment, the emotions and actions, all of which leave room for imagination.”

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