Argentine Diaz wins one for host country in San Luis stage 2.

On a day that seemed to favor Movistar and its climbing ace Nairo Quintana, Daniel Díaz scored a win for the host country, Argentina, in stage 2 of Tour de San Luis.

The Tuesday stage from La Punta to Mirador de Potrero finished with a 4.8km climb that averaged 6.7 percent. Díaz wasted no time, attacking early on the Mirador after a select group of climbers split off the front of the peloton. He brought along Rodolfo Torres, but in the end it was all Díaz, who attacked the final kilometer and won the day handily with a gap of six seconds.

The winner, a 25-year-old Argentine, won the 2013 edition of the Tour de San Luis. Díaz is also Argentina’s national road champion..

Quintana: I’m only at 50 percent of my condition.

The voice of the speaker at the summit of the Mirador del Potrero rose several decibels when the grainy images on the big screen behind her showed a familiar figure in a Movistar jersey bridging across to the two leaders. It was not, as she initially thought, Nairo Quintana, however, but his younger brother Dayer, and shortly afterwards, he too fell back, unable to match the pace of stage winner Dani Diaz.

It was that kind of day for the Quintana brothers on stage 2 of the Tour de San Luis. The external expectation was that Nairo Quintana would sparkle on the slopes of the Mirador del Potrero, but before the race began he had warned that he was still some way short of his best.

Gaviria uses his track speed to win at Tour de San Luis.

Fernando Gaviria set off from Plaza Pringles on Monday afternoon scarcely able to believe the company he was keeping at the Tour de San Luis but the young Colombian rounded off the day by claiming the biggest scalp of his young career en route to stage victory in Villa Mercedes.

The 20-year-old’s light smattering of acne and what might generously be described as a footballer’s haircut certainly betrayed his youth, but he belied those tender years with a clinical finisseur’s move at the end of the race’s opening stage.

By opting to open his sprint with 300 metres to go, Gaviria was able to steal a march on Mark Cavendish and Sacha Modolo, and he had enough of an advantage to hold off the pair in the final 100 metres.

Meeusen: I don't know what to do now.

The news that Tom Meeusen won’t be allowed the cyclo-cross Worlds came as a big surprise. One day after the remarkable message, Meeusen has talked to the media. “I have not used that ozone therapy,” the Telenet-Fidea rider repeats.

At his training camp in Spain, Meeusen was yesterday informed about his non-selection for the Worlds. Meeusen has been mentioned in an investigation into a famous “ozone doctor” which prevents him from travelling to the Czech Republic.

"My team leader Danny De Bie received a call from the federation," Meeusen tells Sporza. "We were just discussing the summer program in a relaxed atmosphere. But suddenly we got that message. That is a serious blow. Minutes before, I still believed that I would have a chance at the Worlds.”

“I didn’t see the news coming,” Meeusen says. “A journalist had tipped me that there would be a letter for me at home. But when I came home, I checked it immediately and that was not the case. I had no information.”

Betancur: I haven’t shown anything yet.

Last summer, it seemed like everyone had a Carlos Betancur story. Everyone that is, but Carlos Betancur. After failing to report back to Europe on time from a stint at home in Colombia last June, he was hastily scratched from Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Tour de France team. For three months, only rumors crossed the Atlantic.

Difficulties in obtaining a visa, a bout of cytomegalovirus and the imminent birth of Betancur’s first child were all offered as explanations for his lengthy absence without official leave. Ag2r were apparently not alone in being unable to reach Betancur; at one point in June it even seemed that agent Giuseppe Acquadro and coach Michele Bartoli could not locate their man either.

Understanding Van der Poel and Van Aert’s Decision to Move to the Elites: Part One of the 2015 World Championship Preview.

Today marks the 20th Birthday of Mathieu van der Poel, and although he has only been qualified to race the U23s for his second year, he announced that he will be racing at the Elite level in Tabor.

Right before the Dutch National Championship, Van der Poel convinced the media that he was preparing to head into the U23 race for the second time after his third place finish at Hoogerheide in 2014. Two days after winning the Dutch Elite National Jersey, he reversed his decision.

Belgian rider Wout van Aert was a little more cautious in his approach, waiting until six days after the Belgian National Championships to formally make his announcement (although he had originally hinted to Sporza that he was going to be racing in the U23 race). By the time he told the world that he, too, wanted to race in the Elite field, many nodded along, believing it to be a foregone conclusion.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Santos Women's Tour 2015 - Jan 17-20 (Stages & Results),

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

Tour de San Luis 2015 - Jan 19-25 (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 ...

Viviani: Sky is the perfect team for me.

Team Sky’s haul of bunch sprint victories in 2014 amounted to just two successes for Ben Swift, which goes some way to explaining the signing of Elia Viviani and Andy Fenn. Although not among the top rank of sprinters, the Italian and the Briton will provide Sky with more punch in field sprints, especially given the lead-out potential both should be able to call on.

Winner of six races in his fifth and final season with Liquigas/Cannondale last year, Viviani, who will turn 26 in early February, is hoping the move will lead to a big Classics or grand tour stage success. “This is a big chance for me. This is the moment for me to take a big win and this is the perfect team to do that,” he said during Sky’s Majorca training camp.

2015 Tour de San Luis LIVE.

Tuesday's Tour de San Luis Stage 2 departs La Punta at 1:58pm local (11:58am U.S. Eastern, 17:58 CET) and is expected at the finish at Mirador de Potrero at around 6:35pm local (4:35pm U.S. Eastern, 22:35 CET). 

Tour de San Luis live video streaming is expected for the start and finish and at other times during the stage. Note that live radio streaming should be available throughout the race.

Tour de San Luis: Gaviria wins stage 1 in Villa Mercedes.

Favorites Meeusen, Sweeck excluded from 'cross Worlds.

2015 Tour Down Under LIVE.

Stage 2 start time: Tuesday 11:00 CDT (4:30:00 PM PST);
Earliest live video: 13:30 CDT (7:00:00 PM PST);
Approximate finish: 14:56 CDT (8:26:00 PM PST).

Santos Women's Tour: Hoskins wins on final day.

Melissa Hoskins won her second stage of the Santos Women's Tour after she beat Wiggle Honda rider Giorgia Bronzini on the final day of racing. Orica-AIS had full control on the last lap of the 70-minute long critérium to deliver Hoskins into the final corner perfectly. Hoskins made the most of her team's work to comfortably beat Bronzini and teammate Valentina Scandolara.

“I didn’t have much success sprinting last year. I just needed a win under the belt to get the confidence back. My team backed me all the time, it was more me not being convinced in my own ability. Now I’m back and I’m happy,” said Hoskins.

The third place was enough for Scandolara to retain her lead in the overall competition with Hoskins taking second.

Bobridge Breaksaway to Win Stage 1 of TDU.

Results are now in after the 132.6-kilometer first stage of the Tour Down Under from Tanunda to Campbelltown on Tuesday. Australian Jack Bobridge led a defiant breakaway group of four cyclists to take the first stage of the UCI season-opening Tour Down Under in South Australia on Tuesday.

Bobridge, riding for the local UniSa team, made his move with 200 meters to go to outsprint his rivals and win the 136.2-kilometer stage in two hours 59 minutes, 44 seconds. Fellow breakaway riders Lieuwe Westra, Luke Durbridge and Maxim Belkov finished just behind Bobridge, only meters ahead of the peloton, which left their run too late and failed to reel in the four leaders.

The Tour Down Under began in the Barossa Valley wine growing town of Tanunda Tuesday morning in overcast and muggy conditions. The break began after just five kilometers and although the four riders never built a massive lead, the peloton wasn’t interested in chasing them down.

Highlights from the 2015 Santos Women’s Tour.

Valentina Scandolara won the inaugural Santos Women’s Tour in Adelaide on Tuesday. She launched a late race attack on the opening stage between Woodside and Murray Bridge that gave her a small advantage over the peloton on the run-in to the finish. The Italian managed to hold off the peloton to pocket a stage win and a six second advantage.

She would wear the race leader’s jersey from start to finish, taking the first general classification win of her young career.

Santos Women's Tour news shorts: Scandolara asks for more women's coverage.

Edmondson goes green, RoXSolt claim climbs and more TV coverage needed.

Tom Southam: A Tour Down Under full of surprises.

"'You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows', sings the great Bob Dylan. That may be true, but what the weatherman knows might just be the key to this Tour Down Under.

In my job I am constantly trying to assess what is going to happen in events that have a seemingly endless list of variables. It is a bit like going and betting on the horses; you check the form guide, go through the details of the stages, previous winners, talk to people, and turn the whys and the whens over endlessly in your mind. Then though, instead of putting your money on someone else's gee-gee, you have to back your own, and work out ways for them to win.

If you were to look at the previous editions of the Tour Down Under, one thing that has been an almost constant factor throughout is the heat; Australia in summer, baking under an angry sun in a clear blue sky."

Pozzovivo hopes for top five at the Tour Down Under despite minor wrist fracture.

Domenico Pozzovivo chose to start his 2015 season at the Santos Tour Down Under with the aim of putting last year’s crashes and bad luck behind but the Italian climber crashed again last Thursday while training and hurt his left wrist.

“The x-ray didn’t show anything but a MRI scan later evidenced a small fracture”, the Italian revealed after stage one. “Therefore I have to handle a bit more pain but it won’t affect my performance. My goal is still to make the top 5. There’s nothing to do except resting but that’s what I have on my agenda after this race anyway.”

On January 30, Pozzovivo will return to the Bolzano clinic in northern Italy where he was operated after crashing hard and fracturing his tibia on August 10.

Giro 2015: Colombia in the cold.

The Giro d’Italia left Colombia out in the cold after a successful 2014 season for the nation that included the country’s first win in the race by team Movistar’s Nairo Quintana.

“I thought RCS Sport would have us back to their race,” team Colombia’s Claudio Corti told VeloNews. “I thought that we deserved it.”

RCS Sport named five second-division teams Monday to race the Giro d’Italia, May 9 to 31, on wildcard invites, alongside the 17 first-division teams with guaranteed places. The spots went to four Italian teams — Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF, Nippo-Vini Fantini, and Southeast — and Poland’s CCC Sprandi.

Corti, the Italian manager of team Colombia, planned on having his team start its third straight Giro d’Italia. Instead, he had to be content with invitations to RCS Sport’s other races, Milano-Sanremo, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Il Lombardia.

The Simple Way to Make Indoor Training Pay Off Big.

It’s not your imagination. Riding your bike on the trainer feels harder at any given effort than when you’re pedaling outdoors.

A new study shows that when trained cyclists performed 40K time trials indoors and outdoors, on the trainer they pumped out nearly 25 percent lower average wattage (163 W vs. 208 W), their heart rate was more than 10 beats per minute lower, and they burned fewer calories—despite the fact that they reported putting out the exact same level of exertion.

Bobridge wins Tour Down Under opening stage.

Daily Distractions.

BikeSnobNYC: This Just In: I'm Going On Maternity Leave!

The Wealthiest People in Pro Cycling, Part II.

Who are the wealthiest people in cycling? It’s not the riders, it’s the people who pay their wages. In the second part of the series, time to look at more team sponsors but also race owners and others.

UCI blocks IAM Cycling’s personalized jerseys.

IAM Cycling’s plans to have personalized shirts for each of their riders have been blocked by the UCI.

The Swiss squad, who join the WorldTour for 2015, had originally designed their jerseys with the rider’s name under the IAM logo on the back.

But the sticklers at the UCI have ruled against it, meaning IAM have had to make last-minute changes ahead of the opening races of the season.

Fabian Cancellara on the rivals who would be king.

Time waits for no man. Not even Spartacus.

Fabian Cancellara is keenly aware that his reign as king of the classics, a title he has shared with Tom Boonen for the better part of a decade, is reaching its zenith.

His rivals multiply year over year. Always a new face, always a new threat. Flux is the only constant on the cobbles.

But the big Swiss isn’t done. A single monument win in 2014, at the Tour of Flanders, was not enough. He speaks of hunger like a man much younger, motivated, it seems, by the the new generation nipping at his heels.

“You see, there are people who are really hungry. But I am still hungry as well,” he said during a call with journalists on Friday.

Van Aert Takes 2015 Kasteelcross Zonnebeke With Worlds Two Weeks Away, Chainel-Lefevre and Mourey Win in Nommay.

If Mathieu van der Poel’s nickname is “The Sniper” for his uncanny ability to pull the trigger on an attack while catching his opponents unawares, his main rival, Wout van Aert, proved this weekend that he could be the Artilleryman, winning a battle even before any toe-to-toe fighting could begin.

Military metaphors aside, Van Aert made his decisive move in the first lap of Kasteelcross Zonnebeke against a stacked Belgium field, which included the recently crowned national champion, Klaas Vantornout. This is a course that allows for early breakaways and commanding leads, as also proven last year by Nys’s dominating performance in the 2014 race on his new Trek bike. Van Aert continued a solo ride, gapping the field, and taking a win by well more than a minute over second place Vantornout.

Giro d’Italia wildcards CCC Sprandi could leave ex-dopers at home.

The Giro d’Italia’s selection of Poland’s CCC Sprandi for its 2015 edition raised eyebrows, but the team in orange could leave former dopers Stefan Schumacher and Davide Rebellin at home to avoid problems.

CCC received one of the five invitations from race organizer RCS Sport on Monday. The team will race with Italian second division teams Androni Giocattoli, Bardiani-CSF, Nippo-Vini Fantini and Southeast and the 17 WorldTour teams.

“I’d never say that they can’t come or that I don’t want them,” RCS Sport cycling director, Mauro Vegni told Cycling Weekly.

“Not that they are any worse than the others, but I’d like to have a Giro start without riders who stir controversy. Clearly, however, the team is going to make the choice. If they do bring them, then there’s controversy, and I’d like the Giro under clear skies.”

Vuelta 2015: The First Look.

The 2015 Vuelta a España route was unveiled in it’s fullness last week, so our most experienced Grand Tour watcher, Ed Hood takes a close look at the route and some background on la Vuelta. From the deep south to Andorra in the north and then back to Madrid, Ed crosses the plains and mountains of España.

It doesn’t seem like 20 years since the Vuelta moved from the original date in the spring – as the first Grand Tour of the season – to the current autumn slot and last Grand Tour of the year. The weather in Spain in April can change from frozen roads and snow to baking heat over night. And there was the proximity to the Giro in May – the feeling was the later date would provide more stable weather and the race would be perfectly placed as a final polish for the World Championships.

Giant, Bontrager and Suomy reveal new helmets.

As the first WorldTour race of the season, the Tour Down Under usually presents plenty of new gear, and this year’s race is no different.

"We take a look at new helmets from Bontrager and Giant, along with an entry into the cycling market from motorsport helmet specialist Suomy."

Zipp 404 Firestrike Clincher Limited.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "An improvement over the Firecrest, but the price is still hard to justify."

PEZ: EuroTrash Kittel Monday!

Ulissi given nine-month ban for Salbutamol positive.