Mark Cavendish bounces back in Dubai, wins finale, takes overall.

Mark Cavendish won the Dubai Tour after outsprinting his rivals to claim Saturday’s fourth and final stage.

John Degenkolb took the overall lead from the 29-year-old Isle of Man rider on Friday, leaving him four seconds down.

But Cavendish bounced back to seal the victory after beating Elia Viviani and Juan Jose Lobato in the closing 128km stage for his second stage win of the week.

Before they could fight it out at the finish Etixx and Giant had to chase down a five-man break, which they overhauled 10km from the line.

Viviani disappointed not to win on his birthday at the Dubai Tour.

Elia Viviani was hoping to celebrate his 26th birthday with a second stage victory at the Dubai Tour but could only watch from behind as Mark Cavendish and his Etixx-Quick-Step lead-out man Mark Renshaw dominated the finale of the fourth stage in the shadows of the Burj Khalifa skyscraper.

Renshaw and Fabio Sabatini piloted Cavendish through the final right corner with a kilometer to go and then the Australian dragged his teammate away from the peloton, leaving everyone else scrambling to make up lost ground.

Rollin critical of FDJ management as he links up with Bouhanni.

Dominique Rollin has criticized the mentality and approach of the management at his former team FDJ, describing them as “former cyclists who want to be around races.”

Rollin spent three years at FDJ but found himself without a spot on the roster at the end of 2013. The Canadian was unable to secure a contract with a WorldTour team and spent last season out of the sport.

However he remained in Girona, Spain for long periods of time, and trained throughout the year.

When Cofidis were putting together new signing Nacer Bouhanni’s lead-out train they approached Rollin and the Quebec-born rider jumped at the opportunity to re-join the professional peloton

2014-15 Races & Results.

Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 8-13 (Stages),

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

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

Vuelta a España 2015 - Aug 22-Sept 13 (Stages),

UCI Road World Championship 2015 - Sept 20-27 (Stages),

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

Ladies Tour of Qatar 2015 - Feb 3-6 (Results),

UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships - Jan 31-Feb 1 (Results),

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 ...

Kittel looking to ease into Tour of Qatar before raising expectations.

Marcel Kittel will make his Tour of Qatar debut on Sunday but the German is keen to feel his way into the race instead of predicting how many stages he can potentially target.

The race is typically decided by crosswinds and bunch sprints, and with a 10.9-kilometer time trial thrown in this year, Kittel is seen as a genuine contender for the overall.

Bradley Wiggins is main Tour of Qatar threat, says Tom Boonen.

Four-time Tour of Qatar champion Tom Boonen believes Bradley Wiggins will be the biggest threat to Etixx-Quick Step’s chances of overall victory in the six-day race that begins in Dukhan tomorrow.

Boonen last won the race in 2012, but Etixx has won the two editions since with Mark Cavendish and Niki Terpstra.

But with a 10-kilometre, flat time trial at Lusail included in this year’s race on day three, four-time Paris-Roubaix champion Boonen has singled out the Team Sky rider as the team’s main rival.

Tour of Qatar 2015 Live Dashboard.

Sunday's Tour of Qatar Stage 1 departs Dukhan at 1:15pm local (11:15am CET, 5:15am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sealine Beach at around 4:26pm local (2:26pm CET, 8:26am U.S. Eastern). 

Tour of Qatar live video streaming is expected to begin at around 3:15pm local (1:15pm CET, 7:15am U.S. Eastern).

Videos ...

2015 Hour Record LIVE stream - Rohan Dennis Attempt.

Rohan Dennis takes a shot at the hour record. Tune in on Sunday February 8 (1.50pm local time, GMT +1).

Live coverage for Sunday's hour record attempt by Rohan Dennis is scheduled to begin at 1:50pm CET (7:50am U.S. Eastern).

10 Tips To Surviving The 139-mile SPY Belgian Waffle Ride.

The SPY Belgian Waffle Ride is everything that most cycling events are not.

Its course is over-the-top hard and chocked full of dirt sections best suited for a mountain bike. It’s way too many miles, 139 to be exact.

Climbing? Yeah, there’s a bit of climbing too. 11,000 feet of vertical in last year’s event, which is said to be “easier” than the 2015 route.

And it’s because of all those things that BWR has grown from an invite-only club event, to its current form as one of the most anticipated non-sanctioned events on the calendar in just a few years time.

BWR is San Diego’s version of the Tour of Flanders, Paris Roubaix, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege all rolled into one.

Kittel: It's an important time in the history of the sport.

Dubai Tour: Degenkolb wins at Hatta Dam.

Tour of Qatar news shorts: Tetrick inspired by Merckx pep-talk.

Amanda Nauman: The North American World Cup Selections from the View of an Elite Racer.

Theuns wins Etoile de Bessèges.

Tony Gallopin won the penultimate stage of the Étoile de Bessèges with a rasping sprint that saw him overpower Christophe Laporte and Edward Theuns on the testing uphill finale at Laudun.

Mathieu van der Poel, Sanne Cant win Bpost Bank Trofee finale in Lille.

Newly crowned world champion Mathieu van der Poel won the eighth and final round of the Bpost Bank Trofee series in Lille on Saturday.

Wout Van Aert finished second with Sven Nys third.

In women’s racing, Sanne Cant took the victory ahead of Ellen Van Loy and British champion Helen Wyman.

Cant said the win helped erase the frustration of losing the world championships in Tabor.

Sweeck and Jacobs Take U23, Junior, Wins in BPost Bank at Krawatencross.

Jacobs Attacks Early and Holds Off Chasers for Junior Win: Johan Jacobs of Switzerland has already seen his fair share of ups and downs in 2015. He took the win on New Year’s Day at the G.P. Sven Nys, and then he finished 19th at Tabor, a race that must have been disappointing considering he was a favorite and one of the few riders who beat Eli Iserbyt during the season.

Sweeck Increases His BPost Lead at Krawatencross: With a series dictated on total time rather than points, Sweeck came into today only needing to defend his 28 second lead on Michael Vanthournhout. He did that and more as he took another win with Toon Aerts following in second and Vanthournhout coming in third.

Boswell targets team leadership in California.

Ian Boswell has spent his first two years as a pro at Team Sky, where he has fulfilled the role of domestique to several of the team’s leaders. Now the American wants to lead the team at the Tour of California in May.

“It’s a race where I can put my hand up and say I want to have some opportunity there,” the young American told VeloNews, while tucked into a small patch of shade prior to Wednesday’s start of the Dubai Tour.

“Especially being my third year on the team, and an American race, [California] is something I want to target,” Boswell said. “[Bradley] Wiggins isn’t going to be there, or [Chris] Froome, or Richie [Porte]. If the opportunity is there, I’d love to go for a stage, if not ride GC.”

Wiggins carries Classics mindset into Tour of Qatar.

Bradley Wiggins will line up for his first competitive outing of the season at the Tour of Qatar on Sunda

The British World time trial champion was in relaxed spirits as he talked to the media on the eve of the race.

However, he stressed that his build-up to the Classics started in Qatar and that he would be racing in the Gulf with one eye on a strong general classification performance.

Matthias Brändle resigned to losing the Hour Record “soon”.

Current Hour Record holder Matthias Brändle says he won’t be upset if Australian Rohan Dennis takes the title away from him in Switzerland tomorrow.

BMC rider Dennis will attempt to break Brändle’s benchmark of 51.852km in Grenchen at 1pm UK time on Sunday.

And the IAM Cycling rider, who set his benchmark on October 30 last year, admitted to CW that he was not worried ahead of Jack Bobridge’s unsuccessful ride last week, nor Dennis’ tomorrow.

Milan-San Remo has ‘rediscovered perfect recipe’ says former winner.

Milan-San Remo has rediscovered its perfect recipe for 2015 with the Cipressa, the Poggio and the Via Roma, says 1981 winner Fons De Wolf.

“The return to Via Roma, the classics parcours, is good,” De Wolf told Cycling Weekly.

“Eddy Merckx won there seven times. I won there. It’s special. Milan-San Remo is known as the Via Roma, that uncertainty, whether it will be a sprint or not.”

The one-day monument, this year on March 22, has only had two classic finishes in its time: on Corso Cavallotti and Via Roma.

Cyclocross LIVE stream - Superprestige Hoogstraten.

Sunday: Superprestige Cyclocross at Hoogstraten, Belgium.  Details to come.

How does mountain bike wheel size really affect performance?

The debate around the benefits and limitations of mountain bike wheel sizes has been raging for several years, but what are the real-world differences between 26in, 27.5in and 29in wheels?

Every wheel size has its fans and detractors.

For example, 29ers have become dominant within cross-country racing, due to their perceived speed and efficiency benefits But Hurst points out that these claims are mostly based on anecdotal evidence.

Pinotti on Dennis’ hour record bid: “The record is within his possibilities.”

Daily Distractions.

Steve Tilford: Walked 20 + Miles – Umbrellas are Valueless in Seattle.

Caleb Ewan claims back-to-back wins at the Jayco Herald Sun Tour.

Caleb Ewan has secured his second consecutive stage win in the 2015 Jayco Herald Sun Tour, sprinting to victory in Nagambie on stage 3 ahead of Tyler Farrar and Steele von Hoff.

Ewan came into the final corner (the same finishing corner as yesterday’s stage) further from the front than he did 24 hours earlier, but the 20-year-old was still about to get the result he was after.

Orica-GreenEdge rider Meyer aiming for overall Jayco Herald Sun Tour victory.

While Orica-GreenEdge were celebrating Caleb Ewan's second straight stage win, Cam Meyer was finishing safely in the bunch after a nervous day on the bike to retain his overall lead ahead of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour's queen stage to Arthurs Seat.

A nervy peloton resulted in several crashes during the 146km third stage of the race with defending champion and key teammate for Meyer, Simon Clarke one of the riders to hit the deck.

Eddy Merckx presents Doha World Championships course.

The 2016 Road World Championships in Doha, which runs from October 9 to 16, will make history for being the first in the Middle East, and will suit sprinters and classics riders with its flat and windy parcours.

“It’s one for the sprinters and classics riders,” said Eddy Merckx, who presented the Worlds course on Saturday in Doha.

“It is flat like in Copenhagen and Zolder, but there will likely be wind and could be rain, and the race could split into echelons.”

Vandevelde to be president of new North American Pro Rider Association. Huh?

Christian Vandevelde, he of  le dopage Americain, is to be the president of the new Association of North American Professional Road Cyclists (ANAPRC).

At the time he received his suspension (6 months, bless, received for ‘admitting’ he doped on US EPOstal), he whimpered:

“I’m very sorry for the mistakes I made in my past and I know that forgiveness is a lot to ask for. I know that I have to earn it and I will try, every day, to deserve it – as I have, every day, since making the choice to compete clean. I will never give up on this sport, and I will never stop fighting for its future.”

Vandevelde’s so special he gets his own page on Dopeology.

Shelley Olds motivated for 2015 as Bigla pushes her to new level.

Shelley Olds ended the Ladies Tour of Qatar without a win Friday, but thanks to team Bigla, she leaves the Middle East with new motivation for the 2015 season.

“She’s in really good condition,” sports director Manel Lacambra told VeloNews. “Of course, we need more races, that final intensity, but she’s really strong right now.”

The Swiss team reshuffled its management for 2015 and signed several new riders, including Olds, from Alé-Cipollini. The 34-year-old from Massachusetts, who will lead the team, counts wins in the Giro d’Italia and the Chongming Island World Cup.

Roads to Ride: Plateau de Beille.

A new edition to the Tour de France in recent years, this Pyrenean this climb will feature again in July.

It’s a tough challenge but a dead end and away from the Tour de France, a peaceful road that seems to be used by cyclists and a few others.

The D522 starts in the village of Les Cabannes, 10km south-east of Tarascon-sur-Ariège in the Ariege department of France.

It is 15.8km long for an average gradient of 7.9%.

Police recover Kwiatkowski's world champs winning bike - which thieves were selling for $1,000.

Police in California have recovered two irreplaceable bikes stolen in a burglary at Specialized’s headquarters in California last weekend – one the S-Works that Michal Kwiatkowski rode to win the world championship in Ponferrada last September, the other a limited edition McLaren Tarmac, numbered 001, belonging to the company’s founder, Mike Sinyard.

“I don’t think they had any idea when they took them exactly what they had gotten, but they got some pretty amazing products, sadly for us – but in the end we got them back and thank you to the police for doing that.”

Caleb Ewan confident of strong European race debut.

Lauded Australian talent Caleb Ewan is gaining in confidence ahead of his eagerly anticipated rookie pro debut in Europe claiming a second consecutive stage victory at the Herald Sun Tour today.

It was a case of deja vu for the 20-year-old who bested Tyler Farrar and Steele von Hoff in a bunch sprint at the end of stage three, which featured the same finish as that of the previous day in Nagambie, Victoria.

Top Ride: Gran Fondo Damiano Cunego!

"As part of our stay with Garda Bike Hotel for the Pez 10th Anniversary, we signed up to ride the GF Damiano Cunego in nearby Verona.  Our hosts Nicola & Alberto know the region, the people, and handled all the details for our stay in Lake Garda, which left nothing for us to do except enjoy the ride. 

Like most things in Italy, what you get is not always what is promised. But that leaves the door open for the Italians to over-deliver like nobody else. We figured our final ride at the GF Damiano Cunego would be another fine day on the bike with some buds, but in the end it was more than any of us expected."

BSNYC Friday Fun Quiz!

Commentary: A letter to the UCI president.