Cavendish wins the Clasica de Almeria.

Mark Cavendish continued his run of early season success by winning the Clasica de Almeria one-day race in Spain.

The Manxman yet again got excellent support from his teammates, who chased down the break of the day and controlled the attacks in the hilly first half of the race and the finale.

After a late crash took out some of their rivals, Mark Renshaw gave Cavendish a perfect lead out, allowing him to beat Juan Jose Lobato, with Renshaw finishing third.

Van Aert wins GP Stad Eeklo.

Wout van Aert has takes his third victory in 2015.

The Vastgoedservice rider was the best in Eeklo when he beat Kevin Pauwels in a two-rider sprint.

U23 world champion Michael Vanthournhout completed the podium while Mathieu van der Poel could only manage fifth.

Gunman, Kitchen crowned Oceania Road champions.

New Zealand's Taylor Gunman has continued his purple patch of form with a solo victory at the elite men's Oceania Road Championships, while Lauren Kitchen collected top honors in the women's race in a tight sprint.

Gunman, riding with the Avanti Racing Team, added the Oceania title to his growing resume, which also includes the 2014 New Zealand time trial national crown.

In the women's race, Port Macquarie's Lauren Kitchen was crowned elite women's Oceania Road Cycling Championship after an impressive display of power throughout the 107 kilometer road race.

Stybar third in first race of the year.

Etixx - Quick-Step rider Zdenek Stybar made his 2015 road debut at 198.1 Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia on Saturday, and the Czech rider already rode his way to a podium placing.

After a two-rider breakaway was neutralized at kilometer 146, in an up-and-down race with four categorized climbs and a Cat. 3 summit finish, Rein Taaramäe went solo. He had a 2'20" advantage all the way into the final 5 kilometers. 

He held his advantage to the finish line for the victory, but only by 10 seconds over the peloton behind him. Bauke Mollema was 2nd, and Stybar arrived in 3rd.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Tour of Oman 2015 - Feb 17-22 (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),

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

Dubai Tour 2015 - Feb 4-7 (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 ...

Zingle's heart problem caused by a virus.

Romain Zingle cannot immediately think of a comeback in the peloton. The Cofidis rider has gotten a little more clarity about his heart problem; a virus might be the culprit. Rest is the only solution for recovery.

In late January, Zingle announced on Twitter that he could not yet start his season. Zingle was struggling with an inflammation of the heart chamber and could not participate in competitions.”

Cavendish praises team effort in Almeria win.

Sunday proved to be a long day on the front for Etixx-QuickStep, which brought sprinter Mark Cavendish to victory at the Clasica de Almeria, his fourth win of the young 2015 season.

The 183km Spanish race from Salida to Meta included three categorized climbs but ended with a long downhill run into the finish. An early escape of five riders brought Cavendish's team to the front, and when Movistar and Katusha threw riders into the chase, the catch was imminent.

“Yesterday I didn't really feel good during the race at Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia, but today the team was really motivated,” Cavendish said following his win at Almeria.

“We started riding from kilometer zero. We were always in front, in the first 10 positions of the group the entire race.

2015 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol LIVE.

Wednesday's Vuelta a Andalucia/Ruta del Sol Stage 1b, an 8.2km Individual Time Trial at Coria del Rio, gets underway at 4:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider. 

Ruta del Sol live streaming video should get underway at around 4:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am PST).

Volta ao Algarve 2015 Live Dashboard.

This race has been broadcast live in previous years but not last year.

Check back for 2015 live coverage options.

Cancellara says he is still learning how to be a leader.

Fabian Cancellara was not satisfied with his 2014 season. It started out well with his third Tour of Flanders victory, but went downhill from there.

And, he has admitted, he is still learning how to be a good team leader at Trek Factory Racing.

Cancellara is unhappy that he didn’t finish any of the summer stage races he rode in 2014 as he prepared for the world road race championships, where he finished a disappointing eleventh in the road race after struggling in the wet conditions.

“Going into a race knowing that I will leave it early – that is not good. It is not good for my motivation, not good for my image,” he told Nzz.ch in a revealing interview from the Tour of Qatar.

“And it is not good for the team. It is not a good signal when the leader abandons, even when there is a reason.”

Contador ready for season debut at the Ruta del Sol.

Contador opens his season this coming Wednesday at the Vuelta a Andalucia.

He is just coming off a three-week training camp on Tenerife, where he lost only 1.8 kilos. "Less than I would have liked. And very little considering the number of hours of work."

Contador, 32, will start his 2015 season at the Ruta del Sol (February 18-22), in southern Spain this week, where he will face off against Chris Froome. The two are expected to clash with other Grand Tour rivals Nairo Quintana and Vincenzo Nibali at Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17).

Contador: At most I will sign a one-year deal.

Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo has confirmed that he is going to ride the Giro-Tour double in 2015, as well as suggesting that if he does sign a new contract, it will be only for one more season. 

In the past week, his team manager Bjarne Riis and Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov have weighed in on his future and contractual situation, with there even being suggestions he may retire at the end of this year. The Spaniard finally had his say in the interview.

“My career is in its final stretch,” he said. “I have this season left here at Tinkoff-Saxo, and there are discussions to continue here, or with other teams, but right now, I’d probably stay here. It all depends how the season winds up. I don’t see myself making more than a one-year contract.”

Lemus ready to win with Airgas-Safeway.

Luis Lemus is hoping his switch to Airgas-Safeway in the off season will bring the wins he has come close to over the past three seasons on Jelly Belly-Maxxis.

The two-time Mexican national champion is ready to move from team player to team leader for the 2015 season.

“The last years I've been saying that I want to learn, I want to help the team, but I think this is the year that I want to prove myself,” the 22-year-old told Cyclingnews at the Airgas-Safeway team presentation last week.

“I want to win races. I want to win an NRC race. I've won UCI races before, so I want to keep doing that.”

London Bike Show 2015 highlights: Enigma, Parlee, Aprire, Scott, Nerve, HOY, Bowman and more.

"Didn't make it to the London Bike Show 2015?

You missed a good show, but in case you couldn't make it, we've picked some of our highlights of the bikes that grabbed our attention as we wondered around the ExCeL Center."

Greipel and Gallopin lead Lotto Soudal in Algarve.

In the run-up to the classics Lotto Soudal is racing in the southern part of Europe. While a team of seven will ride the Ruta del Sol, eight others will take part in the Volta ao Algarve from Wednesday 18th until Sunday 22nd February.

The Algarve is a region in the south of Portugal. 

There are two sprint opportunities in the Volta ao Algarve: the first and final stage. Apart from that there are two tougher stages and a time trial. That time trial, nineteen kilometres long, is scheduled on Friday. The last five kilometers are slightly uphill.

“We aim for a stage win and a good overall classification," sports director Herman Frison said. "Tony Gallopin is our man for the GC. In the Etoile de Bessèges Tony proved that he had a good winter, just like the others, so he can set a good result in Algarve as well."

Kwiatkowski: The Tour in the Rainbow Jersey will be special.

Kwiatkowski says he enjoyed a good winter break to recover from a dream season, which saw him go from future challenger in the Ardennes to one of the stars of the current peloton.

“As always I had my five weeks break and I chose this time to be available to the media and to use this time to show what we achieved this season.

I started my training on the 10th of November, as normal, but maybe faster than last year with more kilometers, so everything has gone well and I’m healthy, that’s important and I’m happy with what I have done this winter up to now.”

He explained his calendar for the season and that he has swpped Tirreno-Adriatico for Paris-Nice to help him be fitter for Milan-Sanremo, where he aims to help Mark Cavendish or ride for himself, like Zdenek Stybar was able to do last year.

2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships LIVE - Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.

The 2015 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, are being held February 18-22. 

There will be live streams.  Details to come.

Report: Pantani was killed by a mix of cocaine and anti-depressants.

Daily Distractions.

Video: Mollema and Stybar dodge car in Vuelta a Murcia sprint.

Putting the hour record in perspective: How does an amateur compare?

Admit it. You’ve wondered how you would compare when stacked up against the pros.

Most of us will never have the chance to find out, but the hour record offers up a unique opportunity for the bold and the brave to see how they compare to those at the top-level of the sport.

The beautiful thing about the hour record is that it’s a race of truth with a controlled set of variables affecting the outcome.

Cycling is unlike most other sports in that you can visually see the talent at work, and the hour record is one of the most torturous challenges to that talent.

Eddy Merckx famously described his world hour record: “It’s very, very hard. I couldn’t walk for a few days after I did it. That’s how hard it is.”

Bad luck for 'super legs' Farrar in Almeria.

Mark Cavendish became the first British rider to win the Clasica Almeria today as he out sprinted Juan Jose Lobato  to take the win.

MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung had an unfortunate day with a late crash ruining the chances of a result.

Things were looking good for Farrar but unfortunately with 2km to go there was a big crash in the lead group which Farrar was caught behind.

This disruption caused the American to lose positions rapidly as the pace was on right at the front, also meaning he could not contest the finale.

Dominique Rollin’s back on the job, this time with Cofidis.

Canada’s Dominique Rollin returned to action again last week in the Tour of Qatar after sitting out 2014 without a contract.

Thanks to Nacer Bouhanni’s request, he will help Cofidis’s red train this year in the sprints.

“Nacer wanted people he could trust around him, that brought about the idea of having me back because we had a good thing going on in 2013, winning some good races at the WorldTour and French level,” Rollin told VeloNews.

“It’s a good opportunity to come back. It gives me a goal, a purpose to be at the races and have a job, a focus. It brings me motivation.”

Turbo training can help recovery for stroke victims, finds study.

Cycling on a turbo trainer, albeit a motorized bike, can help a stroke patients’ brain and motor skills recovery.

A small study of 17 stroke survivors by the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, showed how those who completed cycling exercises made greater improvement in the recovery of motor skills.

Research has frequently found that aerobic exercise helps the brains to learn new information and similar studies have noted how stationary cycling has helped Parkinson’s disease recovery.

Talk: Bobby Lea.

US trackman Bobby Lea will soon be on the boards of Paris fighting for the World pursuit gold medal.

With over twenty Elite titles to his name, there’s a good chance of adding a Rainbow jersey to that total in the French capital.

The USA team has a realistic contender for a medal in Lea who took bronze in the London World Cup omnium and has recently been polishing his form on the six day tracks.

Originally Bobby was to be riding the omnium; a combination of the flying lap, 40 K points, the kilometer, pursuit, elimination and scratch race.

But as there is now a clash between the pursuit and the omnium he has opted to go for just the pursuit race.

The 2015 track Worlds will be staged in France’s new National Velodrome in South West Paris, between 18 – 22 February.

Etixx-Quick Step shaping up for dominant Classics campaign.

Etixx-Quick Step have shown that despite the name change this offseason, they are still going to be the team to beat in the Classics, after leading Niki Terpstra to a second consecutive GC win at the tour of Qatar, the team’s eighth win in 14 editions overall.

And once more, they have all the other team running scared.

“That’s always the team that everyone looks at,” Sky sports director Servais Knaven told VeloNews.

“They are specialists in races like the Tour of Qatar and in the classics. Every other team has two or three riders who can do the same, but they have probably eight.”

Proposed California law would make helmets compulsory for all cyclists.

California will become the first state in the US to require adult cyclists to wear cycle helmets if a bill introduced by a state senator, which would also require all riders to wear reflective clothing at night, becomes law.

Currently, 21 states as well as the District of Columbia have laws requiring children to wear helmets while riding a bike.

The upper age limit varies by jurisdiction, but in California, currently bike riders aged under 18 have been required to wear one.

Nutella billionaire - and Italian cycling's biggest fan - dies at 89.

Michele Ferrero, one of Italy’s biggest supporters of cycling – and its richest man – has died at the age of 89 at his home in Monaco following a long illness.

The Piedmont-based businessman helped build the family confectionery empire begun by his father that is the company behind brands such as Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, Kinder and TicTac.

The company sponsors the Italian national team, and presented the country’s riders including Dario Cataldo with personalized jars of Nutella ahead of last year’s world championships.