Procycling's top 10 moments from 200 issues.

For all the unprecedented scandal and controversy that has tortured cycling and its fans since 1999, we have also been treated to some spectacular sporting drama.

Here, Procycling's writers select and relive 10 of their favorite moments from the first 200 issues of the magazine.

2015 Tour of California route announced.

Organizers unveiled the 10th edition of the Amgen Tour of California route on Thursday, which will feature 724 miles of racing over familiar roads and some places that are new to the eight-day race in May.

The women’s race route was also announced, and it will cover 158 miles over three days (May 8-10). There will also be a 15-mile time trial at Big Bear Lake on May 15.

The men’s event is scheduled for May 10-17 and will start with a 127-mile stage that begins and ends in Sacramento, California’s state capital.

From there, the race will include ascents of the familiar Mount Hamilton and Mount Baldy, and will feature a 15-mile time trial at Big Bear Lake that will be fast and flat.

The race concludes with a circuit race around Los Angeles that finishes at the Rose Bowl in nearby Pasadena.

Kristoff grabs Oman stage 3 win as Cancellara keeps GC lead .

Norway’s Alexander Kristoff, who picked up three stage wins last week at the Tour of Qatar, came out on top in a bunch sprint in Thursday’s Tour of Oman third stage.

The Katusha rider was followed home by Italian duo Andrea Guardini and Matteo Pelucchi at the end of the 158.5-kilometer ride around Al Mussanah Sports City.

“The team is good, our ‘work rhythm’ is working well and that gives me a lot of confidence,” Kristoff said.

Still work to do before Milan-San Remo defense, says Kristoff.

Katusha’s Alexander Kristoff says he still has work to do ahead of the classics despite winning stage three of the Tour of Oman on Wednesday, his fifth victory of 2015 to date.

Kristoff only started his sprint in Al Mussanah with 100 meters remaining, but still managed to overcome stage one winner Andrea Guardini in the race for the line.

Van Garderen confident ahead of decisive stage in Oman.

Tejay van Garderen was the second best rider in last year's edition of the Tour of Oman, accepting a supremacy of Chris Froome, but results obtained in the latter part of the season didn't exactly confirm that he deserves being placed so high in climbers' hierarchy.

The 26-year old American believes, though, that improving on his runner-up spot from previous edition of the Omani race is within his reach and gets himself ready for the decisive battle on the Green Mountain.

Konrad ready to fight for Tour of Oman white jersey.

Since making it into the break on the opening stage of the Tour of Oman, Patrick Konrad has been sitting at the top of the young rider’s classification and third overall, just five seconds behind race leader Fabian Cancellara.

It is lofty company for the promising 23-year-old, who only turned professional with NetApp-Endura last season.

The Austrian finished safely in the bunch on stage three to maintain his lead in the white jersey competition but there was a tinge of disappointment as the team’s sprinter Sam Bennett ended up out of position and was unable to contest the sprint.

Fabian Cancellara: I want to write history.

Fabian Cancellara, who won the second stage at the Tour of Oman, hopes to shine this spring. The Trek Factory Racing leader is honing his preparation. He is talking about his biggest goals, the fast approaching spring Classics like Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders. 

"It won’t be a surprise for anybody if I say my main goals in 2015 are the Classics again.

According to me, I haven’t won enough last year, so I really have to focus on what’s the most important to me. The spring was good in 2014, but the summer and autumn were not good enough. I didn’t finish four stage races and that is something I am not happy about", the Swiss man explained according to the Trek Factory Racing website.

"The only ambition I have now when I start a race is to win, and I’ll do anything for that. If I feel that I can win a stage here or there, I will go for it. Of course, everything can happen whether it’s a technical problem or a crash, but we always try to deal with these risks."

Fuglsang targeting strong finish at Tour of Oman.

Astana may have lost any chance of overall victory at the Tour of Oman with Vincenzo Nibali but the team still has hopes for the general classification.

Jakob Fuglsang and Andrei Grivko both made it into the front group, keeping alive their hopes of a solid overall finish with three stages still remaining.
 
Thanks to his climbing pedigree, Fuglsang will be the favorite to lead the team to a good overall result but with one rider already out of contention they won’t put all their eggs into one basket.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Tour of Oman 2015 - Feb 17-22 (Stages & Results),

Vuelta a Andalucia - Feb 18-22 (Stages & Results),

Women's Tour of New Zealand - Feb 18-22 (Stages & Results),

UCI Track World Championships - Feb 18-22 (Stages & Results),

Volta ao Algarve - Feb 19-23 (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),

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 ...

The six strangest cycling sponsors of all time.

Cycling is well known for its slightly bizarre sponsorship deals, none more so than the famous Molteni – who manufactured cold meats – and Faema – an espresso machine maker.

In another odd move, Europcar rider and perenial gurner Thomas Voeckler became the face of  Akena conservatories earlier this week.

Here we look at six of the weirder sponsorship deals of past and present, starting with a Russian team blatantly cashing in on an expensive product.

Tour of Oman 2015 Live Dashboard.

Friday's Tour of Oman Stage 4 departs Sultan Qaboos Grande Mosque at 10:30am local (7:30am CET, 1:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Jabal Al Akhdhar (Green Mountain) at around 3:17pm local (12:17pm CET, 6:17am U.S. Eastern). 

Tour of Oman live video streaming is possible.

The $99 Polaroid Cube.

As an entry-level action shooter, the Cube isn't so much trying to give GoPro a run for its high-octane, extreme-sports money as it is trying to introduce a versatile new way to make quick lifestyle videos.

And it definitely succeeds on that level. It's well-designed and undeniably fun-looking, with an '80s retro vibe lent by its rainbow stripe, and a miniature size—like the Rubik's Cube's younger brother—that makes it easy to tuck into a pocket.

It also has a magnetic panel that allows it to stick to any flat, non-aluminum metal surface.

Tour of Oman: Cancellara wins stage 2.

Volta ao Algarve: Meersman wins in Albufeira.

Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift and Andy Fenn in Tour of the Algarve.

Trott’s four-year unbeaten team pursuit run comes to an end.

Australia win the women's team pursuit title for only the second time, but do so in world record time and put to an end Great Britain's winning streak.

Laura Trott and her British team mates had to get used to the unfamiliar taste of defeat tonight, losing their team pursuit world title to Australia and along with it their world record.

Extreme Weather Protocol.

Professional bike racing is just that, a profession.

While there many rules on workplace safety for factories and offices, there are few when it comes to racing down a mountain at 100km/h.

Now efforts are underway to make racing safer in extreme weather. The UCI’s Road Commission, prompted by the rider union CPA, is exploring this. Cyclingnews.com explains more.

About time or is the peloton turning soft?

Maybe it’s not so binary because the interesting part will be seeing how they might write rules and protocols for something so subjective as when tough conditions become dangerous.

Vuelta a Andalucia: Lobato beats Degenkolb to win stage 2.

Juanjo Lobato dusted off his bruises from yesterday’s crash to win the second stage of the Vuelta a Andalcuía with a well-executed long-range sprint.

The Andalucían-born rider fell heavily in a pile-up on stage 1a but today recovered to steal a march on John Degenkolb, who was second by some distance.

No curse of the rainbow jersey, says Rui Costa, just more responsibility.

Rui Costa insists there is no curse that comes with the world champion’s rainbow jersey, but admits the responsibility that comes with the stripes wore him down last season.

The Portuguese had the honor of wearing the jersey for the 2014 season after beating out Joaquim Rodriguez in Florence in 2013 but his sole victory came in the Tour de Suisse.

Fourth place on the UCI World Tour rankings showed Costa’s consistency through the season, but the 28-year-old says his media commitments distracted him from his cycling.

Tour du Haut Var preview.

While most riders are finalizing their preparation for the big events in the Belgian opening weekend and the month of March at the major stage races in Oman, Spain and Portugal, France offers an alternative path that appeals to the classics riders.

The two-day Tour du Haut Var is a race made up of two hilly classics that make it the perfect preparation for the biggest one-day races and it is no wonder that some of the best riders in this specialty use the race to fine-tune their condition for their big objectives. 

The third week of February has built a reputation as one of the most important weeks of the early season.

With no less than four stage races, it is the a crucial time for most riders to get in the important racing kilometers that set them up for a successful classics season or spring stage race campaign.
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Vuelta a Andalucia Stage 2 Preview.

A day for the sprinters? There’s a tricky climb with 10% slopes just before the finish. After yesterday’s maxi-crash many riders are left licking their wounds and this could be a more open stage but Movistar and Giant-Alpecin have every reason to try for they stage win they expected yesterday.

Stage 1a Wrap
A surprise result with Pim Ligthart winning. He’s already won the French opener with a long sprint, this time a late attack saw him jump with 1.7km to go. No sooner did he go clear than a Lotto-Soudal team mate went off the front of the group too, not in pursuit but to ensure any counter-attacks would be mopped up, a basic but effective tactic.

Farrar hoping for spring Classics success.

Tyler Farrar has started a significant new chapter of his professional career with MTN-Qhubeka but one objective, targeting the cobbled Classics, remains unchanged for the 30-year-old American.

After seven years with the Garmin team, Farrar’s switch to the relatively new African squad has gone smoothly. The 30 year-old American is riding the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol to lay down further race miles.

For 2015-16, Women Will Finally Get the “Series” in the Superprestige Series.

This year marked the first time that each Superprestige event had its own race for the Elite Women. 

From Gieten to Noordzeecross Middelkerke, Sanne Cant put on a performance for the ages, absolutely dominating the races all season long, which typically were held between the Junior and U23 races.

Unfortunately, beyond the winner of the individual events, her name will receive no further accolades for an overall series victory, and apart from her separate race winnings, she took nothing home from the event as the women have no overall series standing, unlike the three other categories that compete.

For 2015-16, all of that is going to change.

MPCC announces it now encompasses all Pro Continental teams.

The MPCC anti-doping movement has continued to gain strength and has announced that it now includes every Pro Continental squad in the peloton after the CCC Sprandi Polkowice squad was accepted as a new member.

The body, whose members voluntarily accept stricter anti-doping rules than others, now features 19 Pro Continental teams. It also includes 11 out of the current 17 World Tour teams, with Sky, BMC Racing Team, Trek Factory Racing, Etixx-QuickStep, Movistar and Tinkoff-Saxo the teams who have thus far not joined.

The membership also includes 32 Continental teams plus eight women’s squads.

2015 Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta Ciclista del Sol LIVE.

Friday's Vuelta a Andalucia/Ruta del Sol Stage 3 departs Motril at 11:30am CET (5:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Alto de Hazas LLanas at around 3:38pm CET (9:38am U.S. Eastern).

Ruta del Sol live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern, 5:00am Pacific).

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.

Moreno takes surprise win in Andalusia time trial.

USA wins Women's Tour of New Zealand's team time trial opener.

Ligthart wins Vuelta a Andalucia opener.

Daily Distractions.

USA stay in front at Women’s Tour of New Zealand.

Overnight leader Megan Guarnier relinquished her lead in the General Classification (GC) to American team mate Lauren Hall after the second stage of the Women’s Tour of New Zealand.

Team USA controlled the 125km stage from Masterton to Martinborough right from the start and increased the speed in the final five kilometres of the race to set up Hall for the stage win out of a 50-rider bunch sprint.

PEZ: EuroTrash Alberto Thursday!

Q&A: Prudhomme talks onboard cameras, Armstrong, and more.

Tour de France Organizer ASO wants to continue pushing cycling globally, stream onboard cameras, and move on from Lance Armstrong.

Broadcasting cycling’s biggest race around the world, said race director Christian Prudhomme, will help the goals.

Davide Cimolai wins Trofeo Laigueglia.

Davide Cimolai won the Trofeo Laigueglia race, giving the Lampre-Merida team its third consecutive victory in the Italian one-day race after victories by Filippo Pozzato in 2013 and Jose Serpa in 2014.

Cimolai is considered one of Italy's most talented young sprinters and he used his speed to beat Francesco Gavazzi and Alexey Tsatevich. The USA's Brent Bookwalter was seventh in the high-speed sprint.

Volta ao Algarve: Thomas takes solo win in Monchique.

Team Sky's Geraint Thomas showed impressive early season form by soloing to the stage victory and race lead on a lumpy finish on stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve in Portugal.

Thomas attacked on the final climb to catch an earlier solo escapee, Rein Taaramae and then left the Estonian behind to solo to his first victory since he won the Commonwealth Games road race last August.

Tom Boonen.

Tom Boonen is a hero in Belgium, a great champion and also a nice guy to talk to. ‘Tommeke’ was training in Calpe, Spain (again) last month, so when the Etixx – Quick-Step team invited PEZ to come and talk we jumped at the chance to hear what the Tornado has in mind for 2015.

Four times winner of Paris-Roubaix, three times Tour of Flanders, five wins in the E3 Harelbeke, three in Gent-Wevelgem and Kuurne, World champion, Belgian champion, Tour de France points jersey with stages in the Tour and Vuelta… the list goes on.

Without doubt Tom Boonen is a star, but things are changing in the World of professional cycling, the young guys are on the way up and Tom became the father of twins; Valentine and Jacqueline on January the 18th.

One thing that never changes; it’s January and Tom Boonen is in Calpe.

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. 

Day 2 live video starts at 6:50pm CET (12:50pm U.S. Eastern, 9:50am Pacific).

Pervis: I dreamed of winning Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

As François Pervis prepares to defend three titles at this week’s World Track Championships in Paris, the Frenchman has been talking about his love of racing away from the boards.

In an interview with L’Équipe, the world’s fastest man has revealed that he showed promise in cyclo-cross as a junior and once dreamed of riding the one-day Classics, particularly the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

The defending world champion in the keirin, sprint and kilo, Pervis confesses that his first love was for the Classics.

Hailing from the Mayenne region in western France, Pervis first emerged on the road, where his local rivals included Ag2r-La Mondiale pros Sébastien Turgot and Damien Gaudin, and Europcar’s Vincent Jérôme.

“When it came to winning it was either them or me,” he says. “Knowing that they turned pro and that at the time I was training less than them, I could perhaps have turned pro myself as well.”

Guide to: Team pursuit.

The Team pursuit sees four riders cover a distance of four kilomenters, 16 laps, riding as a cohesive unit to give each other shelter when they are not the rider on the front.

A team will pursue another team that starts on the opposite side of the track, except for qualifying rounds when a team rides alone to set a time.

The race is between the two teams on the track with the winning team is the one that posts the fastest time.

Bob Jungels poised for breakout season.

There was a logjam at sign-on ahead of the start of stage 2 at the Ruta del Sol. 

All at once, featherweight mountain goats swarmed the podium area from BH, Caja Rural and Team Colombia.

Standing tall like a lighthouse in the fog was Bob Jungels, the 6-foot-3 Luxembourger who came oh-so-close to taking the leader’s jersey Wednesday at the Ruta del Sol.

How close? Jungels just winced when he was asked the difference between him Alberto Contador.

“Ohhh, it was very small,” Jungels said with a laugh. “Point-zero three seconds.”

Can an aero road helmet make you faster?

The latest wind-cheating lids are a common sight in the pro peloton - but does the everyday rider need one?

Until Mark Cavendish swept to victory in the 2011 World Championship road race wearing a skinsuit and adapted Specialized helmet that had its vents covered with transparent plastic, aerodynamics had been something talked about in hushed tones by nerdy time triallists.

Suddenly aero-nerdiness was all the rage, and for good reason. Yes, drafting behind another rider requires approximately 30 per cent less power than riding out in the wind, but what if you could increase that to 36 per cent by judicious application of knowledge gained in the wind tunnel?

Lance Armstrong's lies carry a steep, and rising, price.