No UCI announcement on Independent Commission doping report before mid March.

Although the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC)’s inquiry into the Lance Armstrong/US Postal Service affair, the UCI’s conduct around that time and doping in general is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month, the UCI has confirmed that the final outcome of that will not be disclosed for some time yet.

The governing body indicated to CyclingTips Tuesday that it would make an announcement on the matter in the middle of March, meaning that there will be a further two to three week wait from this point in time.

Speaking last week to the Guardian and Press Association, UCI president Brian Cookson warned that the report could make for uncomfortable reading.

Contador sticks to planned Giro d'Italia build-up.

Despite his defeat to Chris Froome at the Vuelta a Andalucia, Alberto Contador has declared himself pleased with his early season condition and confirmed that he will stick to his planned race program as he builds towards an attempt at the Giro d’Italia-Tour de France double.

Contador will ride just two more races before the Giro, Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17) and the Volta a Catalunya (March 23-29), meaning that he will go 40 days without racing ahead of the Grande Partenza in Sanremo on May 9.

He admitted that the route of Paris-Nice was more to his liking than Tirreno-Adriatico, but confirmed that he will return to Italy to defend his title.

Possible Paris-Nice return for Schleck following Ruta del Sol crash.

Fränk Schleck, who suffered a high-speed crash in the opening stage of Ruta del Sol last week, is a long shot to challenge for Paris-Nice next month.

Trek Factory Racing officials confirmed that Schleck, 34, is healing “slowly but steadily” from a hematoma in his thigh, but he still has been unable to train on his bike.

“It’s healing slowly, but steadily, so that’s relatively good news,” a Trek official wrote to VeloNews in an e-mail.

“It’s still unclear what this means for his race program, except that we have to be fair, and admit that Paris-Nice cannot be a real goal for him anymore.”

There is still an outside chance Schleck might be able to start Paris-Nice (March 8-15), but officials admitted he won’t be in condition to seriously challenge for the podium.

Geist's bronze medal at Worlds caps eight-year recovery from near-fatal accident.

US national team rider Kim Geist’s journey to the bronze medal in the points race at the UCI Track World Championships is nothing short of inspirational.

She was left severely injured after a collision with a tractor trailer while riding her bike near her hometown of Emmaus, Pennsylvania eight years ago.

Last week, she completed her recovery with her first international medal since before the accident.

Her world-class track-racing endeavors will continue as she aims to build toward securing a spot on the women’s team pursuit squad at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Elite - Feb 28 (Start List),

Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne - Mar 1 (Start List),

Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (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),

Volta ao Algarve - Feb 19-23 (Results),

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

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

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

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

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

More ...

2015 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad LIVE.

Race starts Saturday at 11:35am CET (5:35am U.S. Eastern)

Finish at around 4:38pm CET (10:38am U.S. Eastern)

Live video from 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern, 4:30am Pacific).

How Aero is too Aero?

Aero is everything…until it’s not.

On a flat road, aerodynamic drag is your biggest obstacle. You use about 80 percent of your power output to overcome wind resistance when you’re hammering down the road.

Using aerobars and dropping your torso toward your top tube shrinks your frontal surface area, making it easier to slip through the wind and go faster.

But as a new study points out, there’s a point of diminishing returns, because it’s harder to take full deep breaths and to push the pedals to produce maximum power when you’re all hunched over.

Should this Irish charity take Lance Armstrong’s help to raise funds?

The request was a simple one; for Armstrong to wear one of the charity’s T-shirts and take a photo of himself in it.

The plan, in so much as there was one, was for Barry Rice, founder of a charity cycle for Ataxia Ireland – Cycle Ataxia, to then use the photo in his drive to publicize his event.

Armstrong told Rice on twitter to contact his manager and have the T-shirt sent to him.

And within days the American had done the deed and emailed the photo back to the Dubliner.

Wahoo KICKR.

"You know a product is a good one when we dread sending it back at the end of the review cycle.

Fortunately, we typically get at least a few good months with a product before we have to give it back.

However, sometimes a product is only available to us for a short timeframe, which means we’re boxing it back up before we know it.

Unfortunately our time with the Wahoo KICKR falls under the later description. While it was at the AG office for just a few weeks, we know that Wahoo has a winner on its hands."

Is This the Holy Grail of Wheels?

The Holy Grail, the brass ring, cycling’s Sasquatch.

A wheel that rides as well as a tubular but does it without the hassle.

A number of recent developments have been getting us closer – wide rims, lightweight carbon and tubeless technology.

The peloton has been collectively holding its breath, waiting for these three elements to come together and create a package that can rival the tubular in every regard.

We’ve been getting close, notably the Easton EC90 Aero 55 Tubeless clincher.

Now Bontrager, long tooting the tubeless horn with its excellent TLR line of alloy clinchers, is bringing tubeless to its Aeolus D3 carbon clincher line and it may be time for us all to take a deep breath.

Final Amstel Gold race wildcards announced.

2015 roads lead to Richmond for Ben King.

A sense of life beyond cycling brought him off the beaten track to Mexico and Colombia over the winter.

He began his season in Argentina, will spend most of his year based in Tuscany and aims to return to the Tour de France this July.

But in 2015, all roads lead home to Virginia for Ben King.

September’s World Championships in Richmond are the first in the United States since Moreno Argentin’s triumph in Colorado Springs in 1986, and for King – who grew up in nearby Charlottesville – the event has particular resonance.

Basso handed protected slot on Tinkoff-Saxo squad for GP Lugano: “Our goal is to win.”

He’s now 37 years of age and last season had a noticeably quieter year than before.

However Ivan Basso’s move to the Tinkoff-Saxo team appears to have boosted his morale and performances, and he has now been named the team’s top protected rider for the GP Lugano on Sunday.

Announcing the lineup today, Tinkoff-Saxo said that he will take the start with seven others from the team and would have a special role. He added that others may also have a chance, depending on how the race plays out.

“We look forward to GP Lugano with expectations, as we want to play a dominant role in this race,” stated directeur sportif Bruno Cenghialta.

Team Victory Rankings.

It’s a quiet week before the weekend storm of cobbles starting with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday.

This micro break gives a moment to look at the team victory rankings and see who’s had a good start to the season.

If you think it’s too early to count, think again.

There have been 68 days of racing so this year meaning we’re one ninth of the way through the season already.

Rodriguez playing catch up to find form for Ardennes, grand tours.

Joaquím Rodríguez discovered last week in the Tour of Oman that he is behind for his upcoming goals in the Ardennes Classics and the grand tours.

“I won before on Green Mountain, that was a surprise, but it was also a surprise to not be able to stay with that front group of 20,” Rodríguez told VeloNews.

“I need to continue, but also see if I’ve made a mistake in my preparation. I need to continue to work and find my form.”

News shorts: Machado buoyed by Algarve podium.

Pieters to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Cunego ready for Amstel Gold Race.

Eight ways to improve your cycling for the spring.

The winter months aren’t very conducive to maintaining a solid level of fitness and keeping in shape.

Come spring, many of us clamber back on the bike feeling despondent and bulging around the midriff.

Not this year! For once, let’s get off to a flyer — and begin spring 2015 as we mean to go on.

News shorts: Pro riders cleared for Cape Town Cycle Tour.

Etixx-QuikStep skip Het Nieuwsblad recon, Synergy Baku presentation, MTN-Qhubeka to Amstel Gold.

2015 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne LIVE.

Sunday's Race starts at 12:00pm CET (6:00am U.S. Eastern)

Finish at around 4:40pm CET (10:40am U.S. Eastern)

Live video from 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern, 5:30am Pacific).

Ridden and Reviewed: Diadora Vortex Pro Road Shoe.

The stiff carbon-fiber sole on Diadora's top-tier cycling shoe, the Vortex Pro, is tough.

So tough, in fact, that it withstood the rigors of my most recent adventure: an "I'm not really lost I'm just exploring" hike-a-bike up a dry streambed on a California mountainside.

But of course, the Vortex is a road-cycling shoe - which was proven by how well it performed on pavement, too.

Boardman Elite SLS 9.0.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Excellent endurance machine, fun to ride and subtly tweaked for the better."

Don’t drink so much water during exercise, new research says.

Drinking a lot of water during exercise could be more dangerous than not drinking enough, according to a collection of research published in the Wall Street Journal.

It’s a commonly heard opinion that dehydration affects performance levels, but now experts are warning that ‘waterlogging’ the body is more harmful.

In 2007, sports scientist Kate Mori fell ill and became delirious during running the London Marathon after drinking a reported 3.5 litres of liquid in small amounts – significantly more than she required.

“I’d always been taught you had to ‘stay ahead’ of thirst and that being thirsty was a sign you were already dehydrated.”

Daily Distractions.

BikeSnobNYC: Pefrection is Overated.

Lotto-Soudal doctor calls for greater restrictions on tramadol use.

Speaking out against the still-legal use of powerful painkillers in the pro peloton, Lotto-Soudal doctor Jan Mathieu has said that more needs to be done to try to stamp out the use of tramadol in the sport.

Mathieu’s team is part of the MPCC anti-doping organization. It has regulations against the use of tramadol, with teams committing on a voluntary basis not to use the substance.

While it is less than certain if all the teams do follow through on that commitment – WADA tests for it, but doesn’t currently ban it, and so ‘positives’ are not declared – the collective stance of the MPCC makes it more likely that the painkiller will eventually be blocked.

Opinion: Time for E3 Harelbeke to join the rest of cycling in 2015.

Classics season is upon us. The true hard men and women of the peloton will again shine. It's a celebration of grit and history against the elements.

And again, one race has chosen, above all else, to promote itself with the use of gratuitously sexualized imagery. It's time for the cycling community to say, enough is enough.

In 2011, E3 Harelbeke has used an image of black silhouettes of cyclists riding on the back of a naked woman, and in 2014 it was one woman 'riding' a 'bike' made of three other women as a means for 'promotion'.

Now it's "Who will pinch them in Harelbeke?" The shot is of a podium girl's skirt, a breeze exposing her derriere, and a cycling glove-clad hand ready to go in for the grab.

Gaviria signs two-year deal with Etixx-QuickStep.

Etixx-QuickStep has confirmed the signing of newly-crowned Omnium world champion Fernando Gaviria, who so impressed in winning two stages at the Tour de San Luis last month.

Gaviria and his fellow Colombian Rodrigo Contreras have each signed two-year agreements with Etixx-QuickStep, beginning from next season, after they underwent testing at the Bakala Academy in Leuven, Belgium on Tuesday morning.

Both riders are currently with the Coldeportes-Claro Continental outfit.

Etixx-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere confirmed that the 20-year-old Gaviria will be able to combine his road duties with his track career in 2016, when he will target gold in the Omnium at the Olympic Games in Rio.

Phil Gaimon Journal: Good legs and bad omens.

"I’m currently seated on a small sofa at an apartment in Vilamoura, Portugal, and my teammates/roommates are trying to figure out where the purring sound is coming from.

They have a problem with stray cats around here, and we think there might be one inside the apartment.

This is partly because I lured a cat into Ryan Anderson’s room the other day with some “Mountain Berry” Clif Blocks (non-caf) as a prank, and maybe someone put a cat in the cupboard as joke?

It’s like a cat opera at night, with all the purring. Someone needs to translate reruns of “The Price is Right,” because Bob Barker will solve this.

Will anyone get that joke?"

Quintana confirmed for Tirreno-Adriatico start.

Nairo Quintana is confirmed to return to Europe next month to race Tirreno-Adriatico, setting the stage for the season’s first showdown between the top Tour de France favorites.

Movistar officials confirmed to VeloNews that Quintana will return to Europe “three or four days” before the start of Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11-17).

Quintana was sidelined from the Ruta del Sol last week following a finish-line crash at the Colombian national championship in early February.

Bradley Wiggins to ride Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

Bradley Wiggins will ride Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday to kick off his cobbled Classics campaign ahead of his tilt at Paris-Roubaix in April.

The 2012 Tour de France champion, enjoying his final few months with Team Sky before he joins his new WIGGINS outfit, will head up a eight-man team at the 70th edition of the race, which takes place across 200.2km in the Flanders region of Belgium.

Also in the line-up is Ian Stannard, who won last year’s race after out-sprinting Greg Van Avermaet in miserable conditions.

Five things we learned from Qatar and Oman.

Eddy Merckx became a peacemaker under a motorway bridge in Oman, while the relatively unknown Sam Bennett made a name for himself in Qatar.

Here are some things we learned about the early-season desert races. For example:

The glue on tubular tires melts at 40 degrees

That’s the technical way to describe the fact that it was really bloody hot in Oman last week.

So hot, in fact, that race organizers came to their senses and just gave up on stage five and neutralized the race.

Inside small wheel brands.

Starting up a small wheel brand appears to be a simple matter for any entrepreneur.

After all, there are plenty of manufacturers offering cheap wheels and wheel parts online that can sourced by virtually anyone.

CTech editor Matt Wikstrom recently interviewed a few small wheel brands to get some insight.

2015 Hour Record LIVE stream - Thomas Dekker Attempt.

Live streaming for Wednesday's hour record attempt by Thomas Dekker will get underway at 12:15pm local (1:15pm U.S. Eastern, 7:15pm CET, 4:15pm Pacific).

Lauf Carbonara - Full carbon suspension fork.

For those not familiar with Lauf, this Icelandic company creates full carbon forks that use carbon leafs springs to provide suspension. The Carbonara is Lauf's first fat bike suspension fork.

The Carbonara has a claimed weight of 1,050g and provides 60mm of undamped travel. Axle spacing is the same as the RockShox Bluto at 150mm, as is the rake, at 51mm.