Sunday's Paris-Nice Stage 1, a 9.4km Individual Time Trial from Dampierre-en-Yvelines to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse, gets underway at 12:10pm CET (6:10am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.  Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 1:35pm CET (7:35am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNation: Video of finish included; Serpa holds lead after rain-drenched penultimate stage.

VeloNation: Colombian climber attacks on final climb and descends alone to take the stage and lead.

CyclingNews: Races & Results.
Le Tour de Langkawi (Stages & results),
Merco Cycling Classic (Stages & results),
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen (Stages & results),
Tirreno-Adriatico (Stages ),
Le Samyn (Results),
Le Samyn des Dames (Results),
Strade Bianche (Results),
Paris - Nice (Stages ),
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne (Results),
Amgen Tour of California (Stages ),
More...

CyclingNews: Defending Olympic time trial champion Kristin Armstrong (Exergy-Twenty12) showed unparalleled form in the opening time trial of the Merco Cycling Classic women's stage race, besting Specialized-lululemon duo Clara Hughes and Evelyn Stevens by a minute.

Yesterday at the Merco Cycling Classic time trial in a stacked field that included some of the top time trialists of the United States, youngster Evan Huffman of CalGiant/Specialized pulled off an upset, surprising everyone by setting the fastest time over the 12-mile course.

VeloNation: Bright future in store for rapid Farnese Vini competitor.

VeloNews: Calfee and his crew also showed a new integrated bar, stem and fork that entirely hides all the Di2 wiring and control box. The SuperClean front end is a system that must be purchased together.

VeloNews: This weekend begins the final set of preparation races before the spring classics with Saturday’s running of the Monte Paschi Strade Bianche, Sunday’s start to Paris-Nice, and Tuesday’s opening of Tirreno Adriatico.

MurrietaPatch: Friday will bring the return of the popular IE Bikes time trial. Unlike any other time trial in Southern California, its European style terrain consisting primarily of paved roadway and a 1.2-mile portion of unpaved/hard compact dirt.

Peloton: The ironically-named "Race to the Sun" features numerous hills and is renowned for its often unfavourable weather conditions. Last year's winner Tony Martin is looking to become the 12th multiple winner of the race.

CyclingNews: Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) kick-started his season with a dominant display in Saturday’s Strade Bianchi. The 2008 champion finished 42 seconds clear of Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) and Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia). The BMC duo of Alessandro Ballan and Greg Van Avermaet finished 4th and 5th.

Today's Quote

“There are few more impressive than Cancellara when he's on. He doesn't just win, he destroys." -  Jered Gruber  PEZCyclingNews

CyclingFans: Saturday's Strade Bianche (or Montepaschi Strade Bianche) departs Gaiole in Chianti at 11:00am CET (5:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish in Siena at around 3:45pm CET (9:45am U.S. Eastern).  Strade Bianche live streaming video is expected from around 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

Our sport has its classic races. Some are more than 100 years old, for example Liège-Bastogne-Liège was first run in 1892. Over time they’ve developed legends and histories that go a long way to make the sport what it is today. Sometimes a new race comes along and the organisers struggle to make it work. They could do well to learn the lesson of the wonderful Strade Bianche race which takes place today, combining local history with a free internet video stream.

VeloNation: Michal Kwiatkowski holds the race lead as Omega Pharma-Quick Step dominates.

CyclingFans: Stage 1 starts at 12:30pm CET (6:30am U.S. Eastern). Finish at around 4:50pm CET (10:50am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNews: Well before the Tour de Langkawi concludes Sunday in Kuala Terengganu, everyone knew who the champion would be. (Photo By Bobke Strut)

BikeRumor: Treehugger just compiled a list of artistic wall mounts for bikes.

VeloNation: Polish rider fastest over Middelkerke seafront course; Omega Pharma-Quick Step puts two on the podium this time.

BikeRadar: Video games are blamed as a component of the rising obesity levels of children and teens in the US. In response some game developers have created “exercise” games that take advantage of the motion control feature offered by the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Kinect for the Xbox 360, and Sony’s Move for the PlayStation3. And one game developer believes in the prospect of a cycling video game.

The Daily Distraction.

With the retroactive loss of podium placing by banned riders, do the newly elevated riders ever get a chance at their photo op?

CyclingNews: Alberto Contador can return to racing in August, but the question still remains over which team he will join. The Danish media reported on Friday that the Spaniard may not wish to return to Team Saxo Bank but is planning to sign with Movistar – a report which was soundly denied by all parties.

VeloNews: In the wake of his surprise Vuelta a Espana victory, Cobo went from one celebratory dinner to another, visiting cycling clubs, schools, and government institutions in a three-month run that barely included time to get on the bike.

BikeRadar: In the fifth video of our 26 vs 29er video series, we look at how the torque generated on a 29er mountain bike can hugely improve your climbing capabilities compared to smaller wheeled bike.

Timbuk2 recently sent out their new ICOE (In Case Of Emergency) mini tool.  An impressively solid little tool, the ICOE includes a 15mm box end wrench, tire lever, 4mm and 5mm Allen keys, and a bottle opener.

NAHBS is ON. I tell ya, these days, I get more excited for NAHBS than I do Interbike. The trouble is, it’s gotten so big that it really is hard to make it around to everyone.

PodiumInsight: The weariness of spirit and body was evident in Ben Jacques-Maynes‘ lean face when we sat down to chat on a sunny and warm morning last week. The 33-year BISSELL Pro Cycling rider has been through the worst year of his life, with serious complications including a bone infection and setbacks hitting one after another following his broken collarbone at the 2011 Amgen Tour of California.

Peloton: It was once easy to discern who was the world’s best pro racer. For seven straight years, 1969 to 1975, Eddy Merckx won the Super Prestige Pernod competition (the equivalent of today’s UCI WorldTour), which awarded points in all of the major races: one-day classics, weeklong stage races and three-week grand tours. There was no denying that The Cannibal was No. 1.

InnerRing: How do you know a bike race is coming? Roadside fans often wait for the audible rumble of TV helicopters to indicate the race is approaching. But in Belgium it’s different. Instead you know the race is coming thanks to the call of Rodania.