CyclingFans: Thursday's Paris-Nice Stage 5 departs Onet-le-Chateau at 11:15am CET (5:15am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Mende at around 3:59pm CET (9:59am U.S. Eastern). Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Wiggins comfortable in matching Valverde.

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Merco Cycling Classic (Stages & results),
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VeloNation: Illness and injury strike five riders off today’s start list.

PodiumCafe: Thursday, the Ronde van Drenthe begins, and Team Tibco will be among the teams at the starting line. The U.S.-based women’s team is in the Netherlands for the first of two blocks of racing this spring. They will ride the Ronde van Drenthe and the Drenthe World Cup. Then, they head home to ride Redlands and the Tour of Gila. Then, they travel back to Europe for the Ronde van Vlaanderen and Flèche Wallonne. Got that?

CyclingWeekly: Cadel Evans explained on Tuesday that early season success in Tirreno-Adriatico or in Paris-Nice is rare for a Tour de France winner. The Australian Tour winner commented in central Italy on Bradley Wiggins' yellow jersey ride in France.

PEZ: It seems to me that Adam Blythe has been around for ages, when I first interviewed him we called him a “Young Gun” and since then he has gone from strength to strength to be riding alongside the Classics King Philippe Gilbert and he is still only 22 years old. Blythe wants to be the next Zabel…and why not?

This is all about doing time on the OUTSIDE. The front graphic displays images of tire tracks as prison bars and also features the Prisoner number over the pocket.

BikeRumor: Spotted trailside under none other than Ned Overend was this gloss black carbon Specialized Stumpjumper 29er with color-matched SID 29er fork with BRAIN internals.

BikeRumor: Prologo has a few new saddles at the distributors, the Plus line. The essence of these are the careful attention paid to contact points. ‘Plus’ refers a recessed channel down the center that keeps the pressure off your yarbles and yarblettes. I’ve featured a couple road saddles here and a saddle for downhill MTB after the break.

BikeRadar: German carbon wheel specialists Lightweight have just announced an update to their already excellent Standard III C clinchers, calling them Meilenstein C.

VeloNation: Wiggins holds yellow after aggressive end to a long, calm day.

InnerRing: Stage 3 was 194km long and took four hours 36 minutes and 19 seconds. The difference came down to a matter of centimetres and milliseconds. After leg pedalling for hours the race was won thanks to a throw of the arms.

CyclingNews: John Degenkolb made the cut in the second stage of Paris-Nice, catching on to the lead group when the wind broke up the field in a “crazy race.” 

CyclingFans: Thursday's Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 2 departs San Vincenzo at 10:25am CET (4:25am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at Indicatore (Arezzo) at around 4:18pm CET (10:18am U.S. Eastern). Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 3:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Goss leads overall after scorching effort by Aussie ProTeam.

CyclingNews: After suffering a last-minute cancellation in 2011, Massachusetts' historic Longsjo Classic returns to the race calendar in 2012 and once again will be run as a four-day stage race. Racing begins Thursday, June 28 for Pro/1/2 men, women and juniors and will conclude Sunday, July 1. A three-day event, June 29-July 1, will take place for Masters 40+, Women 3/4, Men 3 and Men 4.

SteepHill: Stage 1 start time: Wednesday 14:50 CET (5:50:00 AM PST); Earliest live video: 15:00 CET (6:00:00 AM PST); Approximate finish: 16:15 CET (7:15:00 AM PST). Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 3:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern).

With one part mouthwatering anticipation and another part loathing I threw my leg over the bike SRAM had waiting for me: a Specialized Tarmac SL3. Within the walls of Competitive Cyclist, Specialized is forbidden fruit because of its no-online-sales philosophy.

Marijn de Vries I only just had a racer, a beautiful aluminium Ridley. Red and grey with a bit of black and white. It was a triple with Shimano 105. And mountain bike pedals, “because mountain bike shoes are far easier to walk on than race shoes,” the bike shop guy said when I bought the bike. On that bike I entered my very first bike race ever.

VeloNation: Tour de France winner Cadel Evans begins Tirreno-Adriatico as both the defending champion and as a rider who will use the event to measure his condition relative to last year.

Lucas Binder: The Merco Cycling Classic has gradually grown over the past 4 years from a conventional two day road race-criterium weekend to a challenging 4-day stage race that kicks of the stage race month off March. I first did the race back in 2009 when I was racing mostly in Northern California, and one thing about the race has remained unchanged: it has always had a good prize purse and race organization that attracts a very strong field.

Peloton: When we think of custom bikes we think of steel and occasionally something really exotic like titanium or scandium. We imagine an old Italian man hunched over a jig, torch in hand, or a guy with a handle bar mustache and a Rapha cap working out of his garage in Portland. When it comes to customizing carbon most of us think in terms of stem length and seat height. After all, it’s tough to customize a frame popped out of a mold.

Today's Quote

“The white jersey is always a cool little prize; it’s never the goal, it’s always something nice." -  Tejay van Garderen  VeloNews

PodiumInsight: Almost every weekend during the cross season, you can find Stu Thorne working on a bike, paying attention to detail and making everything run smoothly, or as smooth as possible, for his Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com team. A high pressure environment where a small mistake can cost his rider a victory, and yet he seems to remain unflappable.

On-One Inbred 29 X9 BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "Steady not speedy, but a true off-roader that’s tenacious on techy trails, with excellent kit for the cash."

VeloNews: Doctors dealt Nick Nuyens’ Tour of Flanders defense a blow today, diagnosing the Saxo Bank rider with a small fracture in his right hip. Nuyens crashed in the stage 1 time trial at Paris-Nice Sunday and will take at least two weeks off the bike.

The Daily Distraction.

road.cc: BOA rule a sanction not a selection policy, says man who helped win landmark CAS ruling against IOC last year.

Hospitalization was not due to banned substances, Gazet van Antwerpen reports; wider investigation continues, however.

InnerRing: This is a “novelty” ring tone and it could prove annoying to non-cyclists. Don’t blame me if someone chucks your phone out of a window.

CyclingNews: Colnago have launched their first ever disc brake equipped road bike, the C59 Disc. Based on their popular top end C59 frameset, Colnago say the C59 Disc has been redesigned to accommodate the different loading forces that disc brakes generate on the fork and seat stays.

Motorola MOTOACTV GPS Watch BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Simple alternative to usual GPS units with decent music player and phone connectivity."

Off The Beaten Path: Every time I ride over railroad and streetcar tracks without undue concern or special precaution, I wonder what is going on when people crash on railroad tracks. I believe there are several mechanisms at work.

road.cc: Film from sponsor made at Mallorca training camp also features Wiggo and Froome plus new signings Eisel and Porte.

PEZ: The North American Handmade Bicycle Show came to Sacramento for the first time since the initial event in Houston in 2005. Starting with only 23 exhibitors and about 700 attendees, NAHBS quickly grew to 172 exhibitors and about 7300 attendees in 2011.

VeloNews: Not everything at NAHBS is flash, bright colors and exotic parts. Many of the most beautiful handmade items are easy to miss. Slowing down and looking carefully can go a long way. While many try to woo show goers and journalists with whiz-bang bikes, others whisper quietly about their wares.

road.cc: Skull cap with a water and wind resistant band to keep your forehead warm and dry; a bargain price.

CyclingTips: Corsa dei Due Mari; Sanremo training and odds; Wiggo in control; Serpa wins Langkawil; Cancellara fires warning shot in Siena; McEwen wins crate; Tour lengthens time trials; Paris-Roubaix organiser faces more problems; Miss Ciclismo 2012.

VeloNation: Italian sprinter says he’s still fit and can succeed in his aims.

VeloNews: One of my favorite indoor workouts as a cyclocross rider is to get on Youtube and put on a one hour ‘cross race, like a Euro World Cup. Inside Ride rollers are perfect for this.