CyclingFans: Saturday's Paris-Nice Stage 7 departs Sisteron at 12:00pm CET (6:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Nice at around 5:44pm CET (11:44am U.S. Eastern).  Paris-Nice live streaming video should get underway at around 4:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern).

PodiumInsight: Neben who races for the Specialized-lululemon trade team clocked 26:60.096 on the out-and-back 20km course besting Shaw, of Exergy Twenty12, who posted 27:47.38. Brazil’s Clemencia Da Silva with a time of 27:67.000.

PodiumInsight: Ben Jacques-Maynes has been through the worst year of his life with serious complications including a bone infection hitting one after another following his broken collarbone at the 2011 Amgen Tour of California. He’s still recuperating and fighting stomach issues brought about by the massive and long antibiotics regimen.

InnerRing: Luis Leon Sanchez and Jens Voigt throw their bikes at the finish line but Sanchez was the faster finisher whilst Voigt faded in the last 20 meters.

VeloNation: Powerful breakaway pair holds off a determined peloton in Sisteron.

CyclingNews: Ivan Basso of Liquigas-Cannondale has had to give in to injuries resulting from a crash in the second stage of Paris-Nice. He abandoned the race after 100km in Friday's sixth stage.

Paris - Nice (Stages & results),
Tirreno-Adriatico (Stages & results),
Dwars door Drenthe (Results),
Drentse 8 (Results),
Merco Cycling Classic (Stages & results),
Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen (Stages & results),
Strade Bianche (Results),
Amgen Tour of California (Stages ),
More...

road.cc: World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry meeting in Taipei this morning discussed how best to move forward.

VeloNews: Without a season victory, Team RadioShack-Nissan-Trek looked to score our first win at Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen (Three Days of West Flanders), where, in 2011, Jesse Sergent led the team in a full sweep of the podium.

BikeRadar: Giant TCR Advanced 3 BikeRadar verdict 4.5 out of 5 stars. "One of the most exciting yet confidence-inspiring bikes at this price."

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: The Optrix HD allows my safety blanket to double as an HD POV camera. By placing my device in the sturdy, well designed case, not only is it extremely well protected, but it shoots video that far exceeds the quality of my Go Pro HD.

Bicycling: How to shed those last, stubborn five pounds—without hindering performance.

Bicycling: After a difficult ride, I usually reach for a nice cold one: a recovery drink, that is. But once the protein and electrolyte blast has helped me stand upright again, I move on to more interesting beverages. A post-ride beer is certainly a good way to go, but wine’s refreshment value—the French even have a term for it: vin de soif, or thirst-quenching wines—too often goes underappreciated.

CyclingFans: Saturday's Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 4 departs Amelia at 9:30am CET (3:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Chieti at around 4:18pm CET (10:18am U.S. Eastern). Tirreno-Adriatico live streaming video should get underway at around 2:40pm CET (8:40am U.S. Eastern) with English feeds starting around 3:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Follow all of the action with live streaming video on Cyclingnews.com. Grid qualifiers take place on Friday at 7PM eastern standard time. For race day, the pre-race broadcast will begin at 6PM, eastern standard time, with the women's race beginning at 7PM and the men at 8:15PM.

CyclingWeekly: The BOA versus WADA hearing will take place at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday, potentially freeing David Millar to race at the Olympics.

CyclingNews: Edvald Boassan Hagen had the fastest legs in Tirreno-Adriatico, taking the win after a long sprint to bring in Team Sky's second consecutive sprint victory in two days.

CyclingNews: Organisers of Tirreno-Adriatico announced this afternoon that route of stage 5 will be altered due to "hazardous weather conditions". The stage from Amelia to Chieti will skip the Passo Lanciano, and the planned king of the mountain points will instead take place at the climb of Valico della Forchetta at kilometer 212.

IrishPeloton: Since the last Italian victory at the Tour of Lombardy, by Damiano Cunego in 2008, the race has been won twice by Phillipe Gilbert of Belgium and most recently by Zaugg of Switzerland. Three barren years without an Italian victory in their own race is compounded by the fact that the last three winners of their other monument, Milan-San Remo, have been an Aussie, a Spaniard and a Brit.

CyclingIQ: From 10-16 March, the parcours tracks the west coast of Taiwan; from Taipei in the north, to Kaohsiung in the south. Amongst the 17 participating professional teams will be ProTeam squad Saxo Bank, and last week’s winning Tour de Langkawi team, Androni Giocattoli, from Italy.

Wilcockson@peloton: Should there be equal prize money for women? Should every UCI ProTeam be obliged to sponsor a women’s squad too? Should all UCI WorldTour events add a women’s race to their roster, as the Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne have done? And should women pros be guaranteed a minimum wage?

VeloNews: Breakout Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) had enough in the tank last weekend, stopping the clock in 27th place in the final-stage individual time trial, to fend off Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (Endura) and win the Vuelta a Murcia by six seconds. In the process, the 22-year-old showed he may be the strongest of a young generation of Colombian stars.

RedKitePrayer: An etiquette question this week: Is it ok to draft other cyclists without asking permission? Is it incumbent on the passing rider to declare whether or not it’s ok to draft? If you’re on a popular route do you relinquish your right to ride alone? And at what point is it too late to talk it over?

PodiumCafe: Waddington's writing is a curious mix of the earthy and the lyrical which sucks you along and through his surreal story. And after reading it you'll never view crocuses in the same way.

BikeRumor: Spotted at the Mellow Johnny’s Classic this past weekend under Cannondale Factory Racing rider Jeremiah Bishop were perhaps some new 29er wheels from Mavic.

CyclingNews: Dispute blows up over colour and capitalisation of word 'Euskadi' on team's kit.

The Daily Distraction.

VeloNation: RadioShack Nissan said to be involved, other names yet to emerge.<

Cyclismas: Following the conclusions of the Ullrich and Contador appeals heard before the CAS, another case is pending which will have significant implications in cycling’s anti-doping efforts – that of Alex Rasmussen. While this case has garnered far less media coverage than the aforementioned two, Rasmussen’s is the case which will – in my opinion – ultimately decide the true integrity of cycling.

NeilBrowne: “I’m going to go back (to the Tour de France) for Bicycling Magazine,” said Frankie. “It will be James (Startt) and I again. I had a lot of fun doing it because it was a lot more relaxed and I had a lot more freedom to talk and discuss about whatever topics we wanted.”

CyclingNews: The Tour de Pologne is to include more climbing, and be generally harder in 2012 with race organiser Czeslaw Lang revealing several key details of this year's course to whet the appetite of fans and riders before the full route is announced early next month. Lang says the course will keep much of its 'familiar balance', but responding to claims from riders of the race being too easy, has been toughened things up this year.

“I was ill all day and kept vomiting,” said Cavendish. “With 50 kilometers left I still didn’t feel marvelous, but just kept going and was kept out of trouble all the time [by the team].”

Today's Quote

“For drugs such as HGH and EPO, the window for using them is in the preparation phase, not actually during the Games. The testing during the Games is a fantastic deterrent but it's a pretty stupid athlete who would be using drugs during the Games.” -  David Millar  VeloNation

When you sign a pro contract virtually before you’ve turned a pedal as a stagiare, you know that your results are already talking for you. Twenty-year-old Swedish talent Tobias Ludvigsson had already enjoyed a stellar season before getting the call to join what was then Skil-Shimano.

road.cc: Sub-750g frame set for September release.

BikeRadar: Generally speaking, ergonomics of modern-day brake and shift levers are pretty good, offering reliable and consistent fingertip control of all the major functions. But if you step back and think about it a bit, it oftentimes doesn't make sense to leave those surfaces with a smooth, glossy – and nearly grip-free – finish.

BikeRumor: MSRP will be $210 without optics, $299 with. Non-team color options won’t be introduced until July, and availability is pegged at spring 2013. How’s that for advance notice?!?

road.cc: Product highlights from 3T, Ridley, Brompton and more.

BikeRumor: Branding themselves as the complete solution for cyclists, they already offer everything you need to wear from toes to head. Now they’re getting your insides taken care of, too, starting with an energy gel.