Tuesday's Volta a Catalunya Stage 2 departs Girona at 1:10pm CET (8:10am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Girona at around 5:00pm CET (12:00pm U.S. Eastern). Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:45pm CET (10:45am U.S. Eastern).

PodiumCafe: This week's first taste of cobbled classicdom comes with the traditional Vlaamse Wielerweek opener and tragically misnamed Dwars door Vlaanderen, a/k/a straight across Flanders. This year's hopelessly meandering route will nonetheless take in a wee bit more pain than the standard Dwars route and provide an excellent place to test the Ronde van Vlaanderen form. And if you're not clear on that point, recall that last year's Dwars winner was... Nick Nuyens.

EuroSport: Michael Albasini continued GreenEdge's impressive form in 2012 with victory in the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya.

Volta a Catalunya March 19-25 (Stages & results),
Milan-San Remo - March 17 (Results),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #1 March 16-18 (Races & results),
Vuelta Mexico March 18-28 (Stages & results),
San Dimas Stage Race March 16-18 (Stages & results),
Oceania Cycling Championships March 16-18 (Stages & results),
Nokere-Koerse - March 14 (Results),
Paris - Nice March 4-11 (Stages & results),
Tirreno-Adriatico - March 7-13 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages ),
More...

CyclingNews: Uruguay rider becomes first race leader.

VeloNews: If cycling (or any other sporting code, for that matter) were to adjudge the winner based on brawn alone, the majority of you would, before too long, stop watching. Sport, at its most rudimentary, is a game. Strength, strategy, on-the-spot decision making, cunning and awareness all form part of that je ne sais quoi that make ‘the game’ so alluring and absorbing.

Roadside Report: "The plan of Milan Sanremo is always the same - enjoy as much as possible. It’s the race of my dreams and what I find very difficult to explain is the fact the morning of any Sanremo I feel excited but also little bit sad. Why? Because I know in few hours that it will be over, and I will have to wait another year to get the same excitement!"

Crew-neck semi-fitted T with contrast colored stiching detail. Finely printed T shirt front, rear, and sleeve, and '10 commandments of spin' badge. Cotton elastane single jersey, enzyme-washed for that super-soft, worn feel.

road.cc: Two minutes thirty five seconds of fun from the UK distributor of Reynolds Wheels.

CXMagazine: It seems like only yesterday that riders left from Boston en route to Washington, DC. In reality, the riders have been going for three days and covered over 350 miles. Thanks to the group’s leader, ride organizer, poster-boy for the Ride on Washington, and six-time National Champion in cyclocross, Tim Johnson, morale has stayed high, even with a cold and rainy first day and a long haul from Hartford to New York (over 135 miles) on the second day.

With NAHBS just behind us, we saw some pretty darn lightweight road bikes, particularly the Crumpton and Rob English models. And both weighed in lighter than the Dimar Kinetic-One C780, which is also a full custom bike, making the “production” part of the claim a bit different than, say, the Cannondales, BH’s and Cervelos we’ve seen.

road.cc: Join us in a trawl of the weird world of unknown brands and OEMs.

"I have a little bit of a break period," Horner told Cyclingnews. "I have a little problem behind the knee that I'm resting up. It's just a tendon below the hamstring that was sore from Tirreno-Adriatico. I'm waiting for that to heal. That will give me a week's rest that I wasn't planning."

Following the disbanding of the 2011 UCI Colavita/Forno d'Asolo team last year, Colavita, one of the longest-running sponsors of women's cycling in the USA, has announced it will continue with a small elite team in 2012 with sports broadcaster ESPN as a co-sponsor.

The Women’s Prestige Cycling Series is back for 2012 and with defending champion Erinne Willock taking a year away from the sport, the series is wide open. The WPCS will comprise three events this season and will open with the Redlands Bicycle Classic this week.

VeloNation: American Omega Pharma-Quick Step racing in Spain to build form for his home race in May.

road.cc: An Ultegra Di2-equipped road bike for under two grand.

road.cc: Fabian's Trek Madone, Oscar's Canyon Aeroad, Boonen's Specialized Mclaren Venge & Cav's Pinarello Dogma 3.

CXMagazine: Ever wonder how to fuel during a long ride without getting bored, or worse, getting the dreaded “gut-rot” (cyclocrossers might know it as “cross-rot,” but the principal is the same).

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "Beautiful quality tools that form a good base for your ultimate tool kit."

BikeRumor: Calfee always has a few nice items in their booth, but this year they pulled out all the stops. While tandems may not be your thing, they had THREE of them, all with some incredibly cool tech that could be built onto just about any of their bikes. Beyond that, they’ve expanded their set of internal Di2 offerings and updated the PowerPost seatpost/battery combo with an external charging port.

BikeRumor: Alchemy’s carbon road bikes have one of the stealthiest matte finishes of any of the bikes we’ve seen. Their paints use zero paint, with only a gloss finish for their logo. The Aero Road bike above isn’t new since last year, but they did disclose that their tubes are made by ENVE Composites (from Alchemy’s molds, last year they only said they were “U.S. made”). Despite the aero shaping, all of their frames are full custom sizes and geometries to suit the rider.

The Daily Distraction.

VeloNation: Seven wildcards awarded to Professional Continental teams for WorldTour race.

CyclingNews: Spanish police have arrested a Colombian doctor and charged him with doping offences as a result of information given by a Spanish ex-pro, allegedly supplied with a doping product by the doctor in question. Alberto Beltrán Niño, who has worked with a number of professional teams over the past decade, including Selle Italia, Kaiku, LA Liberty Seguros and Xacobeo-Galicia, was arrested on March 8 at Madrid’s Barajas airport as he was about to board a flight to Colombia.

InnerRing: We’re now in a second phase of the calendar now that the early season races are done and Milan-Sanremo is over. It is early to count the team wins but the data are worth a quick look.

Today's Quote

“I’m far from being the best climber, far from being the best sprinter, far from being the strongest guy on the road… You become more tactically astute from not being the strongest guy there, so you really have to learn how to race, and learn how to be clever to win the races. You’ve got to learn tactics.” - Simon Gerrans CycleSport

VeloNation: Milan-Sanremo faller expected back in action next month.

RedKitePrayer: Because it’s held on a Saturday, Milan-San Remo affords us the luxury of discussing the race on Sunday’s group ride. For fans of a sport unfamiliar to most Americans, this is a distinct pleasure as it gives us an opportunity to play Sunday Morning Quarterback with people who actually know what they’re talking about.

VeloNews: Cycling has gone global — but which nations have benefited most?

BicycleRetailer: Spanish helmet manufacturer Catlike is going direct in the U.S. It recently opened an office and warehouse in Virginia and is building up an independent rep force as it looks to grow its helmet sales.

Chilean Cycling's plans for the London 2012 Olympics have been thrown into disarray with the news that star rider Luis Mansilla tested positive for EPO after stage five of the 2012 Tour of Chile last January. The shock news comes more than two months after the race, where Mansilla won two stages.