Volta a Catalunya: Valverde wins in Olot.

Movistar went one-two in the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya stage 2 bunch sprint with Alejandro Valverde taking the victory ahead of his teammate Jose Rojas on the streets of Olot. IAM Cycling’s Martin Elmiger secured third place on the day.

Stage 2 brought the peloton a 191.8 kilometers from Mataro to Olot, held under rainy and overcast conditions. A breakaway of four, that included Sam Bewley, Luis Mas Bonet, Tom Stamsnijder and Tsgabu Grmay, held a 2:55-minute lead with 55km to go.

Philadelphia Cycling Classic announces women’s teams for World Cup.

Organizers of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, G4 Productions, have announced the 17 teams invited to participate in the women’s World Cup on June 7 in Pennsylvania. Two-time defending champion Evelyn Stevens is expected to return with her new Boels-Dolmans team.

Former world champion Giorgia Bronzini and her Wiggle-Honda team are also expected to be on the start line.

It is the first World Cup for women in the US in 14 years, since the 2001 edition of the Liberty Classic. G4 Productions' Robin Morton said in an earlier interview that the the first invitations would go to the top 20 UCI ranked teams from the provisional list at the end of the 2014 season.

Stage 3: Wippert takes a second stage win in Taiwan.

Bevin continues overall race lead.

Bevin triumphs in wet stage to take Taiwan lead.

Avanti Racing's Patrick Bevin won a wet Stage 2 of the Tour de Taiwan to take the race lead from Drapac's Wouter Wippert.

Bevin emerged strongest from a series of climbs at the end of a 137km stage into Taoquan City on Monday, holding off Iran's Hossein Askari in a two-man duel to win by two seconds.

The Tour of Tasmania winner now holds a six second lead over Askari and Mirsamad Poorseyedigolakhour.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - Mar 23-29 (Stages & Results),

Tour de Taiwan - Mar 21-25 (Stages & Results),

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),

Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results),

Nokere Koerse - Mar 18 (Results),

Tirreno-Adriatico - Mar 11-17 (Results),

Paris Nice - Mar 8-15 (Results),

Le Tour de Langkawi - Mar 8-15 (Results),

Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen - Mar 6-8 (Results),

Strade Bianche - Mar 7 (Results),

Strade Bianche Women - Mar 7 (Results),

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

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

More ...

Farrar ready for revenge in Dwars door Vlaanderen.

It's back to the Belgian classics this week for MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung as the boys start the Dwars Door Vlaanderen on Wednesday.

At 200km in length and ranked as a UCI 1.HC event, the race is more than just a precursor to the upcoming World Tour E3 Harelbeke this weekend.

Preview ...

Dwars Door Vlaanderen 2015 Live Dashboard ...

2015 Dwars door Vlaanderen LIVE.

2015 Dwars door Vlaanderen LIVE Wednesday March 25.

Race starts at 11:45am CET (6:45am U.S. Eastern).

Finish at around 4:36pm CET (11:36am U.S. Eastern).

Live video from 2:15pm CET (9:15am U.S. Eastern, 6:15am Pacific).

Volta a Catalunya 2015 Live.

Stage 3 start time: Wednesday 13:10 CET (5:10 AM PST.

Approximate finish: 16:53 CET (8:53 AM PST).

Volta a Catalunya live streaming video is scheduled to get underway by around 3:30pm CET (10:30am U.S. Eastern, 7:30am Pacific).

Paterski claims Volta a Catalunya stage win.

Maciej Paterski won the opening stage of the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya from a three-man sprint ahead of his breakaway companions Pierre Rolland in second and Bart de Clercq, who crossed the line two seconds back in third place.

De Clercq was the first to start the sprint and opened a small lead but it was quickly shut down by Paterski, who then used the Belgian as a lead-out in the final few hundred metres. Rolland was the next to jump from third wheel, however, Paterski sensed the move and initiated his own winning sprint to the line..

Who Will Put a Volt into the Volta?

Next up in the endless array of Spanish one-week races, it's the turn of flashy Catalunya, artistic, political and footballing hotbed, home to Barcelona and Girona, and a pretty decent supply of mountains. Oh, and World Tour points.

Andreu celebrates victory despite life being ‘destroyed’.

Betsy Andreu, one of the first people to attest that Lance Armstrong took banned substances, told AFP that despite him destroying her life she felt like she had won by testifying to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Tuesday.

Andreu, wife of former Armstrong teammate and fellow doper Frankie Andreu, added that because of her and her husband being among the few people to testify about Armstrong and doping in the sport, they were still not welcome in the American cycling fraternity.

“He [Armstrong] destroyed my entire life, and during 10 years he tried to destroy my reputation,” she told AFP after speaking in front of WADA members at a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“But the truth has emerged and it’s a victory for me to be here today and to talk to WADA’s members,” added Andreu, who has been subjected to years of pressure by Armstrong and his inner circle.

UCI lifts Dr Zorzoli suspension after CIRC clears him of wrongdoing.

Cycling’s governing body, the UCI, has reinstated Dr Mario Zorzoli as their doctor and scientific advisor after the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) found no evidence linking him to covering up doping.

Dr Zorzoli was suspended by the UCI in late January when he was accused by former rider Michael Rasmussen of being aware of the doping within the Rabobank team conducted under Dr Geert Leinders.

Oleg Tinkov’s Dream Team Nightmare.

Tinkoff-Saxo team manager Bjarne Riis has been suspended by Oleg Tinkov. It’s hard to see the Dane coming back from this, in fact he’ll probably be delighted to pedal off into the sunset, his panniers loaded with Euros.

Yet it’s far more than a clash between two men, this is the story of the whole team, Alberto Contador included, and there are lessons for the sport as a whole.

Oleg Tinkov is neither an oligarch nor a pal of President Putin. Instead he’s a successful businessman who has made billions by copying western business practices and importing them into Russia.

Nibali accused of tax evasion between 2010 and 2011.

Bad news coming from the tax authorities for Vincenzo Nibali. According to Adnkronos, the Sicilian rider would not have declared all incomes between 2010 and 2011. The Astana Pro Team cyclist is owing an amount of 290,000 €.

Because of the very large amount of euros, Nibali would therefore been charged with the tax evasion, but according to the Italian agency, he has already admitted the mistake. He is negotiating the terms with the justice. Nibali should therefore pay (in addition to the sum to him challenged) a fine of 45,000 €.

Bradley Wiggins will not win Paris-Roubaix, says Allan Peiper.

Allan Peiper, the Australian who is now the manager of BMC Racing and who was an accomplished cobbled Classics rider himself, believes Bradley Wiggins has the firepower to perform at the Hell of the North, but told Cycling Weekly that he believed the combined might of the opposition would stop him from doing so.

The race is set to be Wiggins’s final outing for Team Sky.

“I think he’s got what it takes, but no I don’t think he can pull it off,” Peiper said.

Leaner and wiser Porte ready for Giro litmus test.

When Richie Porte arrived at the Tour Down Under in January - three kilograms lighter than the year previous - it was evident beer and Christmas cake had not been part of his off-season diet. The press leaned in as the all-rounder outlined his physically apparent intent for the season, and referenced an increased motivation on the back of a poor 2014 campaign spoiled by confidence-battering illness. 

Porte’s appetite for success is as obvious now as it was then, so too his rigid approach in the lead-up to the Giro d’Italia where he is set to lead Team Sky’s maglia rosa assault.

The 30-year-old tipped the scales at just 59kg at Paris-Nice, which he won for a career second time last week, and rebuked reports published in the French publication L’Equipe that described Sky climbers as “anorexic.”

The defining cobbles, bergs and climbs of the Belgian Classics.

"The Classics are variously adored, feared and eulogized thanks to their tough sections of cobbles. These secteurs pavés can make or break the best laid plans and set champions apart from mere riders.

Here we run through the defining cobbles, bergs and climbs that will likely decide the outcomes of the upcoming Cobbled Classics."

NAHBS 2015: North American Hand Made Bicycle Show.

Venturing a guess that not many bikes were adorned in Solid 18 karate gold hardware and alligator bar skin and saddle.

But look throughout the show floor and not many things on display feature the level of in-house manufacture that Sarto pull off.

The saddle is well done, but they also make their own tube sets and fork (oh, and bottle cages).

And the frame’s details, like the pass through seat tube/split top tube were beyond everything else in carbon at the show.

The First Brevet of the Year.

"There are many different approaches to riding brevets. I enjoy challenging myself to see how fast I can complete the course, in the tradition of the French randonneurs of the mid-20th century. This means that for the first time this year, the clock is ticking."

Report: Riis suspended by Tinkov, could Dane be on his way out of the sport?

Daily Distractions.

Wednesday Legs: He climbs well for his weight.

Are micro-dosing riders poking holes in biological passport?

Anti-doping expert Robin Parisotto has stated that although clean athletes can now win Grand Tours, the net needs to tighten around the more sophisticated cheats. The detection of patterns that suggest micro-dosing EPO and blood transfusions in some blood profiles continues to cause a major concern within anti-doping circles.

Parisotto also raised questions over how the UCI previously governed the sport, and has concerns that athletes’ biological passport (APB) data may have been shielded under the governing body’s previous leadership.

He finds it surprising that the riders first sanctioned under the passport system in 2009 included no top names. Pointing to the favoritism by the UCI toward Lance Armstrong and Astana, as evidenced in the CIRC report, he makes the uncomfortable suggestion that the anti-doping experts previously weren't getting full access to the UCI's results.

Lance Armstrong may have left attempt to reduce ban too late, says WADA chief.

Lance Armstrong's failure to tell the truth before testifying to the Cycling Independent Reform Committee means his bid to reduce his ban is 'almost too late'.

World anti-doping chief David Howman says Lance Armstrong may have left his bid to get his life ban reduced too late, having had opportunities to tell the truth on many occasions.

But having waited until the UCI set up its Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) to tell his side of the story, Armstrong reportedly did not seize any other opportunities to come forward.

Cavendish: CIRC report is nothing new.

Mark Cavendish has said that he doesn’t think the recent report from the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) has brought anything new to the table. The CIRC spent a year looking into the murky history of the sport and spoke to a number of people from the past and present world of cycling but Cavendish believes much of it was already public knowledge.

“To be brutally honest, I don’t think that there is anything particularly new in there. I think that it is all the shit that’s been out there in the last few years just compiled into one document that gives people something else to talk about the past of cycling like it’s the present,” Cavendish said during a conference call following the announcement he would compete at this year’s Prudential RideLondon.

Contador confirms Catalunya is final race before Giro, pledges to ‘test’ himself and try for GC.

Admitting that the large time deficit he and the other race favorites incurred on the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Monday, Alberto Contador has nevertheless said that he will do his utmost to try to salvage the situation.

Speaking after Tuesday’s second stage, the Spaniard said that he was worried by the two and a half minute-plus buffer that Maciej Paterski, Pierre Rolland and Bart De Clercq opened up on day one.

Learn from the pros: The things they wish they’d known.

"We garner the wisdom of some of cycling’s most experienced racers, coaches, team managers and support staff to discover the things they know now that they wish they’d known at the start of their careers."

Socks: Tips and top picks.

There is something about socks that get cyclists all revved up. A topic that sparks fierce debate on the road and at the coffee shop. The option are endless: short or tall? black or white? solid color or pattern? matching your kit or a unique, bold statement?

There are written rules about socks (yes, really) and unwritten nuances that you must consider when making your sock choice. Height and color are the primary talking points within these guidelines.

Garmin Edge 1010: What we know, what we want.

Your smartphone runs apps from a variety of companies, bringing functionality not provided by the phone itself. What if your cycling computer could do the same thing? Imagine a touchscreen cycling computer with purpose-built apps from Strava or TrainingPeaks.

With the Edge 1000, Garmin merged the best-in-class mapping capabilities of the Edge Touring Plus with the detailed training metrics of the Edge 810.

Based on Garmin’s active recruitment for its Connect IQ platform, we suspect the next iteration, likely dubbed the Edge 1010, will have multiple app interfaces available like a smartphone.

Etixx – Quick-Step launches its own beer.

Everyone knows Belgians love a good beer, so it seems fitting that native team Etixx – Quick-Step has launched its very own beer in conjunction with Belgian brewers, Brewery De Bie.

The beer, named De Bie Vélo, is described as a “traditional, light and flavorful beer” by the team, and will be distributed by Etixx through its fanclub, for VIPs at races as well as being available online via the WorldTour team’s shop.

“Etixx – Quick-Step is a cycling team that stands out for success and innovation,” said team CEO Patrick Lefevere. “But we never forget our Belgian roots and our traditions. We feel that quality and passion is what binds De Bie and Etixx – Quick-Step.”

PEZ: EuroTrash Sanremo Monday!

The CIRC report: A missed opportunity.

There has been considerable comment on the much anticipated CIRC report — and reactions have predictably varied across the spectrum. There seems to be general agreement that, in terms of the first of its three major objectives, the Commission has put together a reasonable historical narrative about doping in the sport.

But there is little information not already well-known to anyone with the interest to plow through the document, and contrary to Brian Cookson’s warning, there really aren’t “a lot of worms” here.