CyclingFans: Saturday's Tour de Romandie Stage 4 departs Bulle at 12:25pm CET (6:25am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sion at around 5:25pm CET (11:25am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingIQ: 2007 Tour de Korea champion and multiple stage winner Sung Baek Park (KSPO) returned to his former glory in style today; taking a decisive stage victory in Yeongju and slipping into the yellow jersey by a lean three seconds over Optum’s Alexander Candelario. Chan Jae Jang, keeper of the leader’s jersey since stage three, now seems to have faded out of contention, after finishing almost two minutes adrift of KSPO’s charismatic star.

VeloNews: As Oscar Clark of United Healthcare prepares for the upcoming Terrapin Twilight Criterium, in Athens Georgia, he’s mostly focused on staying at the top of the USA CRITS Championship Series standings despite the intense competition that routinely shows up for the 32 year-old event. But just a couple weeks ago, this was not something he was even considering.

CyclingNews: Close to the win on stage 2 to Moutier on Thursday, Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) moved onto the top step of the podium today, beating a small group of favourites into Charmey at the Tour of Romandie. The Spaniard secured a ten second time bonus to move within 1 second of race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky), who was unable to respond in the uphill sprint for the line.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
Tour de France - June 30 - July 22 (Stages),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
More...

Peloton: It’s just as well the Tour de France takes place in July and not in April, especially for most of those riders we expect to be battling for the yellow jersey. But with nine weeks remaining before the prologue time trial in Liège, there’s still time for all of the contenders to come to a peak in July—even the recently maligned Schleck brothers.

VeloNation: Controversy in Gran Fondo San Marino.

VeloNation: Frank thoughts on the end of a career.

PodiumCafe: Man, what an exciting Ardennes season. I mean, who could have predicted those races? Except for Fleche Wallone, that is - I think we all knew deep down that Joaquim Rodriguez was going to win that one. At the least, we hedged our hopeful bets by putting money on him too.

CyclingTips: The Cobbled Classics sit between the Semi-Classics and the Ardenne Classics in the professional cycling calendar. They're held in Northern Belgium and feature gruelling cobbled sections of road which create the decisive elements in these races.

CyclingTips: The Spring Classics are a big deal on the Professional Calendar. The way I look at it, the Spring Classics are basically split into three very separate and distinct parts: The Semi-Classics, the Cobbled Classics, and the Ardenne Classics.

CyclingFans: Saturday's Tour of Turkey Stage 7 departs Kusadasi at 12:30pm CET or 6:30am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Izmir at around 3:23pm CET or 9:23am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

CyclingNews: Sacha Modolo (Colnago - CSF Inox) beat Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) to the line to take stage 6 of the Tour of Turkey. Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Konya Torku Seker Spor) retains his overall lead with two stages remaining.

PEZ: Gino Bartali, the great Italian rider of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, would be a legend if it were just for his exploits on the bike. But his career spanned tragedy and triumph for Italy as a whole and Bartali managed to be at the centre of the action.

Cyclelicious: 20 wounded servicemen and women join 65-year-old George W. Bush for a 3 day, 100 km mountain bike ride through Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo Texas.

VeloNews: Newly crowned 2011 Giro d’Italia champion Michele Scarponi – who earned the title in February, when original winner Alberto Contador (SaxoBank) was stripped of the victory by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) for doping – will be Lampre-ISD’s leader at this year’s edition of the Giro in May.

VeloNews: Canadian David Veilleux is enjoying another great season, after his strong rookie year in 2011. He’s racing this week at the Tour of Turkey, and the 24-year-old said he’s really finding his way in the peloton this year.

RedKitePrayer: In the last 10 years a funny thing has happened with saddle design. Saddle shapes have become ever more diverse in an all-consuming quest to improve comfort and decrease the chances that your undercarriage will suffer any negative side effects as a result of logging long and/or frequent miles on a bicycle. As those shapes have evolved (gotten weirder) the number of saddles I can comfortably ride has dropped precipitously. There are whole manufacturers out there whose work I really can’t ride … at all.

road.cc: Fast, grippy and relatively cheap - but keep them for the Sunday best bike.

InnerRing: Ever wondered why the spokes appear to bend in a sprint finish when you see the photo finish image from a race? Are the riders going so fast that they flex the spokes? Or is something else at work?

CyclingNews: The UCI has confirmed that any points Alberto Contador may win the his first two years back from his doping suspension will not count towards his team's ranking in the WorldTour. “That is the rule, and it will be respected,” UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said.

VeloNation: Details to be announced on Tuesday.

VeloNation: Italian confirms payment.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Compact and stiff. A hardcore setup with a fantastic shape."

Bicycling: Our 2012 Readers’ Choice survey turned up some interesting correlations between your bikes of choice and the way you ride.

Cyclismas: Argyle Armada tells the story of a year in the life of pro cycling, as seen through the lens and words of a photographer and writer trailing the Gamin-Cervélo team for parts of the 2011 season.

PodiumInsight: Recently, Jono Coulter, Technical Director, Vanderkitten-Focus, received disappointing news. His team did not receive an invite to the inaugural Exergy Tour.

BikeRumor: The brain child of Ian Schon, an engineering student, and Ryan Kelly of slamthatstem.com, the Slam That Stem headset bearing cover drops the top of your headset down to just 0.075″ (1.9mm) for that low, sporting look while saving a few grams, too.

VeloNation: Alberto Contador, currently sitting out a sporting ban for testing positive for Clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France, has indicated he is close to an agreement to return with the Saxo Bank team when his suspension is lifted on August 5, 2012, and said he is aiming at another Vuelta a España title.