Horner: No surprises with Redlands result.

Chris Horner may own the Redlands Bicycle Classic, as he told Cyclingnews before the season started, but the four-time winner had to lease it out to Phil Gaimon last week as the Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies rider took his second overall win at the Southern California race.

Horner, who won here in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004, finished seventh overall this year, 1:01 behind Gaimon's winning time.

Despite failing to come away with his record fifth win, Horner said there were no surprises with his performance this week at the opening event of USA Cyclng's National Racing Calendar.

Video ...

Haedo and Rivera each grab second stage wins on the final day ...

Mara Abbott, Phil Gaimon win overall at Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Mara Abbott and Phil Gaimon collected the overall titles at the Redlands Bicycle Classic as Coryn Rivera and Sebastian Haedo closed out the National Racing Calendar kickoff with victories in Sunday’s Sunset Road Race.

For Rivera, who pronounced herself “super stoked,” it was a second consecutive sprint win, this time ahead of Brianna Walle and Katherine Hall in the 61.8-mile women’s finale.

It was likewise a second stage win for Haedo, who out-kicked Travis McCabe and Dion Smith at the end of the men’s 94.1-mile race.

In the women’s overall, Abbott took the flowers by 24 seconds over Amber Neben with Allie Dragoo third at 42 seconds.

Gaimon topped the men’s final standings by 24 seconds over Gavin Mannion with Adrien Costa third at 38 seconds.

“It’s great to come back here,” Gaimon said. “I still got it.”

Monumental ...

“I am definitely targeting the world championship” ...

Degenkolb on Roubaix success: “Now was the moment…all or nothing.”

What was likely the vital moment in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix came close to the end when John Degenkolb made an important gamble. Greg Van Avermaet and Yves Lampaert had pushed clear and Degenkolb faced the choice of waiting to see if those in his group would chase, or risking all, digging deep and possibly riding the sprint out of his legs.

He chose the latter and attacked hard, bridging across to the two leaders and then pushing through to work with Van Avermaet to try to keep them clear.

2015 De Brabantse Pijl - La Flèche Brabançonne LIVE.

Wednesday's La Flèche Brabançonne departs Leuven at 12:36pm CET (6:36am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Overijse at around 5:36pm CET (11:36am U.S. Eastern). 

La Flèche Brabançonne live streaming video should get underway at around 3:10pm CET (9:10am U.S. Eastern, 6:10am Pacific).

2014-15 Races & Results.

Paris Roubaix - Apr 12 (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),

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco - Apr 6-11 (Results),

Circuit Cycliste Sarthe - Apr 7-10 (Results),

Scheldeprijs - Apr 8 (Results),

Tour of Flanders - Apr 5 (Results),

GP Miguel Indurain - Apr 4 (Results),

Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde - Mar 31-Apr 2 (Results),

Gent - Wevelgem - Mar 29 (Results),

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

E3 Harelbeke - Mar 27 (Results),

Milan San Remo - Mar 22 (Results),

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

More...

Olaf Ludwig.

Happy birthday to Olaf Ludvig, who was born on this day in 1960.

The German rider is best known for winning the Points Jersey in the Tour de France, and top finishes in the World Championship Road Race championships and the Paris-Roubaix Classic, as well as winning one of the prestigious one-day classics.

Indeed, Ludwig won the Points Jersey in the 1990 Tour de France, while he also finished 3rd in the 1993 World Championship Road Race behind American Lance Armstrong and Miguel Indurain of Spain.

Crowd sourcing campaign to launch revolutionary freehub.

"We previously reported on D-Fix, a revolutionary new freehub design. Responses to our article were very warm, with many people expressing keen interest to buy the product and use it on their own bikes.

The D-Fix rear hub attaches the cassette to the wheel in a different way.

This means that the wheel can be removed separately, leaving the cassette behind. This could be useful for cleaning, maintenance and putting your bike in a car, as it doesn’t leave the chain dragging against the frame. It is also very quick."

Videos ...

Dynamite Degenkolb ...

Takes 7 rider sprint ...

Degenkolb wins Paris Roubaix.

John Degenkolb rode the perfect race to take the 2015 edition of Paris Roubaix in a sprint finish ahead of Zdeněk Štybar and Greg Van Avermaet.

The German sprinter latched onto a dangerous move initiated by Van Avermaet and Yves Lampaert and even after the lead group swelled to eight riders he had more than enough to take his second Monument of the season after winning Milan-San Remo last month.

From Sanremo to Roubaix, Degenkolb makes history.

The Classics Revelations ...

Degenkolb, Kristoff lead peloton’s changing of the guard.

John Degenkolb’s victory at Paris-Roubaix was perhaps more significant than just his historic monument double.

The 26-year-old German rider from Giant-Alpecin added on Sunday the Roubaix title to his Milano-Sanremo success last month, becoming only the third man to win those two prestigious monuments in the same year.

Coming a week after Norwegian Alexander Kristoff’s success at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders), there was a definite feeling of the passing of a baton over the cobbles.

For the last decade, the two major cobbled classics — Roubaix and Flanders — had been dominated by two men: Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara.

Prior to this year, when both missed the two races due to injury, they had won 13 of the last 20 editions of the two one-day classics.

Late problems deflate Roubaix hopes for Sagan, Vanmarcke .

They both came into the spring classics as top favorites. Two weeks later, they’ve both left with nothing.

Peter Sagan and Sep Vanmarcke each lined up in Compiègne with hopes of salvaging their spring campaigns at Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Both rode into the velodrome hoping for more and wondering what had gone wrong.

Sagan looked to be in good position in the final decisive throes of Roubaix. With about 6 kilometers to go, however, Sagan suddenly pulled off the road, threw his bike into a ditch, and was forced to change bikes.

He eventually regained contact with the chase group but was in no position to counter the race-making attacks so deep into the race.

Sagan crossed the line dusty and frustrated, 23rd at 31 seconds back. He was overheard at the velodrome infield speaking to a soigneur, cursing his luck, saying he could not change gears.

Weird and wonderful gear ...

BMC races new GranFondo RBX ...

The bikes and tech of Paris-Roubaix 2015.

Thanks to the UCI’s very strict rules with regards to custom, prototype and once-off equipment, it’s becoming less and less likely that you’ll see crazy and unusual bike set-ups at the start area of Paris-Roubaix.

Now, with the explosion of comfort/sportive road bikes, we are seeing these sorts of frames being piloted by the professionals more and more.

The carbon layups may be different or the wheel bases of the “sportive” bikes may be longer for special team issue frames. But all this is impossible to spot just by looking at bikes with the naked eye.

Tape measures and scales are needed.

10 conclusions ...

Cobbled Classics report card.

"The cobbled Classics are over for another year and while many teams will be able to sit back, content with their performances, many other will be going back to the drawing board.

A win over the cobbles is a remarkable achievement on its own, but several teams have been there and thereabouts in these races without experiencing a visit to the top step of the podium.

Now that all is said and done, we have compiled a school-style report card for each team, based on their performances and some other arbitrary criteria, giving them all a grade between A+ to D."

Spotted: Trek hardtail with decoupled rear end.

Trek Factory Racing mountain bike racers were spotted on a new bike this weekend at round three of the USA Cycling US Cup. They were racing a new hardtail from Trek equipped with the brand’s IsoSpeed decoupler system.

Male team riders as well as Rebecca Henderson, winner of Sunday’s short track were spotted aboard the frame.

Not much is known about the new frame, besides that it’s using a version of Trek’s IsoSpeed decoupler, a system that was first unveiled on Trek’s endurance road bike, the Domane, and then on its carbon cyclocross frame, the Boone.

Based on the photos, it’s hard to tell if the new system is using a Boost 148 rear hub, but with Trek spearheading the new standard, it would be easy to assume as much.

Specialized and Shimano score multiple wins in BikeRadar reader voting.

The website's readers voted on their most wanted products in several road and mountain bike categories, choosing from a six nominees chosen by the site's editors in each category.

The editors chose the nominees based on their experience with the products and measured reader interest.

“The great thing about the Most Wanted Awards is how it reflects global demand for product,” said BikeRadar's U.S. editor in chief, Ben Delaney. “In the past month alone we’ve had more than 2.6 million readers on BikeRadar, from the U.K. and the U.S. to Germany and France to Singapore and Japan.”

Fit for the fight.

"This winter, we started a club of rookie women. We called it Women Bike PHL Devo. The objective of the program was to turn bike riders into bike racers in eight weeks.

Women’s bike commuting was exploding in Philadelphia thanks to a new bicycle coalition program, but road riding and racing weren’t seeing the same gains.

Last summer, a dozen local women took turns leading a six-week, 100-person road skills clinic and were blown away by the talent and spirit of the women who attended.

It left everyone hungry for more. Forty percent of the women at the skills clinic said they were interested in racing — but few were making the jump."

Daily Distractions.

PEZ: EuroTrash Degenkolb Monday!

Steve Tilford: 1st Gravel Road Race Under the Belt.

BikeSnobNYC: Purple Prose Is The New Purple Anodization.

Alps&Andes: Axe body spray, Charlie Parker, and the napping habits of a pro.

Greg Norman: "Lance Armstrong as 'a frigging disgrace' for putting 'black eye' on cycling."

DCR: 5 Random Things.

RKP: A Conversation With Richard Bryne, Part I.

AeroGeeks: WiR – Ride Safe.

Video: How the Race was Won. Paris-Roubaix.

Video: Gorge Roubaix Gravel Grinder.

Video: ‘Who’s the best classics rider of all-time?’.

Video: Behind the scenes of Paris-Roubaix with Team Sky.

Photos: Technical preparation for Paris Roubaix.

Photos: Paris Roubaix tire tech.

Video: Innovative ‘bike’ that has smashed its Kickstarter target.

Cycling Tips: Daily News Digest.

Incident Intensifies ...

Cycling world sounds off ...

Seeks investigation of “irresponsible” riders ...

French railway seeks legal action against Roubaix riders.

The French state railway company on Monday demanded police action against “irresponsible” Paris-Roubaix riders who breached a safety barrier seconds before a high-speed train hurtled by.

The SNCF company made an official complaint to French prosecutors, saying the action in Sunday’s prestigious race had risked a deadly tragedy.

The last of the riders went through the barrier in northern France about eight seconds before the TGV train arrived at the Waller crossing, 87 kilometers from the end of the race dubbed “Hell of the North.”

One rider from Lotto-Soudal was clipped by a barrier as it came down.

John Degenkolb, winner of the race made famous for its 27 sections of bone-jarring cobbled roads, was among the group of riders who went through the barrier as it closed. Race organizers said it had not been possible for the leaders to stop in time.

Cadel Evans: Porte deserves leadership role at Giro d'Italia.

Cadel Evans believes Richie Porte has earned his role as Team Sky's leader for Giro d’Italia and that the fellow Australian deserves to start as one of the favorites.

The one concern that the retired 2011 Tour de France champion has of what 30-year-old Porte can do in the Giro is if he will have enough in the tank after a solid five months racing block, preceded by a long and hard pre-season of training.

Speaking to Cyclingnews after he attended the Tour of Flanders for the first time – as a spectator and rider – Evans otherwise had nothing but praise for Porte.

How To: Talk like a cyclist.

"There I was, wide-eyed and eager, riding with a bunch of mates out to the Dandenongs when my riding partner said to me: “Will you quit half-wheeling?” And I had absolutely no idea what it was I needed to stop doing.

And thus begun was my introduction to what can seem like the ever-so-mysterious cycling lingo to the uninitiated.

I asked for the definition of “half-wheeling” and learned that this very, very annoying action is riding about a half-wheel ahead of the person next you. It’s a bunch riding faux-pas of which I’m still guilty of on occasion."

Next generation of its VIRB ...

Garmin announces new VIRB X and VIRB XE action cams.

Today, Garmin announced two new action cameras – the next in their VIRB action cam lineup.  These two cameras continue in the footsteps of the Garmin’s first generation cameras by focusing heavily on sensor data and internal metrics that can be added to your videos.

"Let’s cut right to the chase and get straight into the new and notable features within the VIRB X & XE series.  I should note that the two versions are $299 (VIRB X) and $399 (VIRB XE). 

The main difference between the two models is the recording resolution/frame rates, but I’ll get into that later in the comparison tables. 

I asked what the ‘X’ stood for, and essentially it’s being used as the environment variable (as in: You’ll get “x” data).  The ‘E’ in XE stands for Elite."

Niner Launches New RLT 9 Steel Frameset.

"If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase “steel is real”, someone from the Fortune 500 would be doing my cat sitting.

But, surely there must be some truth to it, because, despite the fact that the “magic cloth” called carbon fiber has dominated the cycling market, not only has steel endured –  it’s still the material of choice for many riders.

Niner certainly thinks so, with the launch of its new Reynolds 853 RLT steel frameset."

BikeAid Mobile App Offers Global Bike Shop Listings.

The New Zealand developer, BikeAid, is a new app that helps cyclists find bike stores – globally.

The app acts as a locator that contains information for literally thousands of bike stores across the world.

According to BikeAid, it helps cyclists find the closest stores based on their current location, complete with directions.

The app already has store listings from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., Canada, U.K. and South Africa, with more stores and locations being added weekly.

The Moto: A hectic day at Paris-Roubaix.

King of the Mountain: From genocide to a cycling team in Rwanda.

Steve Tilford: Haven’t Raced for Awhile.

Twisted Spoke: Degenkolb takes high speed Paris-Roubaix.

Ted King: Paris Roubaix 2015 recon.

Video: Peter Sagan throws his bike..

Videos: 2015 Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Cycling Tips: Daily News Digest.

The Influence Peddler: How Lance Armstrong Duped the Mighty.

The guests of Senator John F. Kerry arrived at the upscale restaurant in Nantucket on an August evening in 2008, joined together for a private dinner after the Pan-Mass Challenge, a bike-a-thon benefiting the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

An avid cyclist who had beaten prostate cancer, Kerry welcomed friends and the sport’s elite, including Greg LeMond and his wife, Kathy, along with Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy.

The restaurant staff set up the party of 10 on the beach at a table covered in linens. It was sunset, a breeze tuned a perfect temperature and the conversation flowed. But inside any cycling circle, you can make a parlor game out of betting on a person to raise the name of Lance Armstrong. Betsy, even odds.