Astana license decision expected in days.

An International Cycling Union (UCI) commission is expected to rule this week on whether the doping-tainted Astana team should be stripped of its license, Brian Cookson said Monday.

If Astana loses, star rider Vincenzo Nibali could forfeit the right to defend his Tour de France title.

“I am expecting a decision this week, I am hoping so. I don’t have a final date, but the sooner the better,” Cookson told AFP on the sidelines of the SportAccord convention in Sochi, Russia.

Astana could appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but legal officials have said Astana would not automatically have the right to carry on racing while the tribunal comes to a decision..

Giro del Trentino 2015 Live Dashboard.

Stage 1 start time: Tuesday 15:15 CET (6:15 AM PST).

Earliest live video: No live video; Text updates only.

Approximate finish: 16:20 CET (7:20 AM PST).

Who is Alexander Kristoff? The most successful rider of 2015 profiled.

Some reacted like he had just burst forth onto the scene with his three stages plus the overall in the Three Days of De Panne, the Tour of Flanders and Scheldeprijs, but in truth Alexander Kristoff has been a pot slowly coming to the boil for several seasons.

Now 27 years old and with an impressive eleven victories thus far this year, the Norwegian is someone who has made steady progress since turning pro with the BMC Racing Team in 2010.

While his time at that squad was relatively quiet, he did show early promise with results such as third in the 2010 Philadelphia International Championship and victory in the 2011 national road race championships ahead of Vegard Laengen plus Thor Hushovd.

With second at Amstel Gold, Valverde confident for remaining Ardennes races.

Perhaps Alejandro Valverde will never win the Amstel Gold Race. It’s not for trying. And for the third time in his career, he was on the final podium Sunday, behind a superb Michal Kwiatkowski, who relegated Spain’s “Green Bullet” to second in the Dutch classic.

“I couldn’t ask for a better result than second,” Valverde said Sunday after the second Amstel Gold Race runner-up finish of his career. “It’s a more open finish than right at the top of the Cauberg, with a field sprint like today. We did everything we could.”

The 34-year-old Spaniard confirmed yet again he is one of the most consistent performers across the hilly classics in Belgium and the Netherlands. Sunday’s podium was his 11th top-3 in the Ardennes of his career.

Michael Woods: Calming the emotional roller coaster at Redlands Bicycle Classic.

"Dude, calm down," said my team director, Jonas Carney, as I hobbled into the pit of the Redlands Bicycle Classic Criterium. I was angry.

Only minutes earlier I had consumed a Clif caffeinated gel, and its effects were kicking in right when I had originally hoped. This shot of caffeine, combined with the onset of adrenaline from racing an NRC level crit was supposed to propel me to a strong finish.

However, the concoction of caffeine and adrenaline, when mixed with the nausea brought on from slamming into a steel barrier at 30km/h, instead resulted in all my rational thoughts crawling into the most remote spaces of my brain.

"Where the f_*!k is Phil" I yelled, as I held my left side and grimaced from what felt like I had just been Shorykened by Ryu from Street Fighter. "Dude, you need to calm down," Jonas said.

"Ok," I said, and looked down at my pinky finger, which had a piece of skin dangling from its side, and then said, "I think I am going to puke."

Start List ...

La Flèche Wallonne Femmes 2015.

La Fléche Wallonne Femmes is round four of the UCI Women’s Road World Cup and the last round in Europe for a few months as the competition heads to China and the USA.

Held on the same day as the men’s edition of the race, La Fléche Wallone Femmes is one of the biggest one day races on the women’s cycling calendar, attracting huge crowds, cheering on the riders on the two ascents of the infamous Mur de Huy.

To spice things up, the race organizers have added a punchy climb just five kilometers from the finish which could change the approach of those who don’t want to leave it to the final meters up the Mur de Huy.

Greg LeMond’s five greatest wins.

Greg LeMond’s favorite career moment is probably one that few people actually witnessed. Aged 18, LeMond stormed onto the world scene at the Junior World Championships in Argentina, medalling in three disciplines on both road and track.

“I got three medals in Argentina,” said LeMond. “I got a bronze medal in the team time trial and a silver on the track, despite having not ridden a pursuit for years! Then I won the road race.”

The win marked the American’s readiness to enter the professional ranks and, courted by Bernard Hinault and coach Cyrille Guimard, he joined the Renault team in 1981.

2014-15 Races & Results.

Giro del Trentino - Apr 21-24 (Start List),

La Flèche Wallonne - Apr 22 (History),

Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey - Apr 26-May 3 (History),

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),

Amstel Gold Race - Apr 19 (Results),

De Brabantse Pijl - Apr 15 (Results),

Paris Roubaix - Apr 12 (Results),

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).

More...

Is this the best bike race you’ve never heard of?

Here is a professional bike race that feels a little bit like it doesn’t belong in this world.

The 200km route zooms up hills, along windswept coasts, through the grounds of deserted castles and into dark passages that tunnel under motorways like rabbit burrows.

It takes place the weekend after Paris-Roubaix and is run over off-road sectors through farmland in the far west of France.

There are farm animals aplenty – although these are reserved for the podium – and the publicity poster features a cartoon of the previous year’s winner, drawn by the organizer.

Preview ...

La Flèche Wallonne 2015 Live Dashboard ...

2015 Fleche Wallonne LIVE.

Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne departs Waremme at 11:30am CET (5:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Huy at around 4:51pm CET (10:51am U.S. Eastern). 

Fleche Wallonne live streaming video is scheduled to get underway from around 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern, 5:00am Pacific).

2015 Tour of Croatia LIVE streaming.

Wednesday's Stage 1 starts at -- CET (-- U.S. Eastern). Finish at around -- CET (-- U.S. Eastern)

Live video from -- CET (-- U.S. Eastern)...

Tour de Yorkshire 2015 Live Dashboard ...

2015 Tour de Yorkshire LIVE video stream.

Friday's Stage 1 starts at -- BST (-- U.S. Eastern). Finish at around -- BST (-- U.S. Eastern).

Live video from -- BST (-- U.S. Eastern).

Videos ...

Experience pays off ...

Sprints to first victory in rainbow jersey ...

Kwiatkowski wins Amstel Gold Race.

Michał Kwiatkowski claimed his first road race win as World champion with a perfectly executed sprint at Amstel Gold Race.

The Pole was briefly distanced on the final ascent of the Cauberg by defending champion Philippe Gilbert and sprinter Michael Matthews but the Etixx-QuickStep rider latched back with several other riders, including Alejandro Valverde as the group crested the climb.

BMC led out, then Sky made a move on the right and Matthews was in a good position but Kwiatkowski came from a long way back, and took the win by over a bike length. It looks like Valverde was second.

Felt Bicycles Revamps Carbon Cyclocross Bikes with TeXtreme.

At the 2015 Sea Otter Classic, we got a first look at the brand-new 2016 cyclocross bikes unveiled by Felt Bicycles.

Verbruggen's letter speaks for itself, says Cookson.

Brian Cookson said that he will not enter into public debate with former incumbent Hein Verbruggen, who wrote a 3,350-word letter to the UCI Management Committee in which he dismissed Cookson’s request for him to step down from his position as honorary president.

“I think Mr Verbruggen's letter speaks for itself. Those who have read the CIRC report will understand where the UCI went wrong in the past, including the conflicts it needlessly got into and which seriously damaged its credibility.

I was elected to change the way the UCI conducts itself and I won't be drawn into this kind of public conflict.”

All US domestic teams will get automatic invitation to Worlds TTT.

All US Continental teams and women's pro teams will receive an automatic invitation to the Team Time Trial World Championships this September in Richmond, Virginia, rather than having to qualify via UCI rankings, organizers of the race confirmed to Cyclingnews this week.

Although all 17 WorldTour trade teams are compelled to compete in the team time trial, previously only the top 20 teams in the UCI Europe Tour rankings, the top five from the America and Asia tours, and the leaders of the Africa and Oceana tours would have qualified for the event.

The team time trial is the only world championship event that is contested by trade teams rather than national teams.

North American wrap: Stetina back in the US, Virtual ride with Voigt.

After a marathon journey from Bilbao, Spain to Salt Lake City, Utah, Peter Stetina is back on US soil and ready to start the process of recovering from a shattered kneecap, broken tibia and four cracked ribs sustained in a crash in the opening stage of the Volta al Pais Vasco earlier this month.

The BMC rider spent 11 nights in the hospital after the crash, including surgery to repair the breaks, and will now be evaluated by the team's medical staff in Utah before launching into rehab.

Porte is favorite ...

The road to the Giro starts in Trentino.

The Giro d'Italia is three weeks away and for the contenders the true sharpening of the form starts now. Before we get on the startline in Sanremo May 9 there are two major stageraces that will give us an idea of what kind of Giro to expect.

The Tour of Romandy and first of all the Giro del Trentino that is emerging as a true warmup for the climbers about to tackle the first Grand Tour of the year.

With a short but challenging course in the mountainous Trentino region of northern Italy this is the perfect place to get race ready.

For the Italians it's more than that of course, it's a solid win in itself ,but to the many forign GC contenders lining up it is primarily a way to gauge your form and try yourself against some of the opposition you will be facing in a month.

Tony Martin: Taking Tour de France yellow as important as the Worlds.

When Tony Martin rolls down the start ramp of the Tour de France’s stage one time trial in Utrecht this summer, cycling’s top time triallist of his generation will look to continue the recent run of German success on the opening day of the race.

Marcel Kittel has donned the first yellow jersey at the past two Tours, and Martin aims to match his fellow countryman on July 4.

Martin’s best result in an opening Tour time trial was second in Rotterdam in 2010, and in 2012 he set the fastest time in the opening prologue in Liege at the mid-race checkpoint but then was forced to change bikes because of a mechanical problem, slumping to 45th.

Up to this point in his career, when the Etixx-QuickStep rider has been asked if the Worlds Time Trial is his biggest goal of the season, it’s pretty much been a rhetorical question. But this time Martin replies “maybe, but also the yellow jersey this summer in Utrecht is very important.”

'Stomach virus"  ...

Aru withdraws from Giro del Trentino due to illness.

Fabio Aru has withdrawn from the Giro del Trentino, citing illness. The Astana rider will not participate in the four-day race, which gets underway on Tuesday, as he is reportedly suffering from a stomach virus.

Aru had spent almost three weeks training at altitude on Mount Teide in Tenerife prior to the Giro del Trentino, which was due to be his final race before the Giro d’Italia, where he lines up as Astana’s leader following his third place finish a year ago.

“Fabio completed a solid training block with his teammates at altitude in Tenerife this month and has very good physical condition at the moment, but unfortunately he caught something after he returned home and was very ill over the weekend,” Astana trainer Paolo Slongo said in a statement on the team's website.

British inventor creates revolutionary affordable power meter ...

The World's Smartest Cycling Power Meter.

"Introducing a cycling training tool designed to maximize your training efforts and performance and revolutionize cycling power meters. LIMITS is a truly unique cycling power meter. LIMITS power meter is inspired by our cycling passion and our goal to remove all existing limitations in the marketplace.

Affordable – to make power meters accessible to cyclists at every level.

Interchangeable – compatible with all bikes, no need to replace any parts.

Simple to use - the easiest ever to install and use."

Rudy Project Wing57 – Review.

"When a company like Rudy Project launches a new aero helmet, everyone in transition takes notice. And that’s not just because they have the highest helmet count in Kona year after year.

Rudy Project is also smart in that they consult with experts to make their products better, like John Cobb for example. So when Rudy Project first announced the Wing57, we all wanted to know more.

We started seeing examples show up in the pro peloton, as well as among the ranks of pro athletes in transition, almost immediately.

Unfortunately, it took a little while longer for the helmet to make it to the age groupers—and even longer for it to get into our hands. But finally in late fall of last year we received ours.

Fortunately the helmet arrived with enough time to not only put it through its paces via our usual testing process, but we were also able to wear it for a couple races as well. Before we jump into our full review, lets recap what makes the Wing57 so special."

Tour of Turkey 2015 Live Dashboard.

TUR 2015 Eurosport Broadcast Schedule (CET*)

Stage 1, Sun 26/04/2015, EUROSPORT, 11:15-14:00,

Stage 2, Mon 27/04/2015, EUROSPORT, 12:30-14:00,

Stage 3, Tue 28/04/2015, EUROSPORT, 14:00-15:30,

Stage 4, Wed 29/04/2015, EUROSPORT, 14:00-15:30,

Stage 5, Thu 30/04/2015, EUROSPORT, 12:30-14:00,

Stage 6, Fri 01/05/2015, EUROSPORT, 14:00-15:30,

Stage 7, Sat 02/05/2015, EUROSPORT , 11:15-12:45, 

Stage 8, Sun 03/05/2015, EUROSPORT, 10:00-12:00.

The seven most innovative products of 2015 so far.

"Believe it or not, but one of the most popular pages on the Cycling Weekly website has been a saddle review. However this is not just any old saddle, it’s the legendary Essax Shark saddle.

The “innovative design” claims to evenly distribute weight between the rider’s sit bones, with the fin helping to achieve better alignment of the knees and prevent rocking and rolling.

We tested the saddle back in January and found it to be surprisingly comfortable, while also being impressively lightweight for the price, although we had doubts over its durability."

Nibali, Astana attacks come up short ...

Valverde remains upbeat despite another loss ...

The Moment The Race Was Won: Amstel Gold Race.

Michał Kwiatkowski wins the sprint to take the Amstel Gold Race, checking he’s got the better of Michael Matthews while Cauberg attacker Philippe Gilbert has already been tamed and beaten.

The early break was notable for two things. First the presence of Lotto-Jumbo’s Timo Roosen, because if the team had missed the move you sense they’d have been forced to bring it back in order to try again; second Mike Tepstra was there, the Roompot rider isn’t Niki’s twin but they’re look-a-likes.

Despite no obvious threats the move was never allowed to get much time with BMC Racing and Movistar doing a lot of the tempo-setting, with BMC’s Marcus Burghardt notable for a lot of work.

As ever on the small roads crashes took their toll, notably Lieuwe Westra. While if a rider punctured they could often get back to the bunch ok, it was moving back to the front of the peloton that was the hard part.

Daily Distractions.

PEZ: EuroTrash Michal Monday!

BikeSnobNYC: Sorry, I forgot to wind my Apple watch.

Steve Tilford: Criterium Nationals – UnitedHealthcare Disaster.

RKP: The Mother Ship.

Alps&Andes: Non-culinary secrets of Colombian cycling. The undisputed king of the mountains.

AeroGeeks: WiR.

Mechanical Monday: Prepping Your Tubulars for Off-Season Storage.

Photos: Amstel Gold Race.

Photos: Ronde van Gelderland.

Photos: USA Cycling USPRO team time trial championships.

Video: 2015 Volkswagen USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championships.

Video: How to change Shimano lever hoods.

Video: Pro peloton goes off-roading at Tro-Bro Leon.

Hein Verbruggen pens an Open Letter to Brian Cookson - Truly insane ...

Hein Verbruggen slams successor Brian Cookson in scathing attack ...

Verbruggen rejects Cookson's call to step down as UCI honorary president.

Hein Verbruggen has dismissed UCI President Brian Cookson’s call for him to resign his title of honorary president in a long letter to members of the UCI’s Management Committee and said that he is “proud” of the legal action he took against Floyd Landis, Paul Kimmage and others who have spoken on the issue of doping in cycling.

Following the publication of the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) report last month, which highlighted “numerous examples that prove Lance Armstrong benefited from a preferential status” during Verbruggen’s time at the head of the UCI, Cookson wrote to Verbruggen to ask him to step down from his role as honorary president.

Peloton thinks of Criquielion ahead of Fleche Wallonne.

Five riders have won Flèche Wallonne on multiple occasions since the race first began finishing on the Mur de Huy in 1983, and thoughts will turn to two of them, in particular, when the leaders clamber up the Mur for the third and decisive time on Wednesday.

Second in Amstel Gold on Sunday, the defending champion and 2006 winner, Alejandro Valverde will be a marked man. A third victory this week would take the Spaniard level with Moreno Argentin, Eddy Merckx, Marcel Kint, and Davide Rebellin, the only riders to have scored a hat-trick of Flèche wins.

The other two-time conqueror of the Mur in hearts and minds — particularly hearts — on Wednesday will be Claude Criquielion. The winner of Flèche in 1985 and 1989, Criquielion died this February, somewhat prematurely, at the age of 58.

Who do the bookies back? ...

The Mur de Huy: Where the Flèche Wallonne will be won or lost.

The Mur de Huy is one of the steepest and most spectacular finishing climbs in cycling. With its continued presence in the Flèche-Wallonne and its inclusion in this year's Tour de France, we have a look at this famous climb.

“The last climb of the Mur is everything. It’s just 1,300 metres of road, but when I won, that road went on for ever, especially the last few meters. I never felt such pain and ecstasy at the same time,” Mario Aerts, Flèche Wallonne winner in 2002.

Nibali surprised with strong form in Amstel Gold Race.

Vincenzo Nibali fired his guns in the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday and ended feeling surprised at his strength after a break and a training camp.

The Sicilian is aiming to defend his 2014 title at this summer’s Tour de France. He just returned from an altitude training camp on the Spanish island of Tenerife for the Ardennes classics and the Tour de Romandie.

During Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands, he attacked with 36 kilometers remaining and stayed ahead of the field for 18km.

“I’m pretty happy with myself because to be going so strongly after returning means that I’m good. In fact, it’s a confirmation that in training I worked well,” Nibali told Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.

“Maybe I wasn’t even expecting to be so ahead. But, I was sure that I worked well in Tiede [Tenerife], so I knew that more or less my legs would be good.”.

7 talking points from the 2015 Amstel Gold Race.

After more than six and a half hours of racing in the Dutch province of Limburg yesterday, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski emerged as the winner of the 2015 Amstel Gold Race.

The 24-year-old Pole had the strongest sprint from a group of 18 riders that came together after the decisive final ascent of the famous Cauberg climb.

The race featured no fewer than 34 climbs in its 258km but none of them more decisive than the fourth time up the Cauberg, a 700m rise that averages 8% but peaks at 12%.

This climb has been a happy hunting ground for Philippe Gilbert who has won the Amstel Gold Race three times and also the 2012 World Championships which featured the Cauberg no fewer than 10 times.

Wilco Kelderman’s Amstel Gold Race power data.

Pro cyclists — they’re just like us. Well, not exactly, but many riders in the WorldTour peloton are uploading their rides and races to Strava, giving us a window into what it takes to be a factor in Europe’s hardest races.

On Sunday, Wilco Kelderman rode his way into a late-race attack that had some serious firepower, including such riders as Vincenzo Nibali and Tony Martin.

Unfortunately for Kelderman, a crash on one of the course’s characteristically narrow and twisty roads knocked him out of the group, although he did manage to keep it upright as he rode off-course into a field.

He ended up finishing 62nd, but he certainly worked hard for it.

The Single Life Gets Company as SRAM expands to Force1 and Rival1.

Originally, mountain biking utilized three chainrings to gain a wide gear spread, but with front shifting already less than perfect for two rings, the third ring was prone to more shifting problems, not to mention ‘chain suck’ as a result of less than stellar drivetrain maintenance.

When rear suspension became more popular, non-traditional frame geometry and shapes sometimes made front derailleur mounting a challenge.

Though mountain bikers addressed the problem with cobbled together single chainring setups, there were problems of chain derailment due to chain tension issues, exacerbated by the bouncing of the bike over rough terrain.

SRAM seized the opportunity to improve conditions for the mountain bike by introducing XX1, a component group dedicated to the single ring setup for mountain bikes.

Riding on the success of XX1 came CX1, a component group aimed directly at the cyclocross rider.

Check out the Pediscope – the periscope for your bike.

It may sound ridiculous, but American inventor Mike Lane has come up with a design that allows cyclists to see the road ahead while looking down at their handlebars.

Normally periscopes are reserved for submarines and wannabe spies, but now Lane has used the device’s prism based design and applied it to a bike.

The position required for riding a bike can often cause neck or back pains for the rider, with the need to crane the neck upwards accentuating the problem.

Now, the answer to that problem clearly isn’t to not look where you’re going, and we’re sure the Pediscope wasn’t designed so that riders would just stare at their bars the whole time.

But a moments respite from looking up could alleviate a few problems, and the Pediscope could increase safety on the road.

Road Bike of the Year: Trek Emonda SLR.

"Bike design today seeks to separate a rider from the road. Dampers, pivots, slack geometry, and ultra-stable handling all conspire to eliminate surprise and improve predictability. And that’s wonderful — sometimes.

The Trek Emonda looks in the opposite direction, and that’s why we love it.

It’s stiff — incredibly stiff — a near perfect translator of action into reaction. A flick of the wrists sends it into flawless, arcing turns; a kick of the heels into immediate forward motion. It’s not comfortable, nor is it aerodynamic.

It is light, and it is rigid. It takes everything you can give it and asks for more, and doesn’t inhibit its rider from feeling an intimate familiarity with the surface below."

Twisted Spoke: Marcotte the Killa takes USA Pro Crit Championship.

Steve Tilford: Musings.

2015 Sea Otter: Circuit Results.

Sea Otter tech, day three: Open gravel bike, Birzman, and more.

Photos: Amstel Gold Race.

Photos: Men’s and women’s USA Cycling pro criterium national championships.

Video: Michał Kwiatkowski's winning sprint in Amstel Gold Race.

Hincapie Racing Team, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies win USA TTT nationals.