Monday's Stage 9 start time: 13:20 CET (4:20 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 14:35 CET (5:35 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:17 CET (8:17 AM PDT);

road.cc: Time to get some sprinters back in your Fantasy team reckons Geraint Thomas.

CyclingNews: Diminutive Domenico Pozzovivo finally delivered on his huge climbing ability as he claimed the biggest victory of his career at Lago Laceno.

VeloNation: Giro del Trentino winner breaks away on final climb and solos to victory; Hesjedal keeps pink.

Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
Tour de Picardie - May 11-13 (Stages & results),
Tour of Chongming Island - May 9-11 (Stages & results),
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...

Enrico Battaglin: "After a full week of racing, I get to feel the difference between a normal bike race and the Giro d'Italia. Tiredness is there but I'm getting accustomed to it. During stage 5 to Fano, I noticed a general slowdown in the bunch. I thought it might have been caused by a crash but it wasn't. A pastry chef had prepared some cakes for us. Many riders stopped for a tasting session. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the road and I missed this extra feed zone! It was a nice touch by the tifosi though."

RBAction: Although not a single one of the Pro teams competing at Amgen Tour of California are using the yet-to-be-released, 2013 Shimano Dura-Ace (mechanical) group, we did manage to find one bike in Santa Rosa that had a selection of the new, highly anticipated Dura-Ace bits mounted. Better yet, I got the chance to give the bike a short spin as well.

PodiumInsight: Day two of the Missouri Professional Cycling Series saw top class fields contest the most recent round of the USA Crits on the streets of the Grove neighborhood in St. Louis, MO. With 150 riders in the men’s race and over 50 racers in the women’s field, all the top NRC teams were represented as perfect weather greeted the fields for an afternoon of full tilt crit racing.

TwistedSpoke: If you’re a underdog with awesome form, that’s how you want to slide into the Tour of California. Just off the list of potential contenders, a media afterthought, mentioned but not really feared.

VeloNation: Joaquim Rodríguez and Beñat Inxausti leading the Armada on the climb to Lago Laceno.

PodiumInsight: Starting in Cazadero, the road goes up to the top of Fort Ross Road and then a quick descent down Meyers Grade Road with breathtaking views of the coast line. A left onto Highway 1 will take the racers south 12 miles to the quintessential northern California climb of Coleman Valley Road, which is long, twisty and steep. Then, it’s a fast 16 miles back to Santa Rosa.

CyclingNews: With a US base in Northern California, the BMC Racing Team and its director Mike Sayers of Sacramento have a distinct advantage of having intimate first-hand knowledge of the Amgen Tour of California's opening stages. Giving his analysis of this year's course, Sayers said the results on the key stage to Mt. Baldy at the end of the race will be affected by the surprisingly difficult opening four days in addition to the time trial and Big Bear stage which precedes it.

VeloNation: American sprinter takes biggest career win in sprinter’s race in China.

CyclingIQ: After a difficult start to her 2012 season, Shelley Olds has turned her fortunes around in the space of 500 metres. The 31-year-old Boston-raised American came to China with doubts about her form, having broken her wrist at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda World Cup race in Italy only six weeks prior.

road.cc: Phinney's ankle, Garmin's speed and the battle for the Maglia Rosa at the Verona Team Time Trail.

BikeRadar: Chris Horner has never been overly concerned with what professionals are “supposed to do”. And at age 40, the RadioShack-Nissan-Trek rider who started the 2012 Amgen Tour of California Sunday as the defending champion isn’t about to change his style.

BikeHugger: There’s been some head scratching on the configuration of the new Dura Ace 9000 brake caliper. Velonews speculated that there are 3 pivots hidden in the caliper above. What’s kind of weird is the spy photo from Japan (about a month old) seems to show a full production model, while the shots of Team Sky Pinarellos at the Giro this week have logo-free examples, as if they were prototypes.

Cyclocosm: The Tour of California has an image problem. Mercifully, it’s nothing to with jersey zips—it’s more that the race’s marketing material is absolutely incomprehensible.

BikeRadar: It started as a simple idea — to celebrate and empower women with the bicycle. Today, May 13th, thousands of women and men around the globe are participating in one of the more than 160 CycloFemme rides.

BikeRadar: Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) gave himself the perfect 26th birthday present on Sunday when he won the elite men's cross country World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech.

CyclingNews: We’re a few days into the Giro now, but it’s still too early to say which riders are going to emerge as the likely contenders. I know Joaquim Rodríguez is in a good position after Katusha did so well to finish just behind Garmin in the team time trial, but the key to victory in this race is not what happens now but what happens in the final week in the Dolomites. I’ve got no doubt that a lot of riders are holding themselves back until the final week.

road.cc: A good assembly of cleaners and brushes in a handy box, but a chain cleaning device would be a good addition.

road.cc: A tidy-looking bike, that rides fine, let down by poor tires and brakes - and you should get more for this kind of money.

VeloNation: Comment sought from RadioShack Nissan team.

CyclingNews: Ciao from Pesaro on the East coast, watching the Adriatic Sea from the hotel room I share with my team-mate Mathias Frank. Let’s talk about another team-mate of mine: Taylor Phinney. In the past five days, the world has discovered a phenomenal person. He’s the kind of champion that cycling needs. Without the most damaging of his three crashes, he would still be in the maglia rosa now.

VeloNews: Here at the Giro, the 23c is in decline, replaced by its slightly fatter cousin, the 25c. Many of the teams already recognized for more progressive technological mindsets have begun using fatter 25c tires for regular road stages – no cobbles or gravel in sight, just smooth(ish) Italian tarmac.