Thursday's Stage 12 start time: 13:05 CET (4:05 AM PDT); 
Earliest live video: 14:35 CET (5:35 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:09 CET (8:09 AM PDT); 

road.cc: A tough day and one for the break says Geraint Thomas… but there's a nice tight turn at the finish if ends in a sprint.

CyclingNews: Roberto Ferrari (Androni Giacattoli-Venezuela) who caused the major crash on stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia, won the sprint stage 11. Francesco Chicchi (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) was second, with Thomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge) third. Top favourite Mark Cavendish, who lost his teammates to a crash in the final turn, was unable to move up to the front and was fourth.

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...

VeloNews: Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) believes his surge into the maglia rosa is more than just confirmation that he is king of the hilltop finales.

VeloNews: Monday passed at the Giro d’Italia with Mark Cavendish (Sky) blocked and unable to unleash his sprint yet again, but the world champion should have another chance on Wednesday in Montecatini.

road.cc: Team Sky star's wife Cath reveals news of break-in on Twitter.

CyclingNews: Apart from the expected final effort of stage winner and new race leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) on the uphill finish to Assisi, the man who impressed in stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia was Tom Jelte Slagter (Rabobank). His effort at the front on the final climb was the sort of effort often put forth by Rodriguez.

BikeRadar: Best helmets for road cycling winner - LAS Victory Limited.

BikeRadar verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. "Light and comfy, but the cheaper Pro version is better value."

Wednesday's Giro d'Italia Stage 11 departs Assisi at 10:55am CET (4:55am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Montecatini Terme at around 5:17pm CET (11:17am U.S. Eastern).  Giro d'Italia live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

PEZ: "Mavic = Wheels. That’s it, right? I mean why even think about big yellow for anything but round stuff… At least that was the thought process when I looked at the size of the box sent from Mavic’s Media mogul (an ex Tech-geek, so he’s OK) Zack V. “What kinda wheel fits in something that small?!” was the thought."

Wednesday's Tour of California Stage 4 departs Sonora at 10:35am PDT (7:35pm CET) and is expected at the finish at Clovis at around 4:04pm PDT (01:04am CET).  Tour of California live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm PDT (11:00pm CET).

CyclingNews: The Amgen Tour of California has so far been a stalemate between the top contenders, but that should change on Thursday when the race hits Bakersfield for the 29.7km time trial on stage 5. The stage will finally shake out the general classification, where all the names are clustered at 40 seconds from race leader and winner of all four previous stages, Peter Sagan.

SBS: A last gasp attack by chrono-specialist Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) would not deny a rampant Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), who took his fourth straight victory at the Amgen Tour of California, in Clovis.

VeloNews: With Thursday’s stage 5 time trial looming on the horizon, followed by stage 6 into Big Bear and the stage 7 summit finish on Mount Baldy, RadioShack-Nissan is preparing for a GC battle at the Amgen Tour of California in defense of Chris Horner’s 2011 title.

VeloNews: The Amgen Tour of California has yet to take shape in the general classification, but one team has begun to assert itself over the peloton, firing the opening salvos in a GC fight that will go all the way to the summit of Mount Baldy on Saturday.

TwistedSpoke: Besides all the racing at the Tour of California, there’s the con jobs, possum playing and sand bagging. It appears that the Spanish lady who broke Levi Leipheimer’s leg is just a pawn in an incredible game of high stakes California poker. It’s a race, it’s Greek drama.

Bicycling: For some, the race has a repetitious feel, despite the difficult climbs that have dotted the profiles of each stage. The opening day alone, around Santa Rosa, included four categorized climbs.

Clara Hughes: This is the seventh time I’ve lived the reality of trying to qualify for an Olympics.  The in-between Games I’ve not been part of were spent either glued to the internet (we don’t have television in either of our home bases) or working for CBC at the Games.  Yes, I am a unabashed Olympic junkie and can’t get enough of sport when it comes time every two years for the build to and then finally, the Olympics themselves.

Cyclelicious: The Colombian team are - Jhon Atapuma, Fabio Andres Duarte, Arevalo Javier Gonzalez Barrera, Victor Hugo!Pena Grisales, Carlos Julian Quintero, Michael Rodriguez, Wilson Marentes Torres, Juan Pablo Suarez.

Cyclismas: The UCI has announced that they will not carry out any equipment or position checks at this year’s edition of the Amgen Tour of California.

CyclingNews: Following his interview with Men's Journal, Lance Armstrong will also appear on a US talk show, hosted by the California lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom, saying he's "done" answering questions regarding his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.

RedKitePrayer: "Given the opportunity to talk about ourselves, we make bold statements like, “I am a cyclist” or “I am a writer,” as if those temporary actions derive from some deeper sense of purpose or intention. The bicycle is always a bicycle, unless it is destroyed, but is the cyclist still a cyclist when he stops cycling?"

InnerRing: Say “Rapha” and many cyclists will associate this with a London-based company producing semi-retro styled cycle clothing. But this business has appropriated a slice of history as it tries to evoke tales of epic rides and hardened riders for its brand.

CyclingNews: Sebastien Turgot is apparently the next French rider to run afoul of the whereabouts requirements for doping controls. The French sports newspaper L'Equipe reported that the Europcar rider has missed three doping controls within 18 months, and faces up to a two-year ban.

Cyclismas: Amidst the glitz and glamor of the Amgen Tour of California, concern for the whereabouts of Johan Bruyneel began to mount today, as his larger-than-life persona has been absent from the race declared by the organizers as “The greatest stage race in all of the Americas.”

VeloNation: Liquigas Cannondale rider doesn’t rule out trying for overall classification in California.

RedKitePrayer: Over recent years, scientific training methods have brought a sort of parity to pro cycling that allows more and more riders to finish races together, even tough ones. As a result, to avoid too many mass finishes, organizers are making race finales ever more difficult. Just look at the two major stage races taking place this week and the number of riders finishing together at the end of difficult days in the saddle.

Marco Pinotti: "We’ve passed three days of medium mountains since my last blog. This is how the geography of Italy makes the Giro a hard race no matter what. Even without looking for the big climbs and even though the competitiveness of those stages is limited to the last hour of racing, it’s very demanding. We’ve done six hours daily on the bike. Our legs can feel the fatigue of a grand tour."

Rambling Man: Like it or not, cycling is sometimes a contact sport. It’s simple physics—when a hundred bikes careen through a space the size of a sofa, things are bound to get ugly. Elbows flare, profanities fly, and the game of chicken is on.

Peloton: The battle for your bottle is well and truly underway. We have the original players, from Gatorade to GU. This group consists of the brands that really paved the way in the hydration field - the Acccelerades, Hammers, Cytomaxs, to name but a few…

BikeRadar: Campagnolo has announced several additions to their 2013 drivetrains (available now) to cater for riders who want a wider range of gears.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Wonderfully controllable and supremely powerful brake performance from a truly trick machine."