Stage 3 start time: Wednesday 12:10 CET (3:10 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 15:00 CET (6:00 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 16:19 CET (7:19 AM PDT);.

VeloNation: Schleck loses more time in punchy finale.

Critérium du Dauphiné - June 3-10 (Races & results),
Tour de Luxembourg - May 30-June3 (Races & 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...

Marijn de Vries: "Imagine you have one of these days where everything comes together perfectly. A day in which you ride a home race, a day in which the team works fantastically and splits the field so well the entire team is in the first echelon of only fifteen riders. A day when you feel really good, even though the terrain with dykes, small roads and echelons is not your best."

Cycliusmas: Andy Schleck continued his protest against a conservative RadioShack Nissan Trek Leopard Luxembourgish Capital Sports and Entertainment Johan Bruyneel ManagementCompany regime that has seen the requests of the younger Schleck fall on deaf ears.

CyclingNews: Androni-Venezuela manager Gianni Savio has dismissed José Rujano’s claim that he abandoned the Giro d’Italia due to the effects of mononucleosis. Rujano pulled out of the race on stage 19 and last week released a statement explaining that subsequent medical tests had revealed the illness.

CyclingNews: Carlos Alberto Betancur (Acqua&Sapone) has revealed that his recent run of form has not gone unnoticed at WorldTour level. The Colombian talent took a fine stage win at the Tour of Belgium at the end of May and followed that up with victory at the Trofeo Melinda at the weekend.

CyclingWeekly: Emma Pooley took her first win of the year in the Emakumeen Saria race in Northern Spain today.

CyclingFans: Tuesday's Criterium du Dauphine Stage 2 departs Lamastre at 12:00pm CET (6:00am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Saint-Felicien at around 4:18pm CET (10:18am U.S. Eastern).  Criterium du Dauphine live streaming video should get underway at around 3:00pm CET (9:00am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNews: BMC Racing staff confirmed the Norwegian’s plan to skip the Tour as he continues to recover from a viral infection that plagued him throughout the spring classics. Hushovd abandoned the Giro d’Italia on the fifth day.

CyclingNews: Danielson, Van Garderen support Zabriskie, Phinney makes his case.

CyclingNews: The Leopard-Trek team of 2011 was built on the many of the foundations Bjarne Riis had helped set up. Along with a talent base that included the Schleck brothers, Jacob Fuglsang, Fabian Cancellara and Jens Voigt, the team was run by Kim Anderson and Brian Nygaard, both of whom had served under Riis’s management at CSC and Saxobank.

VeloNews: Midway through the 2012 season, Mark Cavendish is still the king of kick, but he’s seeing unprecedented challenges from all sides.

The Girl with the Cowbell Tattoo: Here, Luke Keough relaxes during a mid-ride ice cream break. I see why I was so intimidated!

VeloNation: Frenchman gives insight on American team’s Tour de France selections.

RedKitePrayer: Let’s start with price. The new 9000 mechanical group will carry a suggested retail of $2699 while the 9070 Di2 group will go for a whopping $4139. You can get a pretty good bike for less than the mechanical group costs.

road.cc: Get your order in fast for limited edition wheels with Union Jack graphics.

road.cc: Cheap and cheerful, and does what it says on the tin - but beware if you have a narrow saddle.

InnerRing: Team Victory Rankings Updated.

BikeSnobNYC: Ever Upward - The Importance of Being "Epic."

VeloNews: Dan Martin may miss another chance to ride the Tour de France after crashing on Monday at the Critérium du Dauphiné. The Garmin-Barracuda rider misjudged a roundabout in the race’s first stage and slid into a curb. He climbed back on his bike and finished, but with only 25 days until the start of the Tour, the crash may be detrimental.

TwistedSpoke: The “Silent Assassin” Denis Menchov is even more silent than usual. He hasn’t made a sound since his fourth place in the Ruta del Sol in February. His decibel level is zero, he’s inaudible and nearly invisible.

Swift: You and me together sitting at the bar, because I always like to chat up the bartender. It's Monday at 5pm because I have to be in bed early. I eat mussels and smoked eel and a little bit of steak tartare because the medicine people tell me that the red meat is good for me. [Flashback to the doctor gasping at my low hematocrit levels last week.]

CyclingNews: Cedric Gracia (CG Racing Brigade) underwent surgery for injuries sustained while practicing during the Val di Sole round of the UCI Downhill World Cup last weekend according to Solobike.it.

VeloNews: Samuel Sánchez will be able to ride the Tour de France and defend his Olympic title despite a nasty crash during the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné on Monday.

Cheryl Sornson: "Waking up for work this morning was pretty rough. I guess the dream I had about riding in the Trans-Sylvania Epic, winning three stages and taking the overall wasn't just a dream after all."

Race Face Next 2x10 crankset review.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "The lightest 2x10 production crank – impressively stiff and shifts fast."

CompetitiveCyclist: With rare exceptions, the Giro is the best race of the year. The 2012 edition surpassed all requirements for drama and beauty by a long shot. Despite all the gritty portraiture and jawdropping landscapes, my favorite images are always of the tools of the trade. That is, the bikes themselves. Nothing spawned more conversation here than this photo of Damiano Cunego's bike--

Cycling Resurrected: "Most people do little things to maintain the upkeep of their lives. Get an oil change when you need it. Clean out the closet when it looks like an unrecognizable pile. I respect those people because I am not like that. I usually wait until the last minute and then reserve a few days to get as much of what I can that I've been putting off done. Someone I know referred to it as "domestics" this week was a good one for it not to mention some pretty good riding as well."