VeloNews: The 2012 Tour de France opens with the June 30 prologue in Liège, Belgium. Among the 198 riders signing into the 99th edition of the Tour will be defending champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing), Giro d’Italia winner Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda), and American Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step). But former green jersey winner Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma) and double 2011 stage winner Thor Hushovd (BMC) won’t take part.

Tour de Suisse - June 9-17 (Stages & results),
Tour de Serbie - June 12-17 (Stages & results),
Nature Valley Grand Prix - June13-17 (Stages & results),
Tour de Beauce - June 12-17 (Stages & results),
Vuelta a Colombia - June 12-24 (Stages & results),
Giro Ciclistico d'Italia - June 8-17 (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...

CyclingNews: Having been named on the initial eight-man selection list for the men's road race at the London 2012 Olympic Games, British cyclist David Millar has admitted that he feels as if the "final handcuff" has been removed from him.

CyclingNews: Fränk Schleck has answered his critics by finishing second in the Tour de Suisse, after dropping out of the Giro d'Italia. But the RadioShack-Nissan rider doesn't necessarily expect his good form to hold out for the Tour de France, which starts in less than two weeks – and neither does his sport director.

VeloNation: Swift, Dowsett and Hunt part of five man squad.

Pedal: Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthCare Pro Cycling Team claimed the overall victory on Sunday at his debut at the Tour de Beauce, but the loudest cheers were for Hugo Houle (SpiderTech p/b C10), who finished second overall and took home the Best Young Rider jersey, and Bruno Langlois (Garneau-Quebecor-Norton Rose) who won the final 125km Stage 6, Circuit urbain / Ville de St-Georges.

Sonya Looney: "I wasn’t planning to go to Germany until I got a request from CyclePassion to be in their calendar. They had asked me the year before, but I told them no because I did not approve of the theme of the 2011 calendar. I told them if the 2012 edition was different, I’d consider it."

VeloNews: André Greipel will get the support he wants going into this year’s Tour de France in an aggressive bid to dominate the sprints.

BikeRumor: The Rudy Project Windmax helmet is the latest in their line of well ventilated, comfortable “brain box” protectors. It comes equipped with 21 rather large vents improving air flow over your dome to improve evaporation and cooling.

VeloNation: American rider successful in push for selection.

Outside: The case against the case against the case against Lance Armstrong.

VeloNation: Classics king climbed off early to catch his flight home.

Amber Neben: "Wow. A two-time USA Olympian. I am humbled, honored, and excited… all at the same time. At 4pm on Friday, I received the news that I was named to the USA Olympic team in both the time trial and the road race."

CyclingNews: Johnny Hoogerland didn't rack up a single mountain point at the Tour de Suisse, but he is planning to take the polka-dot jersey at the upcoming Tour de France. The Vacansoleil-DCM rider wore that jersey for five stages at last year's Tour.

CyclingWeekly: British-based Team Sky has maintained its position as top squad in the lastest edition of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) WorldTour race rankings.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "The Ergoride could be the definition of a sportive bike."

IrishPeloton: The biggest stage races in the sport of cycling are the Grand Tours. Consisting of three weeks of racing, the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a Espana are each more than twice as long as the next longest stage race at the top level of the sport. To win one of these races is the pinnacle of any cyclist’s career.

CyclingWeekly: Mark Cavendish took a landmark result on Sunday, winning the four-day Ster ZLM Toer overall - his first ever general classification victory.

Outside: After a tough week of deliberations, World Triathlon CEO Andrew Messick explains his decision to keep the seven-time Tour de France winner from competing.

InnerRing: Italy’s second newspaper La Repubblica published an article alleging that Pozzato is associated with Michele Ferrari, the infamous sports “doctor”.

CycleSport: The Tour of Switzerland is the final big test before the Tour de France, the last piece of the ‘Who’s in form?’ jigsaw. Here’s how the pieces fell.

VeloNation: Ster ZLM Toer and Giro may reflect modified approach.

CXMagazine: Katie Compton and SRAM announced today that for the 2012-2013 season, Compton will be making a return to riding on SRAM componentry. The announcement comes just in time, since the eight-time Nationals winner recently announced that in July, she’ll be taking on an early cyclocross season in New Zealand.

BikeRadar verdict: "Suggests pro-level downhill specifics for gravity fans."

road.cc: Study suggests cardiovascular stress for endurance cyclists.

BikeRadar verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. "Practical, sturdy, shaped sports bra but very expensive for underwear."

Bicycling: After years in development, French manufacturer debuts wind-cheating designs.

InnerRing: The Tour of Switzerland is arguably the fourth biggest stage race on the calendar. Prestigious, historic, challenging and at the height of the season this is an important event on the calendar. The 2012 race was won by Rui Costa (Movistar).

CyclingNews: Sunday was a good day for Team Movistar, which won both the Tour de Suisse and the Route du Sud overall classifications. The team now boasts 20 total victories for 2012, just one less than in 2011.