VeloNews: The AIGCP and CPA, organizations representing pro cycling’s team owners and riders, have struck an agreement to increase minimum rider salaries in 2013. It’s an accord that may represent organizational progress beyond simply putting more money in the riders’ bank accounts.

road.cc: Meanwhile Switzerland's Reto Schoch continues Alpine countries' remarkable dominance of solo category.

PodiumCafe: First the team, then the befuddlement.

VeloNation: Second and eight championships respectively; Lars Teutenberg a surprise bronze medallist.

Ramirez retains race lead.

CyclingIQ: Two interesting files have been uploaded by the Union Cycliste Internationale in the last week. Issue 2 of the UCI Sport and Technical department’s four-monthly ‘UPDATE Sport and Technical’ bulletin has been silently uploaded, but a video profile of the World Cycling Centre in Aigle has received a wider airing.

Vuelta a Colombia - June 12-24 (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...

TwistedSpoke: In the last few editions of the Tour de France, Thomas Voeckler and Sylvain Chavanel have been taking turns being the top French guy.

VeloNews: If you’ve never tried on a Lazer helmet, do yourself a favor and do so. For many riders, the Belgian helmet brand offers great comfort, performance and value. While the company doesn’t have any revolutionary redesigns for the new model year, there are several creative updates in the helmet line and Lazer’s new line of eyewear is also worth mention.

CyclingNews: A man alleged to have stolen 13 bikes from Team Tibco to the Top on the eve of the 2012 Exergy Tour in Boise, Idaho has been arrested.

BikeRadar: There's a good chance that the old saying 'cheats never prosper' derives from the catalogue of foul play at the Tour de France.

Mary McConneloug & Mike Broderick: "Our primary objective for this past trip was to take part in the UCI World Cup series as well as to try for a spot on the US Olympic team. The selection process for the Olympics is based on a mixture of international (UCI) ranking points for each countries ranking purposes and UCI World Cup series points (for the USA's individual riders selection) - so we were competing in the right neighborhood for sure, along with every other international cross country racer with Olympic aspirations."

road.cc: Highly recommended for workshop use.

BikeRumor: The 2013 Ridley Helium SL is their new flagship road bike. Ridley’s had the Helium in the line for years, but the name hadn’t quite matched up with the 950-ish gram frame weight. After feedback from their pro racers, they decided to lighten it up.

Bicycling: A conversation with the English voice of the Tour de France.

CyclingNews: Review board will now decide whether to file anti-doping rule violation.

CyclingNews: RadioShack-Nissan will be without its general manager in this year's Tour de France, as Johan Bruyneel has decided to stay away from the race after being embroiled in a possible doping case with the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA).

VeloNews: Throughout his decade-long career on the road, Cadel Evans had a reputation as a quirky rider, prone to buckling under pressure. But that was before the fall of 2009. Now he enters the 2012 Tour de France as the defending champion and one of two top favorites for victory in Paris.

CyclingNews: Italian Cycling Federation (FCI) president Renato Di Rocco has defended Filippo Pozzato’s presence at a national team training camp in Trentino this week but confirmed that he will not ride at the London 2012 Olympics if he is charged with having been a client of Dr. Michele Ferrari.

InnerRing: The organizer of the Giro d’Italia Michele Acquarone has a blog on cyclingnews.com and his latest piece opens the floor to thoughts on the 2012 edition, the route and the racing. It’s good PR, opening up to the fans and seeking ideas. We’ll see what the response is and in time whether any thoughts are taken aboard by the “Pink Admiral”*

VeloNews: With very few exceptions, all the riders get the same feed bag, or musette, as the French like to call it. Typically they will include a couple water bottles, two gels, two bars and a piece of cake or a savory snack (rice cake or mini cheese sandwich). Sometimes a small Coke will be thrown in the mix. They change often, though, to keep the riders from burning out on a particular flavor of bar or gel.

VeloNation: New Zealander says no egos on the team, sprint train fully committed to Greipel.

PEZ: The 'Rodney Danegrfield' of Italian climbs, the Gran Sasso the next. 'I get no respect, I tell ya.!

CyclingTips: "One of the hidden gems of Melbourne's cycling culture is Busyman Bicycles who is renowned for designing elegant saddle covers and bar tape. Owner Mick Peel took some time to chat with CyclingTips so we could learn more about his craft."

SingleTrack: "As I find a pair of baggies that function as well as my preferred bib shorts, I’ll convert."

road.cc: A good bag let down by crude attachment and fixing.

CyclingWeekly: Helmet manufacturer Giro has launched a new aero helmet for road and track racing, doing away with the traditional tail seen on time trial helmets.

InnerRing: Each stage is analyzed, each jersey is explained and once more information is available there will be full list of riders and other content that’ll be updated every day so you can dip in and out during the next few weeks.

Boulder Report: American phenom is all business in lead-up to Olympics.

BikeSnobNYC:" Fresh off his latest book tour, our columnist offers up some best-bike-city rankings of his own."

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).

Peloton: The Tour takes place in mid-summer when schools are out and Europeans are on vacation, which means that far greater numbers of spectators are available to come and watch the Tour than the other two grand tours, which take place in late spring and early fall. Also, there’s no clash with other major sporting events.

PodiumInsight: The first Stars-and-Stripes jerseys of the 2012 USA Cycling Elite, U23, Juniors & Paralympic Road National Championships were awarded Thursday night in Augusta, Ga. Riders were recognized with medals and jerseys for their performances in Thursday’s time trial at J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Wednesday’s road races at Fort Gordon.

Cyclismas: "Over the twenty-five years since Stephen Roche added the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the World Championships to his palmarès I don’t know how many times I’ve seen, read, or heard the man being interviewed and have had to pull up an anecdote or two from those three races."

road.cc: Legislation would make drivers look out for cyclists, says world champ.

BikeHugger: At Press Camp yesterday, we were shown the new Cannondale Evo Womens. 6 women will ride this bike on the Reve tour. The new bike ships with an SISL2 crank.

Bicycling: What looks like a healthy choice on the outside isn’t always all it’s wrapped up to be on the inside.

BikeRadar: Most of us know that cycling with headphones in is a big no-no, but we might make an exception with innovation from AfterShokz.

BikeRumor: Not too long ago, when Shimano introduced the new SLX group, the big story was the inclusion of an SLX level Shadow Plus rear derailleur. Oddly, also included in the press release as a simple byline in a sea of text was the fact that there would also be a Shadow Plus derailleur at XT lever, though any photos were conspicuously absent. To our knowledge, the XT version of the Shawdow Plus was a bit of a ghost until now.

BikeRumor: OK, so technically, they’re not all in, Ridley will still have some cantilever brake equipped models next year, but for the big sellers, the top bikes are all disc. That’s saying a lot for the future of cyclocross when one of the most respected names in the sport endorses it heavily.

VeloNews: U.S. champ in 2008, Tyler Hamilton poses in arguably the worst national champion's kit of all time.

TwistedSpoke: The best quote of the cycling season so far comes from the entertaining Brian Holm, the head DS for Omega-Pharma QuickStep. When Levi Leipheimer crashed out of Paris-Nice, Holm was thrilled that the American wasn’t more seriously injured because, “Levi, he is made of chocolate.”