VeloNews: Watching Levi Leipheimer tear away from the front of the group on Utah’s steep Empire Pass and blister the snaking descent, easily holding off the chase, it was abundantly clear on Sunday that the defending USA Pro Challenge champ will be hard to dethrone in Colorado. He characterized the Colorado defense as “daunting,” but his strength on Utah’s final day was clear nonetheless.

VeloNation: Defending champion Philippe Gilbert still winless in 2012 with third; Liesbet De Vocht defends women’s title.

CyclingFans: Wednesday's Tour of Portugal Prologue at Castelo Branco gets underway at 2:50pm local (9:50am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.  Tour of Portugal live streaming video should get underway at around 4:00pm local (11:00am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) may be a strong favorite with the odds compilers for the 2012 Vuelta a Espana, which starts in Pamplona on Saturday, but the Spaniard has insisted that Team Sky's Chris Froome will be tough to be beat when the grand tour gets underway.

CyclingNews: Races & Results.
Vuelta a España - August 18 - September 9 (Stages),
Tour du Limousin - August 14- 17 (Stages & Results),
Breck Epic - August 12- 17 (Stages & Results),
2012 Olympic Games - July 28 - August 12 (Races),
Eneco Tour - August 6- 12 (Stages & Results),
Tour of Utah - August 7- 12 (Stages & Results),
Tour de l'Ain - August 7- 11 (Stages & Results),
More...

SingleTrack: "After yesterday’s rain dance, I made sure to do everything right for recovery.  Immediate shower, food, rest, stay warm, and hydrate."

CXMagazine: Emma White has taken junior women’s cyclocross by storm in the past few years, most recently taking the 15-16 National Champion title while riding through almost all of the 17-18 year old field.

Bicycling: We rolled wheels in a direct comparison. The verdict: Leaving the tubes at home can help you go (slightly) faster.

VeloNation: Olympic champion believes it’s time to go.

Bounces back from Olympic disappointment...

CyclingNews: Spaniard times late escape to perfection.

VeloNation: Frustrated BMC Racing Team rider to retun in 2013.

CyclingNews: Garmin-Sharp has announced its team for the Vuelta a Espana, and as expected Andrew Talansky will lead the team's overall ambitions. The recent winner of the Tour de l'Ain will be joined by a mix of experience and youth, including Christophe Le Mevel, Johan Van Summeren and Martijn Maaskant.

VeloNews: Four days. That’s all the time Tom Danielson took off the bike when he arrived home in Boulder after crashing out of the Tour de France last month. Since he got back on, his focus has been singular; his focus has been on Colorado.

Peloton: It's not possible to truly quantify suffering, but with power data we have tools that enable us to quantify effort, stress and fatigue.

CXMagazine: Today Trek Bicycle launched the Trek Cyclocross Collective, a U.S.-based ‘cross racing team headlined by eight-time US National Champion and all-around badass, Katie Compton. The three-time World Championship medalist, who began her professional racing career on Trek’s East Coast Regional Mountain Bike Team, will represent the Collective at world-level events.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "Smooth and deceptively quick, but needs a firm hand to avoid wandering."

BikeRadar verdict: "First impressions suggest the big-wheeled Trance will be an ideal trail-munching machine."

BikeRumor: As you may have seen floating around the web, Focus Bikes has unveiled their full 2013 line in advance of the shows. Apparently, no US media was invited to the launch in Germany because, you know, only about 60% or more of our readers are outside the US and would care of such things. Anywhoo…here are the highlights in quick, easy to read form.

CyclingNews: After a couple years of crashes, 2012 brings national title and Olympic berth.

TwistedSpoke: Tyler Hamilton has a book coming out in September written by Armstrong’s War author Daniel Coyle. It promises to be a detailed, behind the curtain look at doping and what it takes to win in pro cycling. (Lance isn’t going to like the story but he’ll get advance copies for his legal team.)

CyclingNews: Team Tibco's Megan Guarnier was declared winner of the 2012 Women's Prestige Series, a triumvirate of stage races on the USA calendar which includes the Redlands Classic, Nature Valley Grand Prix and Cascade Classic. Guarnier won the overall in Redlands, and was third in Cascade.

BikeRumor: We saw prototypes and early versions of most of these at Sea Otter, and Saris is about to see them and more at Crankworx. Look for hands on photos and some ride impressions soon. For now, though, we’ve got the official-if-somewhat-choppy glamour shots and spec overview for the road, cyclocross and mountain bike models that get updated (or are entirely new) for 2013.

BikeRadar: Cycle trainer manufacturers Kinetic are set to release a Bluetooth Smart system that can provide you with power readings from Kinetic fluid trainers.

BikeRumor: Biologic just announced a new gadget – the Postpump 2.0. Yep, a seatpost and a tire pump, together as one, compatible with both Presta and Schrader.

CyclingNews: "This story is bigger than any one individual in the sport." Former Olympic gold medallist and teammate of Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton will release a tell-all autobiography on September 18.

CyclingNews: All the changes in the pro peloton.

SingleTrack: It seems obvious in the weeks leading up to a 100 miler or backcountry epic event you have ride more to be prepared, but how much more? How often do you go big in training and how hard should you ride?