PodiumCafe: It all ends Sunday, in Les Herbiers, France, with the last-last-last event of the season, the Chrono des Nations time trial.

TwistedSpoke: As we watch the staggering collapse of perhaps the greatest sports legend in history, we can’t help thinking about the mountain Armstrong couldn’t climb.

EuroSport: International Cycling Union chief Pat McQuaid must immediately make clear the governing body's position on the Lance Armstrong doping affair or resign to prevent the collapse of world cycling, a commercial partner of the sport has said.

InnerRing: "The idea of “zero tolerance” sounds good, no? But in fact the risk is that it only entrenches a problem rather than addressing it."

VeloNation: Spaniard under investigation for suspected blood doping.

CyclingNews: BMC Racing has confirmed that Allan Peiper is to join the squad as performance director. Peiper spent the 2012 season as directeur sportif at Garmin-Sharp but revealed on Wednesday that he would be leaving the team at the end of this month.

Races & Results.
Giro d'Italia - May 4-26 (Stages),
Tour of Beijing - Oct 9-13 (Stages & Results),
Tour of Tasmania - Oct 2-7 (Stages & Results),
Paris - Tours - Oct 7 (Results),
CyclingNews: More...

CyclingWeekly: Cycling's governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), has made a strong commitment to improve international women's cycling.

BicycleRetailer: Strava has filed a response in San Francisco’s Superior Court denying responsibility for all 26 charges set forth in a negligence lawsuit stemming from the 2010 death of a cyclist who was killed while using the popular personal fitness mobile application.

VeloNation: Garmin-Sharp rider now focussed on preparations for 2013 season.

VeloNews: There was hope that truth telling would be contagious, that the dark waters of cycling may finally flow to the surface and that riders, coaches and doctors could come clean. That hope took a beating on Tuesday when Omega Pharma-Quick Step fired Levi Leipheimer after he told the truth publicly about his past doping and contributed to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s case against Lance Armstrong.

RedKitePrayer: "We are now entering the nuclear winter  following the release of USADA’s “reasoned decision.” The initial casualties were all the riders whose doping activity was detailed in the voluminous files released by USADA. They are tantamount to the initial deaths caused by a nuclear blast. Now, the fallout.

NYT: The long road to Lance Armstrong’s downfall began here, across the world from the French Alps where he climbed to the pinnacle of cycling, at a strip-mall tattoo parlor in the foothills east of Los Angeles.

CyclingNews: Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen has denied stories that he was paid $500,000 to cover up a positive doping test for Lance Armstrong in 1999. “Armstrong has never tested positive,” he said in a text message to De Telegraaf.  “There is no trace of evidence.”

VeloNation: Belgian claims he will give a ‘balanced account’ at some future point.

Peloton: Leopard SA has announced that Luca Guercilena has accepted the role of Team Manager of RadioShack-Nissan-Trek. Guercilena, currently sports director at RadioShack-Nissan-Trek, will overview the cohesion and continuity the Luxembourgish cycling project that started two years ago. As of today Guercilena will be responsible for the organization of the team and supervise all sports and technical operations.

Boulder Report: The full transcript of an interview that Tyler Hamilton gave Bicycling in September 2012.

PodiumCafe: "We talk about her leaving Specialized-Lululemon and her role on the new team."

BikeRadar: So you’ve decided you want to buy a new saddle or a new helmet, but you want to put your hands on it before you purchase. At My Local Bike Shop is a new online search tool that mines the databases of more than 550 shops to tell you who has what in stock.

road.cc: The highlights of next year's range including revamped Xelius and Sensium road bikes.

VeloNation: Texan concedes doping charges risk damaging foundation’s fight against cancer.

VeloNews: Hein Verbruggen, the former president of the UCI accused of having protected Lance Armstrong, distanced himself on Thursday from claims that he still supports the retired cyclist, as a growing doping scandal has left the U.S. rider increasingly isolated.

RedKitePrayer: It’s a term used to connote belonging to a particular population. It has been said that doping was endemic to grand tour riders of the 1990s and 2000s. It is also used to describe those publications that serve a particular niche, such as cycling publications. Finally, advertisers who are courted by these enthusiast magazines are also called endemics.

VeloNews: With his Wednesday dismissal by Nike, Trek and others, and abdication of his chairmanship at Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong saga continues its march towards some form of finality. Barring UCI interference, which seems increasingly unlikely given the momentum of the evidence in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s “Reasoned Decision,” one likely next step will be the official stripping of the Texan’s seven Tour de France titles.

CyclingNews: Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport has lifted the lid on the financial aspects of the Padua doping investigation, suggesting that Italian and Swiss police have uncovered a huge system of money laundering and fraud linked to a doping ring involving 20 professional riders and athletes from triathlon and biathlon.

CyclingNews: Following weeks of speculation and secret negotiations, it has been confirmed that Mark Cavendish will move from Team Sky to Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

Bicycling: Michele Ferrari, the former doctor of disgraced US cyclist Lance Armstrong, has denied accusations that he was a key figure in the doping scheme, he said in statement posted on his website Wednesday.

CyclingNews: 'When they weren't on their bikes, they were on IVs.'