CyclingFans: On Tuesday, the race gets underway at 11:55am CET (5:55am U.S. Eastern) and is expected to finish at around 4:47pm CET (10:47am U.S. Eastern). Live streaming video will start at 1:00pm CET (7:00am U.S. Eastern).

EuroSport: After last year's edition was marred by the death of Belgian rider Wouter Weylandt and the last-minute elimination of the harrowing Crostis descent, Angelo Zomegnan stepped aside as race director and was replaced by Michele Acquarone - a business manager whose personality contrasts to Zomegnan's iron-fist approach.

CyclingNews: Originally scheduled for three days, from June 15-17, the first stage was cut out "because of logistical and economic problems", according to a letter from the organising committee.

Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages & results),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (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...

VeloNation: Theo Bos and Mark Renshaw hunting for repeat of Turkish glory; Juanma Garate and Tom-Jelte Slagter on the attack.

Pedal: Canada’s Geoff Kabush (SCOTT – 3Rox Racing) capped off the Whiskey Off Road annual 3-day MTB celebration with his second victory of the weekend and 3rd straight win by taking the 50-mile (80km) Whiskey 50 Proof MTB race.  The city of Prescott, Arizona played host to 1,750 competitors with the full support of the city, drawing rave reviews as a must-do event for any mountain bike enthusiast.

CyclingNews: Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) has declared himself pleased with the state of his condition during the Tour de Romandie and is confident that he can continue to improve in the days leading up to the Giro d’Italia.

VeloNation: Allowing the most experienced British rider to participate considerably improves both Cavendish and Wiggins’ changes for London glory.

EuroSport: Britain's Bradley Wiggins clinched the Tour de Romandie title after a stunning time trial to win Sunday's 16.5km stage in Crans-Montana.

Cyclismas: There isn’t anywhere in the sporting world quite like women’s ‘professional’ cycling.  I’m not talking World Cup racing, but .2 level racing in the bread and butter races of Northern Europe.  It’s a cauldron of mixed abilities, ambitions, and opportunities.

VeloNews: Following victories in both the Tour de Romandie and Paris-Nice, Bradley Wiggins is looking increasingly like a five-star favorite for this year’s Tour de France. The Brit’s time trial abilities suit this year’s course well, and he has shown the best form of any of the contenders so far this year.

PodiumInsight: For defending Olympic Time Trial gold medalist Kristin Armstrong, the 2011 SRAM Tour of the Gila presented an ideal, early-season opportunity to build upon her already substantial fitness. With its long, hilly stages, the SRAM Tour of the Gila has long been regarded as a race where the strong get stronger.

Bicycling: Five cleaning secrets from the experts.

VeloNews: This made-in-the-USA accessory mounts your Garmin Edge 200, 500 or 800 in front of your stem, much like an SRM mount.

Bicycling: But it’ll be worth it. These innovative workouts will make you faster and stronger—by next month. (Yes, we’re serious.)—Selene Yeager.

CyclingWeekly: Ryder Hesjedal turns his attention to winning the Giro d'Italia in the next three weeks after placing top ten in the Tour de France last July.

InnerRing: The Giro d’Italia guide is now online. There’s a concise preview of every stage as well as information on the jerseys, the start list, TV viewing and more.

BikeRadar: It may be 25 years since he captured the historic Triple Crown – the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and World Championships – in the same year, but Irish legend Stephen Roche's appetite for cycling shows no signs of abating.

BikeRumor: The frame is done with minimal graphics in black on a matte black frame. The Zipp stem bar and wheels have had the logos removed, which pairs well with the dark gray rings on the new SRAM Red.

Bicycling: While one rider is going well, the other still has work to do.

BikeRumor: Built atop their adjustable three-legged base and telescoping stand, the Sprint uses a wheel tray and fork mount to put your bike right at eye level. I’m 6’2″ and could put the bike so the drivetrain was high enough to work on easily without stooping.

BikeRumor: Quarq’s new Low Pro 500 is a new mount designed to put the Garmin 500 out in front of the stem, just like the Bar Fly except it’s designed only around the 500. MSRP is $35, out this summer.

InnerRing: Bradley Wiggins sprints to win Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie. There’s rarely a single winning moment in a stage race, instead a series of consistent performances. In plain arithmetic third place in the prologue and victory in the final mountain time trial delivered the result. But so did the sprint victory with the 10 second time bonus and above all the sign of confidence.

Bicycling: To get more benefits from your flakes, Oats, or clusters, look for the right ingredients. The rest is up to your taste buds.

road.cc: CAS tells British Olympic Assocation that it can't impose lifetime ban on convicted drug cheats.

EuroSport: Britain's Bradley Wiggins clinched the Tour de Romandie title after a stunning time trial to win Sunday's 16.5km stage in Crans-Montana.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages & results),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

CyclingIQ: After eight days and 880 kilometres of racing, the 2012 Tour de Korea peloton returned to the outskirts of South Korea’s capital, Seoul, for its farewell stage.  Though much had unfolded over the week prior, yellow jersey Sung Baek Park’s lead over his two closest rivals was so tenuous that today’s stage was far from being a procession; as so many final days in stage races are.

VeloNation: Former World champion takes first victory since 2009, and first in BMC Racing colours.

EuroSport: Benat Intxausti won the 56th edition of the Vuelta a Asturias after finishing second in the final stage, won by Remi Dei Gregorio.

VeloNation: Omega Pharma-Quick Step Czech to start in the same race as 2011 after post-cyclocross season rest.

CyclingNews: Bos wins final stage in Istanbul.

CyclingNews: Held under warm muggy weather conditions with a crowd several people deep around the one kilometer loop, the Athens Terrapin Twilight Criterium is a party where a bike race breaks out.

VeloNation: Belgian says he’s committed to both road and track, ready to ride a Grand Tour.

CyclingNews: After celebrating victory at the 2012 Tour of Turkey, Ivaïlo Gabrovski declared himself available to join a ProTeam next year at the age of 35. Ten years ago, he spent the only season of his long career in a team at the highest international level when French outfit Jean Delatour was a Trade Team 1 in 2002.

Pedal: Specialized-lululemon topped the podium again with Trixi Worrack (Ger) taking the honours in the Stage 3 Lichnov Circuit, 105 km, over Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Be Pink in second with Worrack’s teammate Evelyn Stevens in 3rd. Stevens remains at the top of the GC.

InnerRing: Bradley Wiggins sprints to win Stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie. There’s rarely a single winning moment in a stage race, instead a series of consistent performances. In plain arithmetic third place in the prologue and victory in the final mountain time trial delivered the result. But so did the sprint victory with the 10 second time bonus and above all the sign of confidence.

Bicycling: To get more benefits from your flakes, Oats, or clusters, look for the right ingredients. The rest is up to your taste buds.

VeloNation: Tour of Turkey double stage winner doesn’t believe in himself just yet.

Trixi Worrack: Today was the hardest stage of the tour from visible view,  1600m of climbing . Lucky the weather got better the last 3 days. They nearly had to take out the first long climb , because there was still snow on top of it couple days ago. It would have made the whole race different , because that was the hardest climb of the day and our plan was to attack straight away on this one.

CyclingNews: With the daylight completely gone, downtown Athens, Georgia was in full party mode – just in time for the men's Terrapin Twilight Criterium. The field was racing for 80 laps on the one kilometer rectangular course.

CyclingFans: Sunday's Tour de Romandie Stage 5, a 16.24km Individual Time Trial to Crans-Montana, gets underway at 1:31pm CET (7:31am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider. Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:00pm CET (10:00am U.S. Eastern) with a slight chance of an earlier feed.

CyclingWeekly: Rabobank's Luis Leon Sanchez took his second stage win in as many days in this year's Tour de Romandie to snatch the yellow jersey away from Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages & results),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

In a perfect world, the selection process for the men’s US Olympic road and time trial team is a straightforward, objective process.

Pedal: Garneau-Quebecor ace rider from New Zealand, Brett Tivers, was knocked unconscious yesterday during a multi-rider pile up at the Stage 2 road race during the Joe Martin Stage Race in Arkansas.

CyclingIQ: When general classification leader Sung Baek Park came forward to pull on a fresh yellow jersey at the end of today’s seventh Tour de Korea stage, it was the first time all day the KSPO rider had been visible for any significant period of time. One team manager called it “the most disgraceful example of stage racing by a yellow jersey that I have ever seen”.

VeloNation: Italian wins first race since crashing out of Paris-Roubaix; builds form heading into Giro.

CyclingNews: RadioShack-Nissan confirmed yesterday that proposed team leader Jakob Fuglsang is to miss the 2012 Giro d'Italia because of knee problems, and it now appears that his place in the squad will be filled by Fränk Schleck.

CyclingFans: Sunday's Tour of Turkey Stage 8 departs Istanbul at 12:00pm CET or 6:00am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Istanbul at around 2:47pm CET or 8:47am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

VeloNation: Van Garderen was hit in the face by the wayward branch, sustaining a cut to his nose that required stitches. Despite starting the day in 17th place overall, just 15 seconds behind Team Sky’s then race leader Bradley Wiggins - and only four behind white, young riders’ jersey Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Barracuda) - the 23-year-old was forced to abandon the race.

CyclingNews: Iljo Keisse (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) won a dramatic stage 7 at the 2012 Tour of Turkey in the capital city of Izmir, surviving a dramatic crash on the final bend with 500 metres to go. Keisse had soloed to a 40 second lead and looked to be coasting home until hitting the floor within site of the finish.

Pedal: Specialized-lululemon topped the podium again with Trixi Worrack (Ger) taking the honours in the Stage 3 Lichnov Circuit, 105 km, over Alena Amialiusik (Blr) Be Pink in second with Worrack’s teammate Evelyn Stevens in 3rd. Stevens remains at the top of the GC.

VeloNews: Well it was a dramatic day, Stage 5: one that left me and just about everyone else here feeling sick to the stomach, and, I have to admit, wondering for more than just a moment just why I am in this mad sport.

Pedal: The Whiskey Off Road event kicked off yesterday with the Fat Tire Crit in downtown Prescott, Arizona. Canada’s Geoff Kabush of SCOTT-3Rox Racing made a well-timed last lap attack over the final climb top seal the victory in the Pro Men’s field. Georgia Gould (Team LUNA Chix) won the women’s race.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Great handling bike for the race of truth, at a great price."

road.cc: The new, the nifty, the quirky gear du jour.

BikeRumor: SE Bikes loves the classics, still manufacturing the fluted seatpost. Now, they have additional retro bling in the lineup. SE’s 10mm Retro Headset Spacers emulate threaded lock nuts to make threadless headsets look old-school threaded.

VeloNation: Tour de France podium finisher will replace injured Fuglsang.

PEZ: By 1943, Italy was in chaos. For even a well-known sporting hero such as Gino Bartali, his public profile was no guarantee of his safety. Yet Bartali chose an even more risky course of action, as foreshadowed in Part 1. He would subsequently go on to even greater sporting and public glory.

CyclingNewsAsia: Each year we look forward to the Bianchi booth, we're always welcomed with a smile.

EuroSport: Floyd Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win after testing positive for testosterone, is the subject of a federal investigation into a $450,000 defence fund he created and later abandoned, a legal source has said.

VeloNews: American fans will get their first glimpse of German sprinter ace Marcel Kittel as he’s set to make his U.S. racing debut next month at the Tour of California.

In one of cycling's worst kept secrets since Jan Ullrich's curried bratwurst addiction, pint-sized dynamo McEwen told the Belgian press that he was "definitely done after the Tour of California" in May.

VeloNews: One name surprisingly missing from Lampre-ISD’s list of nine riders heading to the Giro d’Italia is Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi.

BikeHugger: There’s nothing like steel on the road and the Fondriest SF2 is what you’d expect from high-end, Italian steel.

CyclingFans: Saturday's Tour de Romandie Stage 4 departs Bulle at 12:25pm CET (6:25am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sion at around 5:25pm CET (11:25am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingIQ: 2007 Tour de Korea champion and multiple stage winner Sung Baek Park (KSPO) returned to his former glory in style today; taking a decisive stage victory in Yeongju and slipping into the yellow jersey by a lean three seconds over Optum’s Alexander Candelario. Chan Jae Jang, keeper of the leader’s jersey since stage three, now seems to have faded out of contention, after finishing almost two minutes adrift of KSPO’s charismatic star.

VeloNews: As Oscar Clark of United Healthcare prepares for the upcoming Terrapin Twilight Criterium, in Athens Georgia, he’s mostly focused on staying at the top of the USA CRITS Championship Series standings despite the intense competition that routinely shows up for the 32 year-old event. But just a couple weeks ago, this was not something he was even considering.

CyclingNews: Close to the win on stage 2 to Moutier on Thursday, Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) moved onto the top step of the podium today, beating a small group of favourites into Charmey at the Tour of Romandie. The Spaniard secured a ten second time bonus to move within 1 second of race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky), who was unable to respond in the uphill sprint for the line.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

Peloton: It’s just as well the Tour de France takes place in July and not in April, especially for most of those riders we expect to be battling for the yellow jersey. But with nine weeks remaining before the prologue time trial in Liège, there’s still time for all of the contenders to come to a peak in July—even the recently maligned Schleck brothers.

VeloNation: Controversy in Gran Fondo San Marino.

VeloNation: Frank thoughts on the end of a career.

PodiumCafe: Man, what an exciting Ardennes season. I mean, who could have predicted those races? Except for Fleche Wallone, that is - I think we all knew deep down that Joaquim Rodriguez was going to win that one. At the least, we hedged our hopeful bets by putting money on him too.

CyclingTips: The Cobbled Classics sit between the Semi-Classics and the Ardenne Classics in the professional cycling calendar. They're held in Northern Belgium and feature gruelling cobbled sections of road which create the decisive elements in these races.

CyclingTips: The Spring Classics are a big deal on the Professional Calendar. The way I look at it, the Spring Classics are basically split into three very separate and distinct parts: The Semi-Classics, the Cobbled Classics, and the Ardenne Classics.

CyclingFans: Saturday's Tour of Turkey Stage 7 departs Kusadasi at 12:30pm CET or 6:30am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Izmir at around 3:23pm CET or 9:23am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

CyclingNews: Sacha Modolo (Colnago - CSF Inox) beat Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) and Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) to the line to take stage 6 of the Tour of Turkey. Ivaïlo Gabrovski (Konya Torku Seker Spor) retains his overall lead with two stages remaining.

PEZ: Gino Bartali, the great Italian rider of the 30s, 40s, and 50s, would be a legend if it were just for his exploits on the bike. But his career spanned tragedy and triumph for Italy as a whole and Bartali managed to be at the centre of the action.

Cyclelicious: 20 wounded servicemen and women join 65-year-old George W. Bush for a 3 day, 100 km mountain bike ride through Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo Texas.

VeloNews: Newly crowned 2011 Giro d’Italia champion Michele Scarponi – who earned the title in February, when original winner Alberto Contador (SaxoBank) was stripped of the victory by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) for doping – will be Lampre-ISD’s leader at this year’s edition of the Giro in May.

VeloNews: Canadian David Veilleux is enjoying another great season, after his strong rookie year in 2011. He’s racing this week at the Tour of Turkey, and the 24-year-old said he’s really finding his way in the peloton this year.

RedKitePrayer: In the last 10 years a funny thing has happened with saddle design. Saddle shapes have become ever more diverse in an all-consuming quest to improve comfort and decrease the chances that your undercarriage will suffer any negative side effects as a result of logging long and/or frequent miles on a bicycle. As those shapes have evolved (gotten weirder) the number of saddles I can comfortably ride has dropped precipitously. There are whole manufacturers out there whose work I really can’t ride … at all.

road.cc: Fast, grippy and relatively cheap - but keep them for the Sunday best bike.

InnerRing: Ever wondered why the spokes appear to bend in a sprint finish when you see the photo finish image from a race? Are the riders going so fast that they flex the spokes? Or is something else at work?

CyclingNews: The UCI has confirmed that any points Alberto Contador may win the his first two years back from his doping suspension will not count towards his team's ranking in the WorldTour. “That is the rule, and it will be respected,” UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani said.

VeloNation: Details to be announced on Tuesday.

VeloNation: Italian confirms payment.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Compact and stiff. A hardcore setup with a fantastic shape."

Bicycling: Our 2012 Readers’ Choice survey turned up some interesting correlations between your bikes of choice and the way you ride.

Cyclismas: Argyle Armada tells the story of a year in the life of pro cycling, as seen through the lens and words of a photographer and writer trailing the Gamin-Cervélo team for parts of the 2011 season.

PodiumInsight: Recently, Jono Coulter, Technical Director, Vanderkitten-Focus, received disappointing news. His team did not receive an invite to the inaugural Exergy Tour.

BikeRumor: The brain child of Ian Schon, an engineering student, and Ryan Kelly of slamthatstem.com, the Slam That Stem headset bearing cover drops the top of your headset down to just 0.075″ (1.9mm) for that low, sporting look while saving a few grams, too.

VeloNation: Alberto Contador, currently sitting out a sporting ban for testing positive for Clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France, has indicated he is close to an agreement to return with the Saxo Bank team when his suspension is lifted on August 5, 2012, and said he is aiming at another Vuelta a España title.

CyclingFans: Friday's Tour de Romandie Stage 3 departs La Neuveville at 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Charmey at around 5:26pm CET (11:26am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

PodiumCafe: If any word could define his campaign (besides dissatisfying -- as he put it), it would be "change." Changed training and objectives, changed tactics, changes in the team, changes in the races, and changes in the results.

CyclingNews: Jonathan Hivert (Saur – Sojasun) won stage two of the Tour de Romandie from Montbéliard to Moutier. The Frenchman beat Rui Costa (Movistar) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank Cycling Team) in an uphill finish.

road.cc: Rapha Condor Sharp's Kritsian House among riders involved; organisers move to exclude most bikes from rest of race.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Joe Martin Stage Race - April 26-29 (Stages),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNews: Mark Cavendish has is sights set on the London Olympics, and has made the Games a major goal of his 2012 season. “The ability to ride the Olympics in my own country, this is a unique opportunity that very few athletes get,” he said.

road.cc: September's race to start in Ipswich, with stages also planned for Scotland and Wales & a tough race promised.

CyclingNews: Jakob Fuglsang can finish in the top five of the Giro d'Italia, and possibly on the podium, according to RadioShack-Nissan team manager Johan Bruyneel. He does not expect the Danish rider to win the race, but calls a top result “realistic”.

PodiumCafe: It's an unfortunate fact, but the women's races are still going through a precarious time - just yesterday, the always-excellent Gwéna reported that Le Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon, which was supposed to run from 18th-23rd May, and had ambitions of expanding to fill the place of the much-mourned Tour de l'Aude, has been cancelled.

CyclingNews: The Critérium du Dauphiné is mirroring the Tour de France in 2012, with not only the same top stars but with the exact same teams as the three-week race. Bradley Wiggins, Andy and Fränk Schleck and Cadel Evans are expected to warm up in the Dauphine on the way to their showdown in the Tour.

TwistedSpoke: The Specialized S-Works Prevail road helmet was envisioned as a Giro killer. Given that the head design people used to work at Giro, they know exactly what it would take.

BikeRumor: Copenhagen Parts, based in Denmark, wanted to create a light for commuters that was different than anything they’d encountered on the market. The lights have a slightly curved magnetic back to snap onto any magnetic surface. The lights turned on once they’re put in place and turn off when un-clipped from the frame.

CyclingFans: Friday's Tour of Turkey Stage 6 departs Bodrum at 11:10am CET or 5:10am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Kusadasi at around 3:22pm CET or 9:22am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

Peloton: Tony Martin will be on the line for the start of the Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn in Frankfurt on May 1st. The Time Trial World Champion is returning to competition after the accident he had on April 11th, while he was training on the streets of his hometown.

CyclingNews: Andrea Di Corrado (Colnago-CSF Inox) soloed to victory in the 5th stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey, attacking out of a six-man escape group. The remains of the break crossed the finish line 40 seconds later, with second place going to Jonas Jorgensen (Saxo Bank) and third to Jerome Cousin of Europcar. The peloton had cut the gap from a high of nearly 15 minutes to a mere 1:27, with Matteo Pelluchi of Europcar winning the sprint of the peloton.

VelocioSports: Evelyn Stevens won Stage One of Gracia Orlova on thursday in a virtual repeat of her win at Fleche Wallone. Winning at the top of a steep one kilometre climb, she took enough time out of her team-mate Ellen Van Dijk to take the leaders jersey going into stage three.

Jens Voigt: Well the Classics are over and so too the first big chapter of the racing season. It’s been a tough start to the year for the team, and while I don’t like to complain, I really think we had a lot of bad luck.

VeloNews: With increased scrutiny on BMX crashes and head injuries on the road, as well as brain injuries in sport, USA Cycling has engaged a number of physicians to develop protocols to help riders and their doctors better manage post-head injury recovery.

Gianni Bugno is a former professional rider (1985-1998). He won Milano-San Remo, Ronde Van Vlaaderen, and stages in all three of the Grand Tours. He dominated the 1990 Giro d’Italia, leading from start to finish, taking 9 stages and the points classification jersey in addition to the Maglia Rosa.

road.cc: Check out some off-beat fixie accessories from Berlin.

road.cc: Sure handling cross race bike with secret day-to-day ride personna, may lack 'cheeky pep' but compensates with ride anything dependability.

PEZ: Rob Panzera of Cycling Camp San Diego reports back from a little known but very worthy sportif ride on the Flèche Wallonne parcours, the day before the Spring classic pro race. With almost no hype and even less attitude, this little known secret is worth a closer look.

CyclingNews: Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) silenced some of his critics by defeating his fellow Australian Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) in a thrilling tussle in the sprint finale to stage four of the 2012 Tour of Turkey.

Boulder Report: Johan Bruyneel - All-Star?

One of the winningest Tours directors of all time faces his biggest test.

Ask Nick: Endurance bike design, wheel balancing and more.

CyclingNews: Retired professional Floyd Landis has confirmed that federal authorities in San Diego have initiated an investigation into his "Floyd Fairness Fund", confirming a report by Cyclingnews published earlier this month.

VeloNation: Alberto Contador, currently sitting out a sporting ban for testing positive for Clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France, has indicated he is close to an agreement to return with the Saxo Bank team when his suspension is lifted on August 5, 2012, and said he is aiming at another Vuelta a España title.

Wheel.

Marijn de Vries: Even though this is my third season in the international women’s peloton and it’s been going on for a few months already, I still get to experience new things. Like, giving your wheel to your team captain who punctured. I had never done that before. Until Sunday that is.

InnerRing: A silicone band, this time with a magnet attached. It is a magnotherapy product and there’s little in the way of science to suggest this works, especially when the magnets involved are small enough to fit on a wristband.

CyclingTips: On the surface wearing the simple cycling biretta appears to be a no-brainer. What could possibly be done to mess it up? As it turns out there are many variations to wearing a cycling cap that are easy to get wrong.

VeloNation: Australian speaks about race thus far, working with Greipel and Giro focus.

Peloton: This year's Tour of Poland promises to be far tougher than the 2011 edition, with a 1,234.7-kilometer course giving climbers plenty to get their teeth into, the race's boss Czeslaw Lang has said.

BikeRumor: Unveiled in early March, Colnago’s C59 is the second current-generation production road bike with disc brakes (Volagi being the first). Where it differs is with the integrated Di2 shifting and dedicated hydraulic brake levers without any converter.

BicycleRetailer: Accell Group N.V has completed its purchase of Raleigh Cycle Limited, one of the oldest and largest bike companies in the world for about $80 million.

Bicycling: Get acquainted with your derailleur for easier repairs and smoother shifts.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Good braking performance and sidewind handling but make sure you choose the right freehub."

Cyclismas: The circumstances that involved the South Korean police authorities centered around a very short bike ride, as documented by the UCI on their website. McQuaid, outfitted in what can best be described as “California bike commuter chic,” sported running shoes and tube socks while riding on a borrowed bicycle with clipless pedals. But what sparked controversy was his handlebar-mounted camera that took a 10-minute video of the South Korean president’s bottom.

CyclingFans: Thursday's Tour de Romandie Stage 2 departs Montbéliard at 1:30pm CET (7:30am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Moutier at around 5:23pm CET (11:23am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

EuroSport: Bradley Wiggins stormed to a superb sprint victory in the first stage of the Tour de Romandie in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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: Now that the big Spring classics are over, the grades have been issued for riders and teams. At the top of the UCI rankings is the King of the Cobblestones, Flanders and Paris-Roubaix winner, Tom Boonen.

CyclingIQ: With a ’100% possibility of rain’ forecast on local media channels last night, there was never any doubt about the wet conditions riders would face today. Still, the downpour at the start area only revealed its impact on the roads once the race was active. Less than three kilometres outside of the neutral zone, officials were forced to cancel this stage.

Lee Rodgers: “Chief Comrade… sorry I meant Commissaire. The workers… dammit I mean the riders — they are refusing to work… sorry, to ride.”
“My dear Head of Police, what do you mean, ‘refusing?’”
“Refusing. They’ve downed tools. Sat up. Gone on strike. The air, it’s murderous…”
“What reason do they give?”
“Chief Comrade, they… I mean… oh whatever – they say it’s raining too hard.”
“Oh, come on! WTF…!”

Peloton: Next time you are on a flight, grab a window seat. As you taxi down the runway look at the wing tip. Is it bouncing up and down? Of course it is. It’s bouncing up and down so much you might think, ‘Is that normal?’. It is, perfectly normal.

"I want four days off the bike and will then start again slowly. After mid-May I will concentrate on altitude training in Sierra Nevada before participating in the Tour de Suisse in preparation for the Tour."

Nicole Duke: "I admit, it’s a bit hard to write this as my brain is still foggy from the physical abuse I just put myself through.  I asked for it, wanted the challenge, and certainly got it."

Cyclismas: "There’s a scene in Mark Johnson’s Argyle Armada that, for me, just about sums up what’s so cool about Jonathan Vaughters’ Garmin. It’s not a scene that’s unique to Garmin, you’ll see it all the time in this strange sport of ours. And it’s a scene that appears, in modified forms, throughout Argyle Armada, at races in France, in America, in Canada. The repetition of the scene probably helps explain why some people like the team that Doug Ellis bankrolls and which Jonathan Vaughters has built. And helps explain why we like the sport of cycling."

CyclingWeekly: The engineers have designed the frame with slots in the down tube to take advantage of the Venturi-effect that rotates the air as it comes off of a surface thus reducing drag.

CyclingFans: Thursday's Tour of Turkey Stage 5 departs Marmaris at 9:15am CET or 3:15am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Turgutreis at around 1:49pm CET or 7:49am U.S. Eastern. Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 12:00pm CET or 6:00am U.S. Eastern.

CyclingNews: Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) silenced some of his critics by defeating his fellow Australian Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) in a thrilling tussle in the sprint finale to stage four of the 2012 Tour of Turkey.

VeloNews: After spending much of his career developing into the preeminent setup man in the game, the Aussie took the chance to try his own luck as the closer for Rabobank in the wake of the closure of the High Road franchise last year.

CyclingNews: The UCI announced today the final allotment of places for the track cycling events in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Great Britain and Australia were the only countries to qualify spots for all ten races on the schedule.

CyclingNews: Niki Terpstra is the first rider named to the Dutch team for the cycling road race at the London 2012 Olympics. Olympic coach Leo van Vliet announced the selection of the Dwars door Vlaanderen-Waregem winner on Wednesday.

CyclingNews: Chris Froome of Team Sky is once again battling bilharzia (schistosomiasis), a disease caused by parasitic worms. He suffered from the disease for much of 2011, recovering in time to finish second overall in the Vuelta a Espana, and had hoped to be rid of it for good. But blood tests this year revealed he still had the parasites in his system.

VeloNation: Australian gives his thoughts on team’s successful start to first season.

RedKitePrayer: As is typical of SRAM’s visit to Laguna Seca, there was a ride Friday morning on new gear followed by a tech presentation on the parts before lunch. The loop took 1.5 hrs. and gave us a chance to do some climbing and descending along with a bit of flat-pounding.

CXMagazine: The first Dirty Deeds [the cyclocross series that's growing the sport in Australia] women’s skills session was held last Saturday at Darebin Parklands. For a misty Melbourne morning, it was great to have a bunch of enthusiastic women arrive all kitted up and ready to go. Some were experienced riders who had participated in last year’s season. Others were brand new to cyclocross and were sporting nervous smiles.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Good range of adjustment options but adds half a kilo to your bike."

Boulder Report: Johan Bruyneel - All-Star?

One of the winningest Tours directors of all time faces his biggest test.

VeloNation: ‘Standard’ biological passport controls were carried out.

InnerRing: What is going on inside Radioshack-Nissan? There’s been some bizarre debate in public between riders and management over who gets to be the directeur sportif during the Tour de France. But this seems to be about more than just picking a manager for one month.

VeloNation: WorldTour race launched in capital, Warsaw aimed at pre-Olympic preparation.

CyclingNews: With social media becoming more and more ubiquitous in sport and the wider world, Omega Pharma-QuickStep sporting director Brian Holm has moved to impose some level of control on the way his riders use Twitter and Facebook.

RedKitePrayer: "A friend of mine owns a couple of bike shops. He’s one of those rare guys who is both soulfully passionate about cycling AND has the business sense to keep his shops afloat and moving forward in a variety of cool ways. He’s generous with his time (and his bikes), and he’s a guy you’d want to ride with and then probably go eat a whole table full of Mexican food afterwards. He’s one of the good guys."

"Now BikeRadar Training is up and running, we thought it'd be an ideal time for a video series on improving your road biking skills."

SBS: Ivan Basso says his participation in next month's Giro d'Italia is still not certain, with the setback from his crash at the Volta a Catalunya still playing on his mind and creating doubts that he'll be ready to compete in the Corsa Rosa.

VeloNews: Lampre-ISD will start the Giro d’Italia with two captains, defending champion Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego. However, neither Italian is clear about his plans or what the other’s role will be.

VeloNews: Benjamín Noval says Alberto Contador will be a man on a mission when he returns from his controversial clenbuterol ban in August.

CyclingFans: Wednesday's Tour de Romandie Stage 1 departs Morges at 12:35pm CET (6:35am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at La Chaux-de-Fonds at around 5:24pm CET (11:24am U.S. Eastern).  Tour de Romandie live video streaming should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

RedKitePrayer: Maxim Iglinskiy’s impressive, yet shocking victory at the 98th Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday ended a spring classics season that lived up to current expectations: predictably unpredictable.

CyclingNews: Team Sky's Geraint Thomas prevailed in the short 3.34km prologue at the Tour de Romandie, topping Radioshack-Nissan rider Giacomo Nizzolo and 2008 prologue winner Mark Cavendish by a handful of seconds.

TwistedSpoke: To win the Tour de France, your build-up for the three week torture test must be near flawless. No crashes, no extended illness, no screw-ups in race calendar, no extraneous events adding stress or discord, no doping suspensions.

CyclingIQ: A cruel finale blunted the lingering suspense of a stage-long escapade by two riders in today’s third Tour de Korea stage. Not only were 2011 Tour de Korea points jersey winner, Paul Odlin (Subway Cycling Team), and 2009 British Road Cycling Champion, Kristian House (Rapha Condor-Sharp), unable to hold off their pursuants until the finish, a controversial final sprint by Team Type 1 – Sanofi’s Alexander Serebrayakov sucked all attention away from the hard-fighting pair’s efforts.

Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages & results),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNation: Former Tour de France leader speaks about Colombia Coldeportes project.

Peloton: The first week will be our wake up call. The thing about getting ready for something so inconceivably overwhelming is that all of the months behind July evaporate completely.

BikeHugger: Simoni’s Cannondale with brass weights added to comply with 6.8kg rule, image from cyclingnews.

Clara Hughes: "I was a rotten teenager and didn’t listen to my Mom very much.  Through the many years of tug-of-wars I usually won, there was one thing my Mom would not budge with.  She always made me finish what I started."

CyclingNews: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) raced to victory at stage two of the 2012 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey 2012 in the south western city of Antalya, overcoming high temperatures and a host of world class riders.

CyclingFans: Wednesday's Tour of Turkey Stage 4 departs Fethiye at 12:00pm CET or 6:00am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Marmaris at around 3:20pm CET or 9:20am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

CyclingNews: GreenEdge's Robbie McEwen has confirmed he will stop his racing career after the Amgen Tour of California in May. The Australian indicated that he would convert from racer and sprint coach for his GreenEdge teammates to a completely advisory role.

EuroSport: Ivaïlo Gabrovski won the third stage of the Tour of Turkey in Elmali to earn a first ever win on home soil for his team, Konya Torku Seker Spor.

CyclingNews: Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) continues to lead the UCI WorldTour rankings after Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) clinched an impressive solo triumph in the final Spring Classic of 2012, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but the gaps are beginning to close at the top of the table on the 31-year-old Belgian.

RedKitePrayer: Gilbert’s BMC squad was clearly focused on controlling the race in preparation for what it hoped would be a decisive attack by Gilbert (or someone else). Unfortunately, this kept too many riders and teams in contention after La Redoute. Without a major selection at this point in the race, there were too many men left to settle things over the remaining 30 kilometers.

VeloNation: Irish pro hoping for good legs after recent illness.

Cyclismas: Daniel Friebe answers some questions about his biography of the greatest cyclist our sport has known: Eddy Merckx – The Cannibal. Along the way we meet some true characters, consider the truth behind Savona, and take a trip back in time to the 1971 Tour de France.

PodiumCafe: : With a spectacular spring classic season in the record books, and May just around the corner, it's time to turn our attention to the season's first grand tour, la corsa più bella del mondo (the most beautiful race in the world), the Giro d'Italia.

BikeRumor: So the story goes like this: One of Hayes’ sales guys left his bike with their marketing and product managers and road crew at Sea Otter with instructions to ship it home to him.

road.cc: Interviu magazine says masseur gave sworn statement saying he saw rider injected with insulin at Tour de France.

InnerRing: Cycling and coffee often seem to go together; but what about politics and cycling? First here’s a bizarre brew of Colombian cycling and Italian politics. Then there’s a more general look at those who have tried to swap pedal power for political power.

Gunn Rita Dahle Flesjå: It's still fantastic winning a race. My victory in Münsingen gives me affirmation that I am headed in the right direction. In London at the Olympic Games, I'll be riding the Merida Big Nine.

Lee Rodgers: "It’s a challenge, trying to stay in race condition for a month after such an extended block of racing between Qatar, Oman and Langkawi. The body naturally needs a break and also the mind, but the difficult part is revving up again before the next race."

CyclingNews: With the Spring Classics season now done and dusted, RadioShack-Nissan boss Johan Bruyneel is focussing on the rest of the season and hoping that his team can pick up the pace in the next few weeks and months.

VeloNews: Christian Vande Velde starts the Tour de Romandie Tuesday with an eye on the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. He’ll help Garmin-Barracuda teammate Ryder Hesjedal in his bid to win the Giro and then have his own chance in July.

Bicycling: A heart-rate monitor is still a smart training tool—as long as you listen to your body.

CyclingNews: Liquigas-Cannondale's Vincenzo Nibali is reportedly close to signing a two-year contract extension with the team, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport. The 27-year-old Italian has been at Liquigas since 2006 and is seen as one of the key members of the squad.

It would be difficult to name a more experienced professional than Rubens Bertogliati (Switzerland & Team Type 1) he’s been in the pro peloton since 2000, ridden all of the Grand Tours and pretty much every other race you can think of, from New Zealand to Normandy by way of the United States.

VeloNews: One of the BB30’s claims to fame is improved ankle clearance.

BikeHugger: The Turbo works on pedal action: faster you pedal, the faster the motor spins and the bike is fast, like snap-your-head-back fast.

CyclingFans: Tuesday's Tour de Romandie Prologue (3.34km) at Lausanne is scheduled to begin at 2:50pm CET (8:50am U.S. Eastern) with the departure of the first rider.  Full Start Order and Times to come.  Tour de Romandie live streaming video should get underway at around 4:05pm CET (10:05am U.S. Eastern).

OK, Tom Boonent wins the first part of the cycling season. It’s time for some Swiss stage racing! The 6 day Tour de Romandie starts tomorrow (Tuesday).

Clara Hughes: "I was a rotten teenager and didn’t listen to my Mom very much.  Through the many years of tug-of-wars I usually won, there was one thing my Mom would not budge with.  She always made me finish what I started."

CyclingNews: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) raced to victory at stage two of the 2012 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey 2012 in the south western city of Antalya, overcoming high temperatures and a host of world class riders.

CyclingNews: Powers also wins final stage along with Wingert.

CyclingIQ: Mini-skirt wearing dancing girls certainly had the 121 riders in good spirits prior to the rolling 197.7km stage, but the party really got underway at 10:05 local time, when the race left the neutral zone.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNation: Argos-Shimano and Cofidis join two Spanish Wildcards in the year's third Grand Tour.

VeloNews: "It has been a while since last time I wrote, too long to go over all the details, but I have good news: that light at the end of the tunnel I previously mentioned, well I have finally found it. It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t without it’s own hurdles, but all that is in the past now and I am more excited about, and focused on, what is yet to come."

If you’re using Mavic, Bontrager, Campagnolo, Fulcrum or newer Zipp wheels, there’s a good chance that they’ve got Alpina spokes and/or nipples in them. If you’ve got a BMW, Husqvarna or KTM motorcycle with spoked wheels or maybe a set of Borranis, they’re also Alpina’s. How is it that such a prominent Italian company remains virtually unknown?

Tour De José: Some pieces of kit are really, really bad. Giorgia Bronzini either had that time of the month or a really, really bad designer.

CyclingFans: Tuesday's Tour of Turkey Stage 3 departs Antalya at 10:30am CET or 4:30am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Elmali at around 3:11pm CET or 9:11am U.S. Eastern. Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

road.cc: Interviu magazine says masseur gave sworn statement saying he saw rider injected with insulin at Tour de France.

Peloton: Belgium's Tom Boonen emerged as the king of the spring classics, which ended Sunday, with victory in Ghent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders and a record-equalling fourth win at Paris-Roubaix. Two weeks after Boonen's blistering start to the season, however, Kazakh team Astana stole a share of the spotlight when Maxim Iglinskiy claimed an unlikely victory at the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

VeloNation: Tom Boonen still leads after his storming cobbles campaign as the season moves into next phase.

CyclingNews: Bradley McGee didn't call Team Saxo Bank's Spring Classics campaign a disaster, but he expressed much disapppointment over the team's recent performances. The blow to the team's morale of losing Alberto Contador to a doping ban was followed by the loss of Nick Nuyens with a fractured hip, and the Danish team was unable to accomplish anything in the big races.

CycleSport: Maxim Iglinskiy won Liège-Bastogne-Liège in a tense and absorbing finale, nullifying Vincenzo Nibali’s bold solo attack.

TwistedSpoke: The human memory is a strange and mysterious thing. Most of life’s experiences and observations pass through our mind with nothing more than a fleeting blip of conscious recognition. Every now and then, life throws something at us that seems to imbed in our memory like dinosaur footprints in Jurassic mud.

CyclingNews: Alexandre Vinokourov showed up at the start of stage 2 in the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Alanya with a large smile, as did Valentin Iglinskiy because of the win of his elder brother Maxim at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

BikeHugger: "In the future world of electronic shifting, I pray for complete inter-compatibility between road and mtb shift systems. Also, I want to be able to easily change the system presets so that a 10sp system can be configured for 9sp or 11sp without much more than a chain swap."

RedKitePrayer: The Sea Otter Classic has more different types of racing in one place than any other event I’ve ever attended—nay, any event I’ve ever heard of. Early on, it was a mountain bike event. Then it added a couple of road events. Today, it’s much, much more. It’s easier to define what it doesn’t have than all that it does.

BikeSnobNYC: This Just In - You're On Your Own For a Week!

CyclingNews: At first glance, the most striking difference between the 2011 and 2012 editions of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge is the length of the stages. Last year's race totaled 509 miles over seven days whereas the 2012 route covers 680 miles - a whopping increase of 25 miles per stage.

InnerRing: You probably haven’t heard of Jean-Maurice Ooghe. But the man in the striped shirt above is responsible for the TV images of the Tour de France and several other races, including the Tour of California.

CyclingNews: Megan Guarnier, the TIBCO-To the Top team leader currently ranked number one on USA Cycling's National Race Calendar standings, just may be one of the best US women cyclists you've barely heard of.

VeloNation: Dutch sprinter wants to look forward, not back.

TwistedSpoke: Is there a power meter that measures cycling data like this? Andy Schleck wants long time-mentor Kim Andersen at the Tour de France despite team manager Johan Bruyneel’s decision to hand the keys of the team car over to his man Alain Gallopin.

BikeHugger: Spy shots of new Dura Ace 9000-series are wafting over from Japan. This is the new crank, a departure from the 130mm bcd 5-arm that has been traditional for Shimano’s top racing crank for decades.

BikeRadar: On the heels of their RT8 TT hydraulic rim brake for time trial bikes, Magura this week released a converter for standard road bikes. Without a finalized name yet, it mounts to the steerer tube and is designed to be used with the company’s RT8 hydraulic rim calipers.

Cyclismas: Within the first 300 words of Daniel Friebe’s biography of Eddy Merckx the words ‘different’ or ‘difference’ appear four times. Over the next few pages one or other word keeps reappearing. Is it that Friebe simply has a limited vocabulary and no thesaurus? No. The choice of words is quite deliberate.

CyclingFans: Monday's Tour of Turkey Stage 2 departs Alanya 11:50am CET or 5:50am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Antalya at around 3:24pm CET or 9:24am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

CyclingNews: One year after a complete domination of the Ardennes week, Philippe Gilbert (BMC) leaves the Ardennes and the whole spring classics season empty-handed. After chasing his best form during the past months, Gilbert felt he was finally back in good shape on the eve of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The 29-year-old Belgian believed that he would be able to grab his last chance of a big win in La Doyenne.

CyclingNews: Theo Bos (Rabobank) won the sprint of the first stage of the Tour of Turkey to become the first race leader. Matthew Goss (GreenEdge) was second in the sprint, which was marred by a huge crash shortly before the finish line. Daniele Colli (Team Type 1) took third, with Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) in fourth.

CyclingIQ: Huddled at the start line of today’s first Tour de Korea stage, 121 riders shivered as frigid winds forced whispy rain onto their exposed limbs whilst the countdown to 10:40am ticked slowly by.

Rabobank sprinter feels circumstances are right to challenge.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Results),
Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages & results),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

CXMagazine: April cyclocross? In 80 degree weather? On a race car track?

TwistedSpoke: In light of the terrible news that Levi Leipheimer will barely make it to the Tour of California in mid May after his life-threatening crash, the odds of Chris Horner (RadioShack Nissan-Trek) repeating as champion jus went up significantly.

CyclingNews: Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) attacked out of a small chasing group to catch Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) within sight of the flamme rouge and take the win in the 2012 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Nibali had jumped from the field on the penultimate climb and tired to solo in the last 20km, but the Kazakh gave chase to claim his first Classic win.

InnerRing: For a while it looked like Vincenzo Nibali was going win Liège-Bastogne-Liège but he was reeled in with one kilometre to go by Maxim Iglinskiy and the Astana rider sailed past and soloed to the line, look carefully and you can spot the losing shade of lime green above. But perhaps this time there was no single winning moment and today’s race was instead defined by attrition and endurance?

CyclingNews: Kim Andersen has hit the headlines this week but even the Danish directeur sportif is probably slightly bemused by the tug of war he’s central to at RadioShack-Nissan.

CyclingNews: Theo Bos scored a meaningful victory at the end of stage 1 in the 48th Presidential Tour of Turkey. As the event is being held this year in the opposite direction as previous editions, from Alanya to Istanbul, the Dutchman's success took place in the same town where a dramatic crash happened in the final sprint three years ago. Following that incident, he was suspended by the UCI for one month because of he allegedly tarnished the image of cycling. Ironically, this time Bos outsprinted Matt Goss who is now a teammate of that crash's victim - and overall winner - in 2009, South Africa's Daryl Impey.

Just when you thought you'd seen all the trickest parts and heard all the coolest stories, along comes the incredible hubs from the Kappius family. Despite being the coolest looking hubs on the planet (with a carbon outer shell rotating around an inner hub axle and beautifully machined aluminum end caps), the hubs are quickly becoming the stuff of legend for their performance features.

CyclingNews: Andy Schleck is determined to be a factor in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, even if the 2009 winner acknowledged that his brother Fränk and Chris Horner will be the natural leaders of the RadioShack-Nissan team on Sunday.

VeloNews: Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) is a success story nearly 10 years in the making.

VeloNews: According to race officials, Valverde and others rode onto a shortcut designed to allow photographers’ motorcycles to safely pass ahead of the peloton after coming off the decisive Redoute climb with about 32km to go.

Cyclismas: At a dinner gala in Luxembourg to honor Uzbekistan socialite Gulnara Karimova on Thursday, RadioShack-Nissan team owner Flavio Becca unleashed a tirade of angry comments after a dismal start to the 2012 season for his high-priced WorldTour squad.

road.cc: British team takes delvery of new XF Sportbrake model.

PodiumInsight: Alison Powers (Now and Novartis for MS) is on a roll, making it three for three.  The former US time trial national champion won the time trial, stage 3 of  the Sea Otter Classic women’s stage race on Saturday afternoon.

PodiumInsight: Nate English (Kenda/5-Hr Energy) clocked the fastest time of 17 minutes and 19 seconds on the time trial, third stage of the Sea Otter Classic men’s stage race on Saturday afternoon.

Cyclelicious: A steel prototype of their LongBow bike. They’re calling it the “Viaje”, and they categorize it as a “steel adventure road bike,” suitable for cyclocross and off-road adventuring.

CyclingFans: Sunday's Tour of Turkey Stage 1 departs Alanya at 12:20pm CET or 6:20am U.S. Eastern and is expected at the finish at Alanya at around 3:20pm CET or 9:20am U.S. Eastern.  Tour of Turkey live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET or 8:00am U.S. Eastern.

Watch the Sunny King criterium live.

The race will be shot by five high-definition video cameras, covering nearly the entire course. On Saturday the women's pro race will begin at 6:20pm (Central Daylight Savings Time), with the men's pro NCC event beginning at 7:30pm.

TwistedSpoke: In light of the terrible news that Levi Leipheimer will barely make it to the Tour of California in mid May after his life-threatening crash, the odds of Chris Horner (RadioShack Nissan-Trek) repeating as champion jus went up significantly.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Start list),
Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages),
Tour de Romandie - April 24-29 (Stages),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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: Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) showed signs of improvement as the Giro del Trentino drew to a close on Friday, but the Italian said that he will only race the Giro d’Italia if he is certain that can compete for the pink jersey. Basso will make a final decision on his participation in the corsa rosa after he competes at the Tour de Romandie from April 24-29.

road.cc: Is it a box? Is it a shed? Actually it’s a pretty handy thing to put your bike in if you have to keep it outside. It’s a waist-height box with room for two bikes, which also has shelves for all your helmets, pumps, tools etc.

Pedal: Alison Powers (NOW and Novartis for MS) won the women’s  75.32km Stage 2 road race and continues to lead the women’s race.

VeloNews: The form of Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing), after his podium finish at Wednesday’s Flèche Wallone, seems to be improving just in time for the Belgian to defend his title at Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège – the oldest classic race on the calendar, dating back to 1892.

CyclingFans: Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege departs Liege at 10:25am CET (4:25am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Ans at around 5:06pm CET (11:06am U.S. Eastern).  Liege-Bastogne-Liege live streaming video should get underway at around 2:15pm CET (8:15am U.S. Eastern).

PEZ: Frank Schleck has hopefully learned that image is, in fact, not everything. As he propelled the 2007 edition of the race known as La Doyenne towards the finish, Schleck, lean and powerful and in full command, methodically charged up the final 500 meter incline. The silver chalice on the podium glistened where his name would soon be etched among the list of greats. As the television camera panned back, a second rider came into view.

CyclingNews: Andy Schleck is determined to be a factor in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, even if the 2009 winner acknowledged that his brother Fränk and Chris Horner will be the natural leaders of the RadioShack-Nissan team on Sunday.

VeloNews: Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) is a success story nearly 10 years in the making.

CyclingWeekly: "At this year's Sea Otter Classic, BikeRadar had an exclusive opportunity to test ride the new Colnago C59 Disc – one of the first of a new breed of road bikes equipped with hydraulic disc brakes. We borrowed the personal bike of Formula engineer Giancarlo Vezzoli, creator of the bike's brake levers."

TwistedSpoke: Stijn Devolder. Remember him? He won the Tour of Flanders in 2008 and 2009. He was once described by CycleSport magazine as “a rider with legs that feel no pain, and a brain that knows no tactics.”

Bicycling: Chasing the elusive idea of what it means to ride well.

RedKitePrayer: When the UCI’s experiment with the old “ProTour” began in the 2005 season, the rules did include an additional two-year exclusion for riders suspended for doping violations. The additional ban has never been part of the “UCI Anti-Doping Rules,” but rather it was incorporated in the “ProTour Teams’ Code of Ethics.” Unfortunately, like the ProTour itself, the code began to unravel almost as soon as it was started.

TwistedSpoke: Philippe Gilbert’s form is somewhere between 90 and 100%. Given his talent, that may be enough to take his second Liege-Bastogne-Liege in a row. But as he’s said, he’ll have to ride as much with the head as the legs.

InnerRing: Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the hilliest of the one day classics. Glance at the race profile and you’ll note 11 climbs on the route, plus the climb to the finish. These are described as côtes répertoriées, or “catalogued climbs.”

InnerRing: Track racing has a big debt to the USA and in particular New York. The sport was so popular a century ago with urban audiences that today’s Madison race, where pairs of riders take it in turn to compete in a sort of relay race got its name from the Madison Square Garden.

road.cc: World champion also looks back on early months of season with Team Sky.

VeloNation: Flèche Wallonne winner speaks about ambition for his ‘favourite race.’

BikeRadar: Felt launched their first full-suspension 29er at the Sea Otter Classic today – a big-wheeled variant of the Edict cross-country platform. The new Edict Nine will offer the same 100mm of rear wheel travel as the 26in bikes and according to Felt, similar pedaling and handling characteristics for what should be a peppy-feeling machine.

Watch the Sunny King criterium live.

The race will be shot by five high-definition video cameras, covering nearly the entire course. On Saturday the women's pro race will begin at 6:20pm (Central Daylight Savings Time), with the men's pro NCC event beginning at 7:30pm.

VeloNation: Colombian finishes the job after Colnago-CSF Inox rider drops his rivals on the iconic mountain pass.

Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Start list),
Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey - April 22-29 (Stages),
Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages & results),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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: The BMC Racing Team announced today the continued support of its bicycle manufacturer title sponsor through 2016. First registered as a US Continental squad in 2007, the BMC team has risen through the ranks to become one of the most powerful squads in the WorldTour.

CyclingWeekly: Team Katusha met yesterday between the Ardennes Classics in Belgium to discuss the consequences of Denis Galimzyanov's failed doping test and EPO use. Team Manager Hans-Michael Holczer expressed frustration about the case, nine months after taking over the Russian team and four years after his former team Gerolsteiner disbanded.

Bicycling: Chasing the elusive idea of what it means to ride well.

VeloNation: Sprinters ready to go head to head.

Oronte: "The Tour of Korea represents uncharted waters: For starters, this is my first major international stage race, and at eight stages, it is also the longest stage race I’ve ever ridden. At the same time I’ve never been to Korea – or Asia for that matter – and as such, my understanding of the Korean language and their social customs is pretty much non-existent."

Tegan Cox: I have been following professional women’s cycling for a little while now. I love cycling and want to support the sport anyway I can, that includes challenging the idea that no one is interested in women’s cycling. I had thought I had peaked at gushing at Loren Rowney at the Australian national road championships and after that committed to quiet admiration while the girls warmed up and worked on their race faces.

Steephill: Start time - Sunday April 22nd 10:40 CET (1:40 AM PDT);
Earliest live video - 14:00 CET (5:00 AM PDT);
Approximate finish - 17:06 CET (8:06 AM PDT).

TwistedSpoke: Stijn Devolder. Remember him? He won the Tour of Flanders in 2008 and 2009. He was once described by CycleSport magazine as “a rider with legs that feel no pain, and a brain that knows no tactics.”

Peloton: Andy Schleck had a right to be upset about the lack of aggression in Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne classic, which was won in a trademark last-kilometer burst on the Mur de Huy by Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha. “I don’t understand the tactics of the peloton today,” Schleck said. “Everyone knows that no one can beat Rodriguez on this climb, but no one attacked, no one did anything.”

PEZ: Ahead of a great Classic, it's always fun to look back at some of the PEZ crew's past experiences on the route of the race. Back in 2010, Dave Aldersebaes had the chance to join VeloClassic Tours in the Ardennes to enjoy the hellaciously hilly fun that is Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

VeloNation: Strong BMC Racing Team for Italian Grand Tour.

PodiumCafe: For Vanderkitten-Focus, Sea Otter is a hometown race of sorts as the brand is based in Berkeley, California, so the team always wants to show well there. But really, the "kittens" always look to go big. "Everyone’s got a chance in bike racing," said Emily Collins when I caught up with her earlier this season.

CyclingNews: In these two exclusive extracts from the forthcoming documentary film The Last Kilometer, Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin reveals his overwhelming passion for cycling that catapulted him to stardom and also led to his downfall.

CyclingNews: As the Spring Classics wind down, it's time for the peloton's sprinters to head to flatter ground, and the Presidential Tour of Turkey is the next big test for the fast men. The race will see the return of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD), who was hit by a flu before Milan-San Remo and has been on the sidelines since.

BSNYC Friday Fun Quiz!

VeloNews: They say you have to cut off the head of a snake before you are truly safe. Well, Italy’s high sporting court in Rome has finally beheaded The Cobra, delivering Riccardo Riccò a 12-year ban Thursday. It ruled he had poisoned cycling long enough, nearly killing himself in the process.

InnerRing: The cycling jersey has changed so much over the years. From a simple piece of clothing made out of wool, today’s jerseys deploy modern fabrics, reflect corporate sponsors and are cut to suit a racer bent low on the bike. This book traces the evolution of cycling jerseys, cataloguing all the changes via a series of photos.

EuroSport: During the Tour Down Under in South Australia, Merckx — the race's official human mascot — told reporters that he believed the sport to be 95 per cent clean.

CyclingNews: Holm astounded at Andersen's treatment.

“This is the style of racing I think suits me best. It’s incredibly satisfying, and maybe a little bit unexpected, but I will take it.”  - Alex Howes VeloNews

Michele Acquarone: "A few days ago, in an interview with a journalist from Bloomberg, I was asked if RCS Sport’s activities had felt the effects of the economic crisis which has struck Europe, and Italy in particular. There is no point in shying away from it: there is a crisis and it has made itself felt. With unemployment, fiscal pressures and falling consumption, it’s no joke. Our country is in difficulty and enormous sacrifices are required."

Ellen Van Dijk, Clara Hughes and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg placed 1st, 3rd and 4th respectively at the Borsele Time Trial in The Netherlands on Friday evening. Van Dijk taking a minute out of her minute-woman Marianne Vos for a spectacular victory. Green Edge’s Linda Villumsen took second place.

BikeRumor: Felt just outed their latest super lightweight mountain bike, the Edict Nine. “We took everything we learned from the Nine hardtail 29er series and the Edict full suspension bike and combined them,” said Doug Martin, Felt’s sports marketing director. “Our athletes have loved it on their first ride.”

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "A super-light, state-of-the-art, impeccably balanced fast trail bike loaded with outrageous value kit for those happy to buy direct."

CyclingFans:Friday's Giro del Trentino Stage 4 departs Castelletto Di Brenzone at 10:50am CET (4:50am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Passo Pordoi Val di Fassa at around 3:30pm CET (9:30am U.S. Eastern).  Giro del Trentino live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Italian climbs into leader's jersey on mountain finish.

Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Start list),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Results),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNation: Astana leader and team will begin Presidential Tour of Turkey on Sunday.

InnerRing: Flèche Wallonne race with a first prize of €16,000 for the men’s race and just €1,128 for the women’s race.

CyclingIQ: Cycling is a relatively big deal in the Republic of Korea; especially in the capital city of Seoul, where the race will end on day one. Almost a quarter of the nation’s 48 million people call Seoul home, so it’s not uncommon to see hundreds of early-risers cycling alongside the mighty Han river – which enters Seoul from the East China Sea on a roughly north-east course – thanks to the excellent walking and cycling paths tracking both north and south sides.

road.cc: The Femto Drive will be available in a front (white) and rear (red) version as well as a front and rear pair. Lezyne say that the front version pumps out 15 lumens of light while the rear puts out seven. The power comes from a pair of replaceable CR2032 coin cell batteries that will be included.

VeloNews: Standard procedure when flatting is to remove the wheel and then shift to the smallest cog (11, 12) before inserting the new wheel.

VeloNews: Fort Collins, Colorado-based Feedback Sports has a new repair stand set to hit the market in June. Called the Sprint, it is modeled after European, fork-mounted repair stands favored by many mechanics in the pro ranks. The new sub-13-pound stand will retail for approximately $270, including a carrying bag.

“This is the style of racing I think suits me best. It’s incredibly satisfying, and maybe a little bit unexpected, but I will take it.”  - Alex Howes VeloNews

The big challenge with 29ers is to create a geometry that allows the bike to move nimbly. BMC went with a lower-than-some (most?) bottom bracket, which made the bike easy to lean into turns. In this regard it reminded me of the Specialized Stumpjumper 29er hard tail which was previously the best-handling hard tail I’d ridden.

The race will be shot by five high-definition video cameras, covering nearly the entire course. On Saturday the women's pro race will begin at 6:20pm (Central Daylight Savings Time), with the men's pro NCC event beginning at 7:30pm.

Steephill: Start time - Sunday April 22nd 10:40 CET (1:40 AM PDT);
Earliest live video - 14:00 CET (5:00 AM PDT);
Approximate finish - 17:06 CET (8:06 AM PDT).

VeloNews: Ryan Trebon has signed with Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com to race the 2012-2013 cyclocross season alongside Americans Tim Johnson, Jamey Driscoll, and Kaitlin Antonneau. Trebon was seen riding the latest Cannondale SuperSix EVO road bike at Spy Optic’s recent Belgian Waffle Ride in San Diego.

TwistedSpoke: Cipollini never advised him to take EPO, that the subject never even came up. However, the Russian says the aging Playboy was a bad influence.

VeloNation: Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Giro next targets for Spanish Classics victor.

VeloNews: With Liège-Bastogne-Liège on tap for Sunday, Thomas Dekker (Garmin-Barracuda) is thrilled to be back in the action at the hilly classics. Finishing in the front group at Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race was a personal confirmation that Dekker is back on track after a few years in the wilderness.

CyclingTips: Road racing doesn’t follow the typical format of most other sports. There are no quarters, periods or rounds but races often follow the same sequence of events. It might seem like a thousand different scenarios could exist with so many variables, but when you’ve been racing for a long time you’ll begin to understand its basic anatomy.

PEZ: A feature of season 2012 has been the strength of the Continental and Pro Continental teams – showing little regard for the strength and budgets of the Pro Tour behemoths. Scottish Continental team, Endura won the French Tours of the Mediterranean and Haut Var; German Pro Continental squad took out the Coppi e Bartali stage race in Italy, Europcar has been stunning, and Phil Southerland’s Team Type 1-Sanofi continues to rack up the podium placings and top tens.

BikeRumor: Gerard Vroomen and Andy Kessler are unveiling their Open mountain bike brand today at Sea Otter. Fortunately, they invited me to give it a spin yesterday and take a few photos.

Clara Hughes: There’s not much I fear in life but steep walls of paved road make me cringe.  I look at them and have an allergic reaction.  There is something inside of me that just can’t get over the damned things without detonating.

VeloNation: Game over for rider once considered future Tour de France winner.

VeloNews: Evelyn Stevens (Specialized-lululemon) climbed to her most important victory Wednesday by out-foxing Marianne Vos up the Mur de Huy to win Flèche Wallonne Femmes.

BikeRadar: Here's the sixth and final part of the series following British cross-country mountain bike racer Oli Beckingsale's rehabilitation from the broken leg he suffered on the circuit last season.

Cyclismas: “He has robotised himself. There are no aspirations,
no sense of destiny, just an awareness that he is set apart, unique.
So he has transformed himself into a machine with the utmost meticulousness.
He is half-man, half-bike.” ~ Lucien Bodard.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "Short and shallow featherweight bar and stem combo with sublime performance."

BikeRumor: Raleigh has two new disc brake equipped cyclocross bikes. The RXC Pro is the top of the line carbon version that’ll get Cole carbon rimmed wheels (currently made exclusively for Raleigh), Shimano’s new ‘cross brakes and full Ultegra Di2 and ENVE fork, bar and stem.

CyclingFans:Thursday's Giro del Trentino Stage 3 departs Pergine Coop. Piccoli Frutti at 10:45am CET (4:45am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Brenzone Punta Veleno at around 3:52pm CET (9:52am U.S. Eastern).  Giro del Trentino live streaming video should get underway at around 2:30pm CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

VeloNation: Phinney drops out of race lead, team-mate Frank takes over.

Peloton: Tony Martin's physical condition is improving. Levi Leipheimer is still suffering after fracturing his left leg's fibula.

IrishPeloton: Two days ago it was announced that the ‘A’ sample of Denis Galimzyanov of Team Katusha, taken on the 22nd March, had contained the performance enhancing drug EPO.Rather than the usual blind denials and wacky excuses that we have become accustomed to as cycling fans, Galimzyanov made the decision yesterday to confess and apologize.

Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages),
Liège - Bastogne - Liège - April 22 (Start list),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Results),
La Flèche Wallonne Féminine - April 18 (Results),
Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Results),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

Chloe Hosking: "For the last 50 kilometres of [Monday's] bike race I kind of felt like that spoilt kid that gets everything done for them – but with one major difference, I actually felt bad. At one point when I was sitting behind Ellen and Clara as they charged forward chasing after the breakaway group I said to myself, 'Oh god, I better win with all the work they’re doing'”.

CyclingNews: Rabobank will return once more to the Amgen Tour of California, this time with climber Robert Gesink at the helm. The Dutch climber skipped the past two editions, but in each of his three prior participations, Gesink won the best young rider's jersey (2007, 2008 and 2009) and won stage 3 in San Jose in 2008.

VeloNation: Ardennes’ eternal second finally gets his win with a devastating attack on the Mur de Huy.

VeloNews: Twelfth in Brabantse Pijl, sixth in Amstel Gold, third at Flèche Wallonne: Philippe Gilbert is at least moving in the right direction.

RedKitePrayer: The superlatives fly about the Tour of the Battenkill: America’s biggest one-day road race, the toughest road race in the country, the greatest number of flat tires at a single cycling event. Since it began eight years ago, Tour of the Battenkill (originally called Battenkill-Roubaix) in upstate New York has skyrocketed both in attendance and attention.

Find it, reach it—and stay lean for life.

BikeRadar: The bike is a standard BMC impec carbon frame fitted with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic shifting and unbranded carbon wheels. The Lamborghini connection is brought in via the logo on the headtube, handmade suede saddle and handlebars, and airbrushed Lamborghini Argos Orange seat tube detail - the same colour as the Aventador LP 700-4.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "Functionally equivalent to Dura-Ace – just heavier and much, much cheaper."

American does the seemingly impossible and outsprints Dutch champion on the Mur de Huy.

CompetitiveCyclist: This is Evgeni Berzin, circa 1996. Above is a photo of Berzin, circa 2011. While I was critical of Herbie Sykes' prolix writing style last week, I must praise him this time. His essay in Rouleur 28 about Berzin's current station in life is the saddest cycling tale you'll read this spring. The 1990's racing legend has become a bitter and bereft Fiat salesman.

BicycleRetailer: Specialized is working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall about 600 Tektro brake levers used on some of the company's aero/time trial bikes and sold in the aftermarket.

VeloNation: Believes UCI’s rule is unfair and unenforceable.

“This is the style of racing I think suits me best. It’s incredibly satisfying, and maybe a little bit unexpected, but I will take it.”  - Alex Howes VeloNews

CXMagazine: The off-season isn’t really much of an off season for any of our serious women racers, as we found out in our last edition of Women’s Wednesday. We heard from racers like Kaitlin Antonneau, Christine Varadaros and Nicole Duke, and these speedy ladies have all already started racing their other season. Today, we have elite racers Genevieve Whitson and Frances Morrison weighing in.

BikeSnobNYC: A Certain Extent - A Short Jog Off A Long Island.

CyclingFans: Wednesday's Giro del Trentino Stage 2 departs Mori at 9:45am CET (3:45am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Sant'Orsola Terme at around 1:45pm CET (7:45am U.S. Eastern).  Giro del Trentino live streaming video should get underway at around 1:00pm CET (7:00am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: Rabobank will return once more to the Amgen Tour of California, this time with climber Robert Gesink at the helm. The Dutch climber skipped the past two editions, but in each of his three prior participations, Gesink won the best young rider's jersey (2007, 2008 and 2009) and won stage 3 in San Jose in 2008.

CyclingNews: Two races last weekend caused big ripples in both the USA Cycling National Race Calendar and the National Criterium Calendar standings.

BMC wins TTT in Trentino. Rujano real winner...

Giro del Trentino: Phinney into first leader’s jersey as BMC Racing Team triumphs.

VeloNation: American WorldTour squad dominates team time trial.

Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages),
La Flèche Wallonne - April 18 (Start list),
Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Results),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - April 13-15 (Stages),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 April 13-15 (Races),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

Garmin Barracuda neo-pro making impressive debut.

VeloNation: British rider keen to come back after broken collarbone kept her out of 2011 race.

Peloton: "For four months now I’ve been working on this project with Michael Robertson. He’s done the heavy lifting logistically, contacting and negotiating with sponsors, lining up flights, hotels and transfers, and sending emails to us at all hours of the nights with reminders, thoughts and information."

BicycleRetailer: When it comes to sports nutritionals, you can almost hear Allen Lim put quote marks around the phrase every time he utters it. Although his new company, Skratch Labs, is firmly in the sports nutritionals market, Lim's message to athletes is that they should eat food, not highly processed products.

SoCalCycling: Nationally-ranked cyclists, including SPY cycling team members such as U.S. National Champions Ryan Trebon, John Walsh and Nicole Duke, participated in the ride. SPY donated all entry fees, upwards of $5,000, to the UCSD EyeMobile for Children at the Shiley Eye Center, a mobile eye exam and care resource for underprivileged youth in San Diego County.

BikeRumor: BMC’s new Granfondo GF01 is a trueSpring Classics road bike. It got third in this year’s Paris Roubaix, not a bad finish for it’s debut, and in a vote of confidence for the new design, all of the BMC team rode it there.

BikeRumor: Falling under their Body Geometry aegis, Specialized’s saddles were developed in conjunction with one Dr. Roger Minkow to “eliminate numbness and soreness normally associated with other saddles by enhancing blood flow in men.”  Who doesn’t like the sound of that?

RBAction: Adding wheels to their already established line of road, cyclocross and time trial frames, Bailey continues to spread their roots in the ever-competitive consumer-direct market. They now offer three carbon wheel-depth options—32, 46 and 66mm—which come in both tubular and clincher.

road.cc: Russian cycling federation hopes that proposed event could secure UCI WorldTour status.

Wednesday's Fleche Wallonne departs Charleroi at 11:35am CET (5:35am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Huy at around 4:29pm CET (10:29am U.S. Eastern).  Fleche Wallonne live streaming video is scheduled to get underway from around 2:05pm CET (8:05am U.S. Eastern).

road.cc: First raced in 1936, Fleche Wallonne, like the Amstel Gold Race, features a tough uphill finish in the shape of the Mur de Huy, negotiated three times during the 194km parcours that makes it the shortest race in the Ardennes trilogy, which will be completed on Sunday by Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

VeloNation: Sixth place in Amstel Gold makes Belgian champion optimistic, if not confident, ahead of Flèche Wallonne.

VeloNation: Lack of racing may explain disappointing Amstel Gold performance.

InnerRing: A four day stage race, it is the opening Alpine race of the year and good contest in its own right. But it is a crucial test ahead of the Giro d’Italia. This year’s edition also features some wild climbing.

VeloNation: Russian squad encourages sprinter to cooperate.

BikeRadar verdict: 4.5 out of 5 stars. "Functionally equivalent to Dura-Ace – just heavier and much, much cheaper."

CyclingIQ: On reflection, the lavish attention heaped upon the final Tour de Filipinas stage pre-race by local Filipino media was justified. The 4,000 vertical metres of climbing punished all 73 starters but, tellingly, of the 19 riders that dropped out or finished outside the time limit, only one was local.

VeloNews: You might consider using this image as a decal on the stays!

BicycleRetailer: Less than a year after launching its women’s specific brand, Giant is investing more resources into the growing division with a new apparel and accessories designer, a second demo van to visit retailers and an expanding bike line.

BikeRumor: Cycling isn’t just about riding. It’s also about street cred. Apres Velo is out with a horde of new after-ride tees to get you just that.

VeloNation: The big news is that the mountains jersey will turn blue in 2012, having been various shades of green since its inception in 1974.

CyclingNews: Two younger Americans raced to impressive performances at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium this weekend. First-year elite rider Stephen Ettinger (BMC) was the top-placed American in the elite men's race while Keegan Swenson (Cannondale Factory Racing) made the podium in the junior men's race.

BikeSnobNYC: A Certain Extent - A Short Jog Off A Long Island.

In a late reaction to David Millar's book "Racing Through The Dark", which was published last year and in which the British rider recalls the years prior to his doping suspension, Belgium's former national coach José De Cauwer and the parents of Frank Vandenbroucke have refuted Millar's allegations that the deceased Belgian used blood doping at the 1999 World Championships in Verona.

InnerRing: This is the confession of Dennis Galimzyanov. In this handwritten letter dated today the rider admits to his team that he took banned substances and waives his right to the B-sample being tested. He states that he acted alone, even using capital letters to help emphasise nobody from the Katusha team was involved.

VeloNews: Breaking his media silence Monday, Contador spoke at length on Spanish radio about his controversial clenbuterol case that resulted in disqualification from the overall wins at the 2010 Tour de France and the 2011 Giro d’Italia, among other results.

RedKitePrayer: The recent car-bike collisions that put both Levi Leipheimer and his Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate Tony Martin in the hospital with broken bones emphasized the dangers every cyclist faces when training alone on the open road. Leipheimer was hit from behind a few kilometers from his team hotel in Spain while riding on the far right of the right shoulder of a busy highway. Martin was only five minutes from his home in Switzerland, riding on a bike path, when he was apparently sideswiped by a motorist.

“This is the style of racing I think suits me best. It’s incredibly satisfying, and maybe a little bit unexpected, but I will take it.”  - Alex Howes VeloNews

Bicycling: Few of us really appreciate how hardworking and integral the rear derailleur is until it stops functioning perfectly. Here’s how it works—plus tips to keep it running like new.

road.cc: Superbly engineered bottom bracket that's fully user-serviceable; should last an age although the steel-balled version offers better value.

Ask The Pro: After a long layoff it could be possible that your bike position needs modifying. Your posture or muscles may have changed, meaning what was your optimum position before is no longer correct now.

SingleTrack: "A nice trail on a nice bike: I rode the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains today on the Anthem X Advanced carbon/aluminum 29er cross-country race bike decked out with carbon-rim Giant PXCR 29er tubeless-compatible wheels."

Marijn de Vries: Tailwind, slightly downhill and we storm from Terlet in the direction of Arnhem. Kilometers without turns on the wide road that runs parallel to the highway.

VeloNews: On Sunday, Howes, 24, rode with strength that continued to defy the chasing peloton late on the approach to Valkenburg. He proved his durability is longer than his years; after being caught, he took a few pulls to help his teammates in the group, including local Thomas Dekker, and still managed to have the legs to finish 30th, at 47 seconds back.

Cyclismas: Some useless statistics for you about Paris-Nice: though it is often used as a warm-up for Milan-Sanremo, only four men have doubled la course au soleil and la primaverain the same season 1; only four men have followed success in the race to the sun with a win in the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2; only five have doubled it with Liège-Bastogne-Liège 3; and only five men have taken the victory salute at the end of Paris-Nice and again at the end of the Tour de France 4. In all, only twelve men have pulled off even one of those doubles. And only one man has managed all four. That man is Eddy Merckx and 1969 was the year he did it.

Tuesday's Giro del Trentino Stage 1, a 14.3km Team Time Trial from Riva del Garda to Arco gets underway with the departure of the first team at 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern).  Giro del Trentino live streaming video should get underway at around 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern).

road.cc: Russian cycling federation hopes that proposed event could secure UCI WorldTour status.

VeloNews: UnitedHealthcare put on a clinic on “How To Control A Professional Criterium,” during Saturday night’s ninth annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, the second stop on the National Criterium Calendar, and the third installment of the 2012 USA Crits Championship Series.

“This is the style of racing I think suits me best. It’s incredibly satisfying, and maybe a little bit unexpected, but I will take it.”  - Alex Howes VeloNews

VeloNation: Sinus infection means Australian will return home,

Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages),
Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Results),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - April 13-15 (Stages),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 April 13-15 (Races),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNews: Fränk Schleck hoped to celebrate his 32nd birthday with a win in the Amstel Gold Race yesterday, but only managed 12th.

CyclingNews: Despite not having taken part in the Amstel Gold Race last Sunday, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has maintained his first placing in the UCI WorldTour rankings. The Belgian, winner of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix amongst other wins in 2012, has a considerable lead on his rivals: 366 points. Peter Sagan (Liquigas), who finished third at Amstel and therefore added 50 points to his tally, moved up to second place and now has 229 points.

Observations from Amstel. What’s wrong with Edvald?

TwistedSpoke: What’s wrong with Edvald? We’ll admit we’re a bit baffled by the shy young man from Norway. At one point two years ago his teammates were calling him Eddy Junior after the Cannibal himself. They don’t call him that anymore.

VeloNation: Slovakian frustrated by result yet encouraged for future.

PEZ: The 2012 TIME RXRS Ulteam blends a shockingly smooth ride with agility that belies the bike’s exceptional high-speed stability. Its balanced character could find a home on nearly any road.

BikeRadar: Feedback Sports – makers of the superb Pro Ultralight repair stand – have added a new Euro-style model to their line-up that's similar to the models used by the best professional road mechanics. The new Sprint weighs in at just 5.9kg (13lb), it's impressively stable and best of all, offers a more comprehensive feature set than is currently available.

Josh Schwiesow: How will I convince my wife to let me get a cyclocross bike?

CyclingNews: Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) has been provisionally suspended after returning an adverse analytical finding for EPO in an out-of-competition test taken on March 22.

VeloNation: The big news is that the mountains jersey will turn blue in 2012, having been various shades of green since its inception in 1974.

CyclingNews: Two younger Americans raced to impressive performances at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium this weekend. First-year elite rider Stephen Ettinger (BMC) was the top-placed American in the elite men's race while Keegan Swenson (Cannondale Factory Racing) made the podium in the junior men's race.

Tour De José: In the country where everyone rides a bike, there are more bikes than inhabitants, the infrastructure of the roads makes for nervous racing. Turning, dodging road furniture and 31 rated climbs. That’s the Amstel Gold Race, the only classic this country has. Even though the 256,5 kilometres long course is very demanding, it didn’t really lead to a spectacular race.

BikeRadar: Giant Bicycles today confirmed what we'd suspected: the release of a new higher-performance carbon fiber version of the Anthem X 29er cross-country bike. The composite version is lighter and stiffer as expected, and it's accompanied by a new women's-specific aluminum version for 2013 as well.

CyclingIQ: An important part of stage racing had been missing prior to today’s third Tour de Filipinas stage; the peloton’s arrival into categorised mountains territory meant one rider would finally be able to mount the podium wearing the King of the Mountains polka-dot jersey. And then there was the one who got away.

CyclingNews: Spanish rider Alberto Contador (Team Saxo Bank) could make his return to cycling in the 2012 Eneco Tour according to sources at his Saxo Bank team. In February, the 29-year-old received a backdated two-year ban for a positive Clenbuterol test at the 2010 Tour de France. The ban ends on August 5.

Bicycling: Protect your noggin with one of these sweet lids.

CXMagazine: Cyclocross is a sport that requires a wide variety of equipment. Each week, we load our cars to the breaking point with trainers, wheels, tools, buckets, pumps, and clothes. Our race days are filled with distractions and keeping track of all that stuff can become an issue, especially for an amateur racer that doesn’t have the luxury of a handler who takes care of all the little details.

BikeRadar verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. "A small, neat, effective and relatively cheap way to keep your chain on."

Marijn de Vries: Tailwind, slightly downhill and we storm from Terlet in the direction of Arnhem. Kilometers without turns on the wide road that runs parallel to the highway. The speed goes up and so does the level of nervousness in the peloton. We almost reach the hill zone and everyone who’s not at the front of the race yet, tries to get there. Plus, everyone who’s already at the front, tries to stay there.

VeloNews: On Sunday, Howes, 24, rode with strength that continued to defy the chasing peloton late on the approach to Valkenburg. He proved his durability is longer than his years; after being caught, he took a few pulls to help his teammates in the group, including local Thomas Dekker, and still managed to have the legs to finish 30th, at 47 seconds back.

Dave Moulton: I was amazed when I arrived in the US and found there were absolutely no rules for cyclists; people pretty much rode anywhere and in any way they pleased. I remember my first ride with the bike club in New Jersey, a traffic light turned red, I stopped, and everyone else just kept on riding.

InnerRing: In March this blog looked at the award of the 2013 track world championships to Belarus, a decision taken with input from a senior UCI official with a significant financial interest in a giant construction project in the capital, Minsk. Whether coincidental or not, the awarding of the worlds served to highlight the significant conflict of interest between the UCI’s sporting interests and the business activities of Igor Makarov, the Russian oligarch behind the Katusha team who now sits at the UCI’s top table, the Management Committee.

Cyclismas: Some useless statistics for you about Paris-Nice: though it is often used as a warm-up for Milan-Sanremo, only four men have doubled la course au soleil and la primaverain the same season 1; only four men have followed success in the race to the sun with a win in the Ronde van Vlaanderen 2; only five have doubled it with Liège-Bastogne-Liège 3; and only five men have taken the victory salute at the end of Paris-Nice and again at the end of the Tour de France 4. In all, only twelve men have pulled off even one of those doubles. And only one man has managed all four. That man is Eddy Merckx and 1969 was the year he did it.

VeloNews: According to Sottas, in 1996 over “80 percent of the riders were drugged. That was when Bjarne Riis won the Tour de France. Now we know he was the best in a race of blood zombies.”

Bicycling: A heart-rate monitor is still a smart training tool—as long as you listen to your body.

Bicycling: What comfort foods do pro cyclists take on months-long road trips?

Off The Beaten Path: Should one grease the tapers of bottom bracket spindles before installing the cranks? Few topics spur as much controversy among bike mechanics as this question.

RedKitePrayer: They retail for $69.95. That may seem a lot until you ask yourself about the price of safety.

Cyclismas: In an unfortunate incident at the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday, Team RadioShack-Nissan superstar Andy Schleck was forced to finish the race after his SchleckChute™ failed to deploy.

VeloNation: Liquigas-Cannondale unsure of Corsa Rosa chances after a spring disrupted by crashes.

Peloton: SelleSMP Saddles always standout from the crowd. The massive, open channel, the ‘eagle-beak’ nose, and all around aggressive look will never be mistaken for the carbon-copy saddles flooding your local bike shop.

road.cc: Super-comfy mid-weight jersey that provides a little more warmth than normal in spring/autumn conditions.

CyclingNews: Anthony, Vennell round out podium behind Spaniard.

CyclingNews: Riders of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon staged a protest against starting the final 173.5km stage in Segovia today, afraid that snow on the higher elevation climbs would make the roads unsafe.

VeloNation: 22-year-old dedicates victory to recently deceased rider and footballer.

EuroSport: Canada's Ryan Roth won the Tro-Bro Leon race in sensational fashion, crossing the line on his own 13 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

CyclingNews: The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team’s Hilton Clarke and Jake Keough captured 1st and 3rd place respectively in the 9th Annual Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Giro del Trentino - April 17-20 (Stages),
Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Results),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - April 13-15 (Stages),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 April 13-15 (Races),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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: Catherine Pendrel (Luna) soloed to victory in the elite women's cross country race at round two of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Houffalize, Belgium. Julie Bresset (BH - SR Suntour - Peisey Vallandry) finished second ahead of Maja Wloszczowska (CCC Polkowice) in third place.

CyclingWeekly: Tour de France champion, Cadel Evans kicks off his Ardennes Classics campaign today in Maastricht at the Amstel Gold Race.

InnerRing: A thrilling finale with tension all the way to the final metres. Philippe Gilbert has eased up and Oscar Freire has been caught. Now Jelle Vanendert and Peter Sagan sprint for the line but behind them Enrico Gasparotto of Astana starts to accelerate.

CyclingNews: Even with first Niki Terpstra and then Philippe Gilbert leading the chase behind him, there was still plenty of encouragement for Oscar Freire (Katusha) from the throngs of Dutch and Belgian supporters huddled on the slopes of the Cauberg at the end of Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.

VeloNation: Three-way sprint taken by Italian after Oscar Freire caught in the final metres.

Pedal: Canada’s Veronique Fortin (Tibco/To the Top) took the victory today at the women’s 99.2km/62-mile race at the Tour of the Battenkill over Crystal Anthony (USA) LadiesFirst Racing in second with Canada’s Alizee Brien (Specialized-Mazda-SGC) third on the podium.

CyclingIQ: Short and punchy, today’s 103.3 kilometer second stage was done and dusted in a touch over two and a half hours. Having turned 37 at the beginning of the week, Veteran Filipino cyclist Arnel Quirimit, the 2003 winner of Tour de Filipinas precursor ‘Tour Pilipinas’, belatedly celebrated his birthday in emphatic style.

BikeHugger: This bike dates from about 1990 or a little before. It was made in the former East Germany by TEXTIMA, who made bikes for the DDR national team.

Clara Hughes: The Teutenberg name is famous in the world of cycling for more reasons than the twenty-five plus wins Ina garners year after year.  Ina’s the runt of the litter.  She spent her growing-up years chasing older brothers Lars and Sven around on two wheels. 

CyclingNews: BMC rider dropped out of Amstel.

Specialized-lululemon rider Chloe Hosking won her second big race of the year on Sunday in Halle Buizingen. After a hectic race and some serious work from her teammates, Hosking won the 40-person bunch sprint to take the win.

CyclingNews: For the first time since 2003 Amstel Gold Race has changed its finale. Back then the finish of the Dutch spring classic was moved from the Maas river banks in Maastricht to the top of the Cauberg in Valkenburg. This year’s change is not quite as dramatic as the 2003 switch. It can’t be compared to what happened with the Ronde van Vlaanderen either which left out some of its crucial climbs. Due to the modification, the Cauberg remains important as the final climb but the precluding climbs are now closer to the Cauberg.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "The Logos is a truly charismatic, maximum speed and interaction thoroughbred."

“It is good that I landed on my left side and not face-first. Probably I have had so many crashes as a pro that I automatically curled up and prepared myself for the crash in less than a second.”  - Tony Martin CyclingNews

CyclingNews: Three-time Tour de France champion and American cycling legend Greg LeMond is on-hand in Cambridge, New York as an invited 'guest of honor' at the eighth annual Tour of the Battenkill taking place his weekend in upstate New York.

road.cc: Mallorca camp is subject of film featuring team riders, while Tokyo provides backdrop to Knock for Knock short.

road.cc: Great steel bike with a good spec that's ideal for big mile riding and much more.

road.cc Verdict: Lightweight carbon cage that holds your bottle firmly.

CyclingNews: Billed as the world’s richest criterium, The Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium returns to downtown Charlotte, North Carolina on April 14th. The elite men are battling for a $50,000 cash prize list while the elite women vie for $25,000 on the 1.3 mile circuit. In addition to the prize list, there is almost a constant bell ringing for cash prime laps in both elite races. The elite men will be racing for 50 miles and the elite women for 25.

VeloNation: Snow in the mountains for hilly Spanish race as a late breakaway gets a long way clear.

CyclingNews: After attempts at the Route Adélie (3rd) and Paris-Camembert (16th), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) finally gave local fans confirmation of his exploits at the Volta Catalunya in March. On Saturday the Breton rider claimed the first win of his career on French soil as he outsprinted the whole bunch at the Tour du Finistère, the the same place where Thor Hushovd won stage 8 of the 2004 Tour de France in Quimper.

Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Start list),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
De Brabantse Pijl - April 11 (Results),
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - April 13-15 (Stages),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 April 13-15 (Races),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

CyclingWeekly: The Australian kick started GreenEdge's debut season by winning the Tour Down Under overall. He is also responsible for the team's biggest one-day win, Milan-San Remo.

road.cc: Great documentary from Omega Pharma - Quick Step on their Paris-Roubaix operation.

VeloNation: Acqua & Sapone has a lot to prove after Giro non-invitation; Utensilnord-Named motivated after Pais Vasco.

BikeRadar verdict: 3.5 out of 5 stars. "It might feel slow at first, but this high traction, high control stealth weapon soon shows it's fast and fun."

VeloNews: Clarke will again look to stamp out his rivals’ hopes Saturday night at the third stop of the USACrits Series, the Presbyterian Hospital Invitational Criterium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Steephill: Stage 2 start time: Saturday 10:26 CET (1:26 AM PDT); Approximate finish: 14:30 CET (5:30 AM PDT).

CyclingFans: Sunday's Amstel Gold Race departs Maastricht at 10:21am CET (4:21am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Valkenburg at around 4:45pm CET (10:45am U.S. Eastern).  Amstel Gold Race live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern).

TwistedSpoke: Chris Horner (RadioShack Nissan-Trek) has experienced just about everything in his career, good and bad. In his time, he’s won every race in the United States including last year’s Tour of California. Now perennial Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck will be riding of Horner. How wild is that?

VeloNation: America's Queen of the Classics set for Sunday.

“It is good that I landed on my left side and not face-first. Probably I have had so many crashes as a pro that I automatically curled up and prepared myself for the crash in less than a second.”  - Tony Martin CyclingNews

PEZ: With the cobbles rapidly fading into memory, the hills of the Ardennes rise into view. VeloClassic's Peter Easton takes a closer look at Sunday's opening festivities in Holland's Limburg region and the country's biggest one day classic, the Amstel Gold Race.

CyclingIQ: In what must have been a dream start for the local organizer, Filipino cyclist Oscar Rendole (Mail and More) became the first rider from the Philippines to win a stage in a UCI-sanctioned professional road cycling race; but only after almost four hours of fractured and attacking racing, averaging a touch under 42km/h.

CyclingNews: Nick Nuyens has had to postpone his comeback to the peloton. The Saxo Bank rider had hoped to return to racing at the Tour of Turkey next week, but is now looking to the Four Days of Dunkirk in May.

VeloNews: Cadel Evans has eyes for another Tour de France victory, not a win in the Ardennes classics, which start Sunday with the Amstel Gold Race. Instead, Evans said Friday that he is placing his allegiance with BMC Racing teammates Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet.

Lee Waldman: It’s a very long time from Nationals in January to the first ’cross race in the fall. A long time without that adrenaline rush we’re so desperately addicted to. To feed that addiction, I used to believe that racing on the road was necessary to keep myself ready for ’cross. But as I got older, and arguably a bit smarter, I came to the realization that I couldn’t maintain a full season on the road and then immediately switch over to ’cross.

BikeHugger: Taking photos atop a big wheel.

RBAction: More Dutch racing in store for the American team.

RedKitePrayer: "I figured Charles would have some idea about the best way ordinary lazy citizens like you ‘n’ me could do a bit of cycling advocacy that might result in a law all cyclists would dig."

Video: Belgian Waffle Ride.

Clara Hughes: The Teutenberg name is famous in the world of cycling for more reasons than the twenty-five plus wins Ina garners year after year.  Ina’s the runt of the litter.  She spent her growing-up years chasing older brothers Lars and Sven around on two wheels.  Not to mention the coaching her father has done for decades and his involvement with SRM and helping many pro riders find their ideal aerodynamic position  on the steep bankings of the Buttgen velodromein Germany.

InnerRing: The Amstel Gold race is on tomorrow but this is a busy weekend with some excellent alternative races. Sometimes a big race can overshadow the others, for example two weeks ago the Flèche d’Emeraude was on at the same time as the Tour of Flanders but I doubt many noticed the clash.

CyclingNews: Tony Martin's multiple fractures do not require surgery, and so the world time trial champion has gone home to recover. The Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider was hit by a car while training last week, suffering fractures of the eye socket, cheekbone, jaw, shoulder blade and upper arm.

VeloNation: Canadian’s near-miss on title in worlds sharpens resolve for 2012 Games.

CyclingNews: This day last year, Philippe Gilbert was, by his own admission, “almost certain” that he would win Amstel Gold Race. Twelve months and one high-profile transfer to BMC later, however, and Gilbert enters the third week in April scrambling for form after an underwhelming start to the campaign.

road.cc: Garmin delays, Kickstarting folded bikes, lots of clever clobber, shiny pumps, Fondriest & lots more.

CyclingNews: It's been nearly eight months since Daniele Callegarin (Team Type 1-Sanofi) suffered a serious crash during stage 2 at the 2011 USA Pro Cycling Challenge, but his recovery is finally complete and the 29-year-old Italian will return to competition at Sunday's Giro dell'Appennino.

Pedal: Pinfold, 33, who retired from professional cycling in 2011, is a four time member of the Canadian National team and has raced around the world with professional cycling teams including Symmetrics, OUCH Pro Cycling and UnitedHealthcare. Known for his sprinting ability, “Pinner” was also renowned as a selfless racer who worked hard to ensure the teams overall success in races.

VeloNation: First win of 2012 for former RadioShack rider as breakaway dominates stage.

Amstel Gold Race - April 15 (Start list),
Tour of the Battenkill - April 15 (Start list),
De Brabantse Pijl - April 11 (Results),
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon - April 13-15 (Stages),
MTB World Cup Cross Country #2 April 13-15 (Races),
Giro d'Italia - May 5-27 (Stages),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages),
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...

VeloNation: BMC Racing Team lineup for Amstel Gold to include Evans and Gilbert.

VeloNation: Schlecks not yet in form of 2011.

road.cc: In the last of his Paris Roubaix trilogy Phil Gale talks to three very different riders tackling the Queen of the Classics for the first time.

CyclingNews: Alex Rasmussen plans to win the prologue of the Giro d'Italia in his native Denmark. But the Garmin-Barracuda rider is also looking forward to many of the other stages, except for the final week, “which looks completely insane.”

VeloNation: Longer course makes World Cup race a closer challenge to the men’s WorldTour race.

BikeHugger: For heavy rider on a hot day, riding a long descent, and perhaps amongst a congestion of riders, that carbon clincher rim might see temperatures in excess of 300deg…hot enough for the resin holding the carbon fibres to crap out.

Stage 1 start time: Friday 13:28 CET (4:28 AM PDT);
Earliest live video: 16:00 CET (7:00 AM PDT);
Approximate finish: 17:15 CET (8:15 AM PDT).

Bicycling: Rough riding tips, whether you're tackling the infamous Muur or hitting local dirt roads.

CyclingFans: Sunday's Amstel Gold Race departs Maastricht at 10:21am CET (4:21am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Valkenburg at around 4:45pm CET (10:45am U.S. Eastern).  Amstel Gold Race live streaming video should get underway at around 2:00pm CET (8:00am U.S. Eastern).

Peloton: When conspiracy theorists examine data that tend to support their theories, they use them copiously to prove their point. That has been the case for decades with those cynics who try to connect the increased speeds in professional cycling with increased (or more sophisticated) use of doping products.

CyclingNews: “It could be weeks or days,” so answered Pat McQuaid in November of last year when Cyclingnews asked him when new biological passport cases would be opened.

CyclingNews: Tony Martin was only three kilometres away from home at the end of his training ride when he was hit by a car earlier this week. The Omega Pharma-QuickStep rider doesn't know exactly what happened, but he ended up in hospital with “the left half of my face totally smashed.”

EuroSport: With the cobblestone and Flemish races now over and the Ardennes classics just around the corner, Saddles weighs in with 10 key points he'd like to get off his chest.

BikeRumor: We spoke with Gerard Vroomen, Cervelo’s co-founder, about his new project with Andy Kessler, BMC’s former CEO. It’s a new company, they’re not working with any established players. It’s called Open, and it’s based in Basel, Switzerland, but Vroomen says it’s a very virtual company, operating largely in the cloud.

VeloNews: From Riccò to Zirbel, Armstrong to Contador, the court of public opinion is varied and unpredictable. Where fans welcome one rider convicted of performance enhancing drug use back as a spokesperson for clean sport, they crucify another.

RBAction: Creating a safer way to ride indoors - plus - indoor training tips.