Top NewsArmstrong, an early starter in Monaco, sets the time to beat so far.
44 minutes agoAstanas Lance Armstrong set an early time to beat in stage 1 of the Tour de France on Saturday, stopping the clock at 20 minutes 12.36 seconds.
Armstrong briefly was the virtual leader, but his time was soon bested by Tony Martin and then by teammate Levi Leipheimer, who crossed the line in 20:02.
Armstrong was an early starter for the opening time trial in Monaco, with most of the favorites starting later.
Follow along VeloNews live coverage at velonews.com/live. - [Read more] |
Some surprises in L'Equipe's list of favorites
2 hours 6 minutes agoPredicting the outcome of the Tour de France is a hazardous undertaking, but it’s one that the editors of L’Équipe — the French sports newspaper that invented the Tour and is still part of its organizational team — always take a stab at. They generally get it right, but not always.
After Jan Ullrich won the Tour in 1997, L’Équipe predicted that he would become the first man to win the race six times. He didn’t win it again.
In Saturday’s edition, previewing the 96th Tour, ... read more - [Read more] |
Tour De Pez: Another Day In Paradise
5 hours 54 minutes agoMessage by Gordan Cameron
Living it up as a Tour follower in Monaco wasn't quite what the singing drummer Phil Collins had in mind when he wrote his rather ham-fisted social commentary song, but it fits for day three of Pez's sojourn to the principality. Another early start lead us from the Promenade des Anglais to the Gare SNCF which is our gateway to the world of the wealthy. - [Read more] |
Four more junior national titles awarded on the track on Friday
11 hours 12 minutes agoThe USA Cycling Junior Track National Championships continued on Friday with four more junior national titles being awarded at the Home Depot Center Velodrome in suburban L.A. Shelbe Eck scored a national title in the womens 17-18 sprint while Ian Moir slipped into a stars-and-stripes jersey after his win in the mens 17-18 3-kilometer pursuit. Two more national titles were awarded in the mens and womens team sprint contests, and lots of racing that factors into overall omniums took place in the younger categories. - [Read more] |
10 more national titles awarded on penultimate day of masters nats
16 hours 12 minutes agoThe USA Cycling Masters Road National Championships continued with the womenandrsquo;s 70+ and menandrsquo;s 50-75+ criterium contests on Friday. Ten more Stars-and-Stripes jerseys were earned on the half-mile sprinter-friendly course. The final day of racing will go off at 10:00 a.m. on July 4 at Churchill Downs and will feature the 30-49 menandrsquo;s criterium races. - [Read more] |
Armstrongs comeback: real deal or whim? (AP)
19 hours 19 minutes agoThis is what retirement ultimately might look like for Lance Armstrong: reminiscing about his Tour de France exploits to an audience of suits and evening dresses who paid $1,000 a plate to hear him and mingling with a couple of princes. No wonder Armstrong got back into cycling. He isn't quite ready to go gentle into the good night of cocktail engagements and perhaps -- only he knows -- a life... - [Read more] |
Tour de Pez: Five Minutes With Maxime Monfort!
20 hours 55 minutes agoMessage by Gordan Cameron
Interview: One of the nicer guys in the pro peloton is Team Columbia-HTC's Belgian star Maxime Monfort, a smart and erudite guy, whose journalistic background means he has a fuller understanding of the press pack's needs ... and maybe explains why he's so patient when confronted by a stream of hacks, myself included. - [Read more] |
Bos suspended over Impey crash
23 hours 51 minutes agoDutch rider Theo Bos is suspended for one month for sending South African Daryl Impey crashing into a security barrier during the Tour of Turkey in April. - [Read more] |
Boonen cleared to race in Tour
July 3, 2009 10:57:00Former world champion Tom Boonen has been allowed to take part in this years Tour de France by a French arbitration court, according to his Quick Step team. Tour organisers ASO had earlier banned Boonen from the race after the Belgian failed an out-of-competition test for cocaine. - [Read more] |
Tour de France team time trial: the bike evolves
July 3, 2009 03:00:28<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> The new Cervélo P4 time trial bike the TestTeam riders will use in the time trial stages of the Tour de France: the opening day into the hills behind Monaco; the team time trial out of Montpellier in the Languedoc; and around Lake Annecy, next to Switzerland.
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CPSC Solidifies Two-Year Lead Law Stay
July 1, 2009 07:00:00BETHESDA, MD (BRAIN)—The Consumer Product Safety Commission cemented its decision this week to grant the bicycle industry a two-year stay of enforcement against a new lead limit law.
The Commission, which first announced its intention to grant a stay back in May, published its decision on Tuesday in the Federal Register. The stay of enforcement is effective until July 1, 2011.
The lead law is part of the Consumer Product Safety Information Act, which was enacted by Congress last August. It limits the amount of lead in children’s products, including bicycles, trailers and jogger strollers, to 600 parts per million, and gradual decreases to 100 parts per million by August, 2011.
The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association filed a petition with the Commission seeking an exclusion from the new lead limit because small parts like valve stems, spoke nipples and brake levers exceed the limit.
The petition included an exposure study showing that lead intakes from bike related components are well below that of lead intakes from food and water, and would not be harmful to children.
Commissioners denied that petition, but issued the stay. The Commission acknowledged that there are health concerns associated with lead, like lead poisoning and elevated blood lead levels, there may be greater risk of injury to children if the removal of lead from bike components results in defects or structural weakness.
Also, taking children’s bikes out off the market would force some parents to put their kids on ill-fitting adult bikes, posing a danger to their safety.
“The Commission recognizes that correctly sizing the bicycle to the rider is an important safety consideration and includes this recommendation in its bicycle safety messages. Children who cannot comfortably reach the pedals or who have to use the more complicated braking and gear shift mechanisms found on adult bicycles are at greater risk of injury than children riding properly sized and equipped bicycles,” the notice said.
The stay applies to bikes manufactured before Feb. 10, 2009, when the law initially went into effect through June 30, 2011.
For read the full Federal Register, click on the link above.
—Nicole Formosa
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Judge Eases Noticing of Iron Horse Sale
July 1, 2009 07:00:00CENTRAL ISLIP, NY (BRAIN)—A federal judge on Wednesday slightly modified the bid procedures for the upcoming auction of bankrupt Iron Horse Bicycle Company.
In a short 15-minute telephone hearing, Judge Alan S. Trust approved a request from General Capital Partners—the facilitator of the auction proceedings—relieving GCP from a previous requirement to publish notice of the bid deadline and auction date on nine industry Web sites.
An order signed June 22 by Judge Trust required GCP to pay for advertisements on www.bicycleretailer.com; www.sportsonesource.com; www.bikebiz.com; www.bike-eu.com; www.wheelgiant.com.tw; www.tbea.org; www.bikeoz.com.au; www.bicycleindustrynews.com.au; and www.btac.org.
But, Nicholas Kajon, an attorney for GCP said in a June 24 letter submitted to the court that his client believed the adverstiing would cost $7,000 and wouldn’t be effective.
“GCP’s experience has been that web-based advertising is cost-inefficient and less effective than traditional marketing efforts,” Kajon wrote.
Also, GCP had found that many of the required Web sites weren’t able to publish notice of the auction proceedings, Kajon said.
Instead, he suggested that GCP issue a press release announcing the sale to seven of the nine Web sites (excluding two non-English sites) and pay for an ad publishing the sale details only on www.bicycleretailer.com for a period of 14 days.
The judge approved the request after all parties in the case agreed to those terms.
The assets of Iron Horse, which went into bankruptcy in March, are scheduled to be auctioned on July 13. All bids are due July 9. So far, Pacific Cycle and Outdoor Cycle Group have both submitted bids for Iron Horse.
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