Alberto Contador won’t lose sleep next season thinking that his paycheck is going to bounce. After a season of turmoil that nearly saw the Astana team fold under financial uncertainty, it appears that Kazakh officials have stepped up and are guaranteeing $22 million in financial back to keep the Astana team afloat for at least a year. The injection of cold, hard cash from Kazakhstan’s state sovereign fund meets the UCI’s demands of financial guarantees and comes just as two-time ...

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Details of the 2010 version of the Vuelta a España are slowly leaking out through the Spanish media. The official route won’t be revealed until December 16 in Sevilla, but a newspaper in northern Spain has reported that the Vuelta will return to the mountainous region of Asturias and include summit finishes at Lagos de Covadonga as well as a new climb at Cotobello. Vuelta officials have promised that the race will return to such emblematic climbs in the Pyrénées and Asturias in 2010 ...

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Cyclist Christian Pfannberger has received a lifetime ban from sport for repeated doping offenses, the Austrian national anti-doping agency announced on Saturday. Pfannberger, 30, tested positive in March for the banned blood booster EPO as he prepared to start in the three-week Giro d’Italia as part of the Russian Katusha cycling team. He was subsequently suspended by the team. The two-time Austrian champion had already been banned between 2004 and 2006 after testing positive for ...

Anna Meares claimed a golden double as Australia finished the top nation at the UCI Melbourne track cycling World Cup leg on Saturday. Meares captured the keirin and 500-meter time trial gold medals as Australia completed the three-day event winning eight of the 17 events at their home event. After two rounds, Australia leads the overall World Cup standings with 210 points, 11 points ahead of Britain (199) with Germany (189) third. Meares, who won the 500m time trial in the ...

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The 2009 North American Cyclocross Trophy series comes to a close this weekend in the posh Hamptons area of Long Island, New York. Southampton Youth Services Park, a large swath of green built atop a former landfill, hosts the Whitmore Landscaping Super Cross Cup on Saturday and Sunday. Both races hold UCI C2 status. The weekend is organized by the Hampton Velo Club, which has hosted cyclocross races at the park — called SYS by locals — for the past five years. “It’s a really ...

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Joaquim Rodríguez might never get a ticket to the Tour de France riding for a Spanish team. Now the all-rounder is hoping to finally get to race in France next July after his move from Caisse d’Epargne to Katusha. Rodríguez is firming up his racing schedule with the Russian-backed team and it’s all but sure he’ll finally get a shot at the Tour. “It will be like a dream for me to be at the start line of the Tour,” Rodríguez said. “I will race it like I did the Giro in ...

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In choosing its bikes for the next three years, Quick Step team will be going back to its Belgian roots, signing a new sponsorship deal with Merckx cycles. By inking a deal with Merckx, the team marks an end to its three-year relationship with California-based Specialized. "It’s a matter of pride for us to have by our side such a prestigious brand and a cycling icon like Eddy,” said Patrick Lefevere, managing director of Quick Step. Lefevere, however, had nothing but praised for ...

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In choosing its bikes for the next three years, Quick Step team will be going back to its Belgian roots, signing a new sponsorship deal with Merckx cycles. By inking a deal with Merckx, the team marks an end to its three-year relationship with California-based Specialized. "It’s a matter of pride for us to have by our side such a prestigious brand and a cycling icon like Eddy,” said Patrick Lefevere, managing director of Quick Step. Lefevere, however, had nothing but praised for ...

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An untried Australian team pursuit combination beat arch-rival Great Britain in the Melbourne World Cup round on Friday. Cameron Meyer, Rohan Dennis, Michael Hepburn and Luke Durbridge clocked 3:59.599 seconds to win the gold medal ride-off. The British, who broke Australia's world record to win the team pursuit at last year's Beijing Olympics, fielded three members of their outstanding team squad ─ Steven Burke, Edward Clancy and Andrew Tennant ─ with Andrew Fenn coming in for ...

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You might have noticed that the VeloNews crew often preaches the use of tubulars for cyclocross, particularly if you’re serious about the discipline. Tubulars do offer tangible advantages clinchers, largely because of the ability to use less air pressure. That single feature offers many benefits that can play into the results of a race, including, greater resistance to flatting, a more comfortable ride and more traction. Don’t confuse our tubular tire evangelism with wheels. We are not ...

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Cyclocross and mud. They go together like peanut butter and jelly. Although, PB & J sandwiches taste a heck of a lot better and don’t hurt as much. The combination of a midweek snowstorm and temperatures hovering around freezing was the magic recipe for thick wet mud here in Colorado. Now, if you reside in one of the moist parts of the world, I know what you are thinking. Big deal, we race in mud all the time, in fact we eat mud for breakfast. Well, that is likely true, but here in ...

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We received quite a few questions in response to “Bad to the bone” which looked at some recent data in professional and highly training amateur cyclists in regards to their risk for developing osteopenia or osteoporosis. Please see these answers below. Question 1: Does riding my mountain bike help? Hi Monique: Great article. I’m curious primarily as a road cyclist who does some trail riding as well. Are there any studies out there on cyclists who do both or just trail? Hard to ...

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We received quite a few questions in response to “Bad to the bone” which looked at some recent data in professional and highly training amateur cyclists in regards to their risk for developing osteopenia or osteoporosis. Please see these answers below. Question 1: Does riding my mountain bike help? Hi Monique: Great article. I’m curious primarily as a road cyclist who does some trail riding as well. Are there any studies out there on cyclists who do both or just trail? Hard to ...

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Team Sky continues to bolster its lineup, announcing two new additions for the squad set to debut next season. Dario Cioni (ISD) and Davide Viganò( Fuji-Servetto) are both set to join the upstart British-backed squad. With these two new riders, the team now has 24 confirmed riders. Cioni, 34, has a strong like to Great Britain. He was born there and his mother is English, but he spent most of his life in Italy. A former mountain biker, Cioni switched the road full-time in 2000 and has ...

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Davide Rebellin promises to fight to clear his name of charges that he doped to win the silver medal at the Beijing Summer Olympic Games. UCI officials revealed earlier this week it intends to disqualify the 37-year-old Rebellin after he tested positive for CERA and revoke his Olympic medal and prize money. In his first public comments on the case, Rebellin said he is initiating an appeal process to fend off allegations. “Even though no one believes me that I am innocent and everyone ...

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After months of wrangling, it looks like Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will stay with Astana for another year. The two-time Tour winner announced Thursday he will fulfill the final year of his three-year contract with the troubled Kazakh-backed team and ride in Astana colors next season. “Alberto Contador and his current team, Astana, have reached a preliminary agreement to fulfill the remainder of the contract that binds them to the end of 2010,” a statement read. “The ...

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Olympic silver medalist Anna Meares headlined a winning night for Australia with victory over her Chinese rival Guo Shuang in the women's sprint at the Melbourne World Cup round on Thursday. Meares beat Guo by two heats to nil in the best-of-three gold medal ride-off in one of three Australian victories on the opening night of the track World Cup. World champion Cameron Meyer won the men's points race and Australia's Jayco professional squad claimed the team sprint. Meares beat Guo in ...

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This cyclocross season, filmmaker Andy Frothingham is following two professional racers through their seasons, checking in with them at events around the country and at their homes in Colorado between races. The third episode is presented here today. The featured riders are Amy Dombroski of the Richard Sachs team and Jonathan Baker of the Hudz-Subaru Cycling Team. Dombroski is a multi-time national champion in the U23 category and an emerging powerhouse in the elite ranks. Baker has ...

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Dear Explainer, I recently read about the UCI’s decision to strip Davide Rebellin of the silver medal he “won” at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing because he tested positive for CERA. As my kid would say, “big whoop.” It’s now November of 2009! The race was in August of 2008. What the (heck)? So more than a year later Fabian Cancellara finds out he actually won a silver medal and the bronze medal goes to a guy – Alexander Kolobnev – who never even got the chance to stand on a ...

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Over the past month spent cycling across the United States in an effort to bring awareness to the cancer that claimed the life of his 6-year-old son Pablo, Los Angeles-based record label co-founder Jeff Castelaz has faced tornado warnings, muscle cramps and irate motorists. However these physical obstacles have paled in comparison to the emotions he’s faced while balancing the painful reconciliation of his son’s death with the groundswell of support he’s received from the cancer, ...

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