Americans love using our cars, but we all pay a price for it.
Driving everywhere impacts our health, our environment, and our finances. Luckily, there’s a better solution: biking.
There’s Always Greg LeMond
May 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment
An American cyclist cheats death then returns to his sport to win its premier event, the grueling three-week-long Tour de France.
Thus reads the hagiography of Lance Armstrong, who survived advanced testicular cancer then won the 1999 Tour. But it is also the story of Greg LeMond, who rode victoriously into Paris ten years earlier with 37 shotgun pellets in his body, the result of a 1987 hunting accident.
2009 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne | Preview and Start List
February 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment
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The Classic’s season is underway with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne set to kick off this Sunday, March 1st in Belgium! Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is the first major classics race of the season traditionally following the lesser known Ghent-Ghent.
‘Classics’ races are long one day races that test the metal of riders who can grit through tough conditions, relatively flat surfaces, and choppy, cobbled terrain.
Typically, one would see riders such as Tom Boonen or George Hincapie win one of these races rather than an Alberto Contador or Lance Armstrong who can out-climb or out-time trial the rest of the field. Expect to see Quick-Step make a huge effort for race favorites Tom Boonen and Steven de Jongh. You can catch all the live action on the premium edition of cycling.tv.
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Here’s the start list. The field is stacked with all the major pro tour teams including Quick-Step, Columbia, Astana, Garmin-Slipstream, Rabobank, and Saxo-Bank among others. Former winners of the race include Tom Boonen, George Hincapie, and most recently Steven de Jongh.
SILENCE – LOTTO
1. Roelandts Jurgen (kamp. Van België)
2. Hoste Leif
3. Dekker Thomas (NED)
4. Lang Sebastian (GER)
5. Ljungblad Jonas (SWE)
6. DHollander Glenn
7. Elijzen Michiel (NED)
8. Kaisen Olivier
Sportbest. : Dewolf Dirk.
QUICK STEP – INNERGETIC
11. Boonen Tom
12. Devolder Stijn
13. De Jongh Steven (NED)
14. De Weert Kevin
15. Hovelynck Kurt
16. Hulsmans Kevin
17. Van De Walle Jurgen
18. Wijnants Maarten
Sportbest. :.Peeters Wilfried.
TEAM COLUMBIA – High Road.
21. Boasson Hagen Edvald (NOR)
22. Burghardt Marcus (GER)
23 Eisel Bernhard (AUT)
24. Grabsch Bert (GER)
25. Rabon Frantisek (CZE)
26. Dockx Gert
27. Sieberg Marcel (GER)
28. Reynes Mimo Vicente (ESP)
Sportbest. : Peiper Allan
TEAM MILRAM.
31. Ciolek Gerald (GER)
32. Wrolich Peter (AUT).
33. Eichler Markus (GER)
34. Fothen Thomas (GER)
35. Knaven Servais (NED)
36. Müller Martin (GER)
37. Terpstra Niki (NED)
38. Velits Martin (SLO)
Sportbest. : Henn Christian
RABOBANK.
41. Flecha Juan Antonio (ESP)
42. Tjallingii Maarten (NED)
43. Hayman Matthew (AUS)
44. Tankink Bram (NED)
45. Flens Rick (NED)
46. Langeveld Sebastien (NED)
47. Leezer Toml (NED)
48.Van Emden Jos (NED)
Sportbest. Dekker Eric
TEAM SAXO BANK;
51. Kroon Karsten (NED)
52. Breschel Matthew (AUS)
53. Goss Matthew (AUS)
54. Hoj Frank (DEN)
55. Ljungqvist Marcus (SWE)
56. Rasmussen Alex (DEN)
57. Klemme Dominic (GER)
58. Bak Lars (DEN)
Sportbest. : Andersen Kim.
FRANCAISE DES JEUX.
61. Meersman Gianni
62. Chavanel Sébastien (FRA)
63 Hutarovich Yayhenie (BLR)
64. Ladagnous Matthieu (FRA)
65. Guesdon Fréderic (FRA)
66. Salzberger Wesley (AUT)
67. Offredo Yoann (FRA)
68. Geslin Anthony (FRA)
Sportbest. : Marc Madiot
BBOX BOUYGUES TELEKOM
71. Bernaudeau Giovanni (FRA)
72. Bonnet William (FRA)
73. Claude Mathieu (FRA)
74. Gaudin Damien (FRA)
75. Gene Yohann (FRA)
76. Haddou Saïd (FRA)
77. Labbe Arnaud (FRA)
78. Le Floch Guillaume (FRA)
Sportbest. : Dominique Arnould
COFIDIS – LE CREDIT EN LIGNE
81. Blain Alexandre (FRA)
82. Blot Guillaume (FRA)
83 .Duclos-Lasalle Hervé (FRA)
84. Duque Leonardo (COL)
85. Minard Sébastien (FRA).
86. Sijmens Nico
87. Usov Alexandre (KAZ)
88. Villa Romain (FRA)
Sportbest. : Deloeuil Alain
KATUSHA.
91. Steegmans Gert
92. Mc Ewen Robbie (AUS)
93. Napolitano Danilo (ITA)
94. Mikhailov Guennadi (RUS)
95. Ivanov Sergey (RUS)
96. De Haes Kenny
97. Vandenbergh Stijn
98. Vantomme Maxime-
Sportbest.: Parsani Serge
ASTANA
101. Dmitriyev Valeriy (KAZ)
102. Kupeshov Berik (KAZ)
103. Muravyev Dmitriy (KAZ)
104. Raimbekov Boklat (KAZ)
105. Renev Sergey (KAZ)
106. Rast Gregory (SUI)
107. Schär Michael (SUI)
108. Vaitkus Tomas (LTU)
Sportbest. : Demol Dirk
AG2R – LA MONDIALE
111. Clerc Aurélien (SUI)
112. Hinault Sébastien (FRA)
113. Dion Renaud (FRA)
114. Mondory Lloyd (FRA)
115. Pineau Cédric (FRA)
116. Poulhies Stéphane (FRA)
117. Rousseau Nicolas (FRA
118. Smukulis Gatis (LET)
Sportbest. : Mas Gilles
VACANSOLEIL.
121. Bozic Borut (SLO)
122. Cooke Baden (AUS)
123. Pronk Matthé (NED)
124. Traksel Bobbie (NED)
125. Mol Wouter (NED)
126. Honig Reinier (NED)
127. Van Groen Arnoud (NED)
128.Hoogerland Johnny (NED)
Sportbest. : Hilaire Van Der Schueren
CERVELO Test Team
131. Hammond Roger (GBR)
132. Haussler Heinrich (GER)
133. Hunt Jeremy (GBR)
134. Klier Andreas (GER)
135. Lancaster Brett (AUS)
136. Rasch Gabriel (NOR)
137. Reimer Martin (GER)
138. Rollin Dominique (CAN)
Sportbest : Zemke Jens
GARMIN – SLIPSTREAM
141. Dekkers Hans (NED)
142. Duijn Huub (NED)
143. Farrar Tyler (USA)
144. Freidman Michael (USA)
145. Frischkorn Will (USA)
146. Maaskant Martijn (NED)
147. Patour Killian (FRA)
148. Sutton Chris (AUS)
Sportbest. : Weltz Johnny
AN POST TEAM SEAN KELLY.
151. Eeckhout Nico
152. De Schrooder Benny
153. Peeters Jef
154 .O’Loughlin David (IRL)
155. O’Brien Paidi (IRL)
156. Van Vooren Steven
157. Lisabeth Kenny
158. Cassidy Mark (IRL)
Sportbest. : Bogaerts Kurt
ISD Cycling Team.
161. Abakoumov Igor
162. Huzarshi Bartosz (UKR)
163. Kostyuk Denys (UKR)
164. Kvachuk Oleksandr (UKR)
165. Krivtsov Dmytro (UKR)
166 .Matveyev Sergi (UKR)
167. Kondrut Vitaliy (UKR)
168. Stannard Ian (GBR)
Sportbest.: Elli Alberto
TOPSPORT V LAAANDEREN
171. Maes Nikolas
172. Bakelants Jan
173. Joseph Stijn
174. Vanspeybrouck Pieter
175. Goddaert Kristof
176. Vandewalle Kristof
177. Lodewyckx Klaas
178. Neirynck Stijn
Sportbest. : Planckaert Walter
AGRITUBEL;
181 Berges Emilien (FRA)
182. Caethoven Steven
183. Lequatre Geoffroy (FRA)
184. Laurent Christophe (FRA
185. Ravard Anthony (ESP)
186. Feillu Roomain (FRA)
187. .Ista Kevin
188. Jalabert Nicolas (FRA)
Sportbest. : Denis Leproux
REVOR – JARTAZI Cycling Team.
191. De Decker Bjorn
192. Kaupas Vykautas (LTU)
193 Meeusen Tim
194. Pannekoek Jorg
195. Striska Midaugas (LTU)
196. Van Braeckel Kenny
197.Van Huffel Nic
198. Berden Ben
Sportbest. : Vanderspinnen Jean
SKIL – SKIL-SHIMANO
201. Docker Mitchell (AUS)
202. De Kort Koen (NED)
203. Deroo David (FRA)
204. Goesinnen Floris (NED)
205. Van Hummel Kenny (NED)
206. Corvers Roy² (NED)
207. Veelers Tom (NED)
208. De Backer Bert
Sportbest.:Kemna Rudi
LANDBOUWKREDIET – COLNAGO
211. Flahaut Denis
212. Boucher David (FRA)
213. Ricci Poggi Martial (FRA)
214. Delfosse Sébastien
215. Gourgue Benjamin
216. Barbe Koen
217. Amorison Frédéric
218. Neyrinck Kevin
Sportbest. : Van Coillie Claude
VERANDAS WILLEMS;
221. Van Dijk Stefan (NED)
222. Vanlandschoot James
223. Van Den Houte Sven
224. Pratte Philippe
225. Baiolet Nicolas
226. Criquielion Mathieu
227. Pardini Olivier
228. Van Melsen Kevin
Sportbest. :Van Impe Lucien
CC BOURGAS
231. Tombak Janek (EST)
232. Putsep Erki (EST)
233. Dempster Zak (AUS)
234. Ghyllebert Pieter
235. Hristov Stefan (BUL)
236. Lasis Normunds (LAT)
237. Cauquil Yohan (FRA)
238. Prazdnovski Martin (SVK)
Sportbest.: Van Haesebroucke Franky
PALMANS – COLLSTROP.
241. Cappelle Dieter
242. De Wilde Sjef
243. François Jurgen
244. Hoornaert Stijn
245. Omloop Geert
246. Vanbecelaere Tom
247. Vangheel Timothy
248. Zen Jean (FRA)
Sportbest. : Omloop Marcel.
2009 Tour de France Route, Schedule, Dates, and Television Coverage
February 18, 2009 By 1 Comment
The 2009 Tour de France will mark the return of 7-Time Tour Champion Lance Armstrong. Armstrong will be riding alongside Alberto Contador, who has won the Giro, Vuelta, and Tour de France and is undoubtedly the best stage race cyclist on the planet. Other notable riders will include Carlos Sastre, Cadel Evans, Christian Vande Velde, Danilo Di Luca, Ivan Basso, Mark Cavendish, Tom Boonen, and Thor Hushovd.
Note: The television schedule has not yet been released, however Versus will be picking up every stage live and have highlights following the stages. Cycling.tv will have highlights after the stages completion. The TV Start column will be updated once the schedules are released.
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2009 Tour de France Schedule, Route, and Dates
| Stage | Date | Type | Distance | Profile | Where | TV Start |
| Stage 1 | 7/4 | TT | 15K | Link | Monaco -> Monaco | |
| Stage 2 | 7/5 | FLAT | 182K | Link | Monaco -> Brignoles | |
| Stage 3 | 7/6 | FLAT | 196K | Link | Marseille -> La Grande-Motte | |
| Stage 4 | 7/7 | TTT | 38K | Link | Montpellier -> Montpellier | |
| Stage 5 | 7/8 | FLAT | 197K | Link | Le Cap d’Agde -> Perpignan | |
| Stage 6 | 7/9 | FLAT | 175K | Link | Girona -> Barcelona | |
| Stage 7 | 7/10 | MT | 224K | Link | Barcelona -> Arcalis | |
| Stage 8 | 7/11 | MT | 176K | Link | Andorra-la-Vella -> Saint-Girons | |
| Stage 9 | 7/12 | MT | 160K | Link | Saint-Gaudens -> Tarbes | |
| Rest Day | 7/13 | Rest | 0K | Rest | Rest day in Limoges | |
| Stage 10 | 7/14 | FLAT | 193K | Link | Limoges -> Issoudun | |
| Stage 11 | 7/15 | FLAT | 192K | Link | Vatan -> Saint Fargeau | |
| Stage 12 | 7/16 | FLAT | 200K | Link | Tonnerre -> Vittel | |
| Stage 13 | 7/17 | FLAT | 200K | Link | Vittel -> Colmar | |
| Stage 14 | 7/18 | FLAT | 199K | Link | Colmar -> Besancon | |
| Stage 15 | 7/19 | MT | 207K | Link | Pontarlier -> Verbier | |
| Rest Day | 7/20 | Rest | 0K | Rest | Rest day in Verbier | |
| Stage 16 | 7/21 | MT | 160K | Link | Martigny -> Bourg-Saint-Maurice | |
| Stage 17 | 7/22 | MT | 169K | Link | Bourg-Saint-Maurice -> Le Grand-Bornand | |
| Stage 18 | 7/23 | TT | 40K | Link | Annecy -> Annecy | |
| Stage 19 | 7/24 | FLAT | 195K | Link | Bougoin-Jallieu -> Aubenas | |
| Stage 20 | 7/25 | MT | 167K | Link | Montelimar -> Mont Ventoux | |
| Stage 21 | 7/26 | FLAT | 160K | Link | Montereau-Fault-Yonne -> Paris |
2009 Giro d’Italia Route, Schedule, and Television Coverage – Lance Armstrong’s Return to the Grand Tours
February 18, 2009 By 4 Comments
The 2009 Giro d’Italia will mark Lance Armstrong’s return to grand tour stage racing and it will mark his first appearance at Italy’s premier cycling stage race. Armstrong will have to fight the likes of Ivan Basso, Carlos Sastre, Gilberto Simoni, Danilo Di Luca, and Denis Menchov to earn the right to wear the Maglia Rosa (The Giro’s version of the Yellow Jersey). Below is a schedule of the race along with elevation profiles for each stage:
Unfortunately, no television schedule has officially been released. Cycling.tv will cover all of the stages live for a fee, while Versus will be picking up coverage of the race sporadically.
Update 4/30: Sorry for the lack of info below. The profile links Tyler used have since been removed, and cycling.tv still hasn’t announced the TV schedule yet. We’ll update this post when there is more information, or hop over to cycling.tv to see if they have it update.
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2009 Giro d’Italia Route, Schedule and Dates
| Stage | Date | Type | Distance | Profile | Where | TV Start |
| Stage 1 | 5/9 | TTT | 20.5K | Link | Lido Di Venzia | |
| Stage 2 | 5/10 | FLAT | 156K | Link | Jesolo -> Trieste | |
| Stage 3 | 5/11 | FLAT | 200K | Link | Grado -> Valdobbiadene | |
| Stage 4 | 5/12 | MT | 165K | Link | Padova -> San Martino di Castrozza | |
| Stage 5 | 5/13 | MT | 125K | Link | San Martino di Castrozza -> Alpe di Siusi | |
| Stage 6 | 5/14 | FLAT | 242K | Link | Bressanone -> Mayrhofen | |
| Stage 7 | 5/15 | FLAT | 244K | Link | Innsbruck -> Chiavenna | |
| Stage 8 | 5/16 | FLAT | 208K | Link | Morbegno -> Bergamo | |
| Stage 9 | 5/17 | FLAT | 155K | Link | Milan Circuit Race | |
| Rest Day | 5/18 | REST | 0K | Rest | Rest Day | |
| Stage 10 | 5/19 | MT | 250K | Link | Cuneo -> Pinerolo | |
| Stage 11 | 5/20 | FLAT | 206K | Link | Torino -> Arenzno | |
| Stage 12 | 5/21 | TT | 61.7K | Link | Sestri Levante -> Riomaggiore | |
| Stage 13 | 5/22 | FLAT | 150K | Link | Lido di Camaiore -> Firenze | |
| Stage 14 | 5/23 | FLAT | 174K | Link | Campi Bisenzio -> San Luca | |
| Stage 15 | 5/24 | FLAT | 159K | Link | Foli – Faenza | |
| Stage 16 | 5/25 | MT | 237K | Link | Pergola -> Monte Petrano | |
| Rest Day | 5/26 | REST | 0K | Rest | Rest Day | |
| Stage 17 | 5/27 | MT | 79K | Link | Chieti -> Blockhaus | |
| Stage 18 | 5/28 | FLAT | 181K | Link | Sulmona -> Benevento | |
| Stage 19 | 5/29 | FLAT | 164K | Link | Avellino -> Monte Vesuvio | |
| Stage 20 | 5/30 | FLAT | 203K | Link | Napoli -> Anagni | |
| Stage 21 | 5/31 | TT | 15.3K | Link | Roma -> Roma |
2009 Tour of California | Schedule and Preview
February 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The 2009 Tour of California is set to kick off this Saturday and it marks Lance Armstrong’s return to professional cycling in the United States. All eyes will be on Lance Armstong’s Team Astana as it boasts the Tour of California’s two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer. The Tour of California is undoubtedly the premier American cycling event and the 2009 edition features one of the greatest fields ever assembled on U.S. soil.
In an article from VeloNews: “The unprecedented field of riders expected to compete in the fourth-annual event, which drew a record 1.6 million spectators in 2008, includes two Tour de France Champions (Armstrong, Sastre), a Giro d’Italia Champion (Basso), 10 World Champions (Armstrong, Boonen, Cancellara, Michael Rogers, Cavendish, Brett Lancaster, Stuart O’Grady, Francisco Chicchi-Jr, Yoroslav Popovych-Jr. and Janez Brajokovic-Jr.), 26 Olympians and eight Olympic medalists (Armstrong, Cancellara, Hamilton, Leipheimer, Gustav Larsson, O’Grady, Rogers and Hayden Roulston) and 25 past and current National Champions.â€
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2009 Tour of California Race Preview:
Winning the Tour of California’s General Classification, just and any other major stage event, comes down to 2 things: the ability to climb and the ability to time trial.
Watch for these names in the General Classification (Overall Time):
Ag2r: Cyril Dessel – 6th in the 2006 Tour de France and won a stage in 2008
Astana: Lance Armstrong – 7 Time Tour de France Champion
Astana: Levi Leipheimer – 2 Time Defending Tour of California Champion
Cervelo TestTeam: Carlos Sastre – 2008 Tour de France Champion
Columbia: Kim Kirchen – 8th in 2008 Tour de France
Columbia: Michael Rogers – 9th in 2006 Tour de France, Australian TT Champion
Garmin-Slipstream: Christian VandeVelde – 5th in 2008 Tour de France
Liquigas: Ivan Basso – 2nd in 2005 Tour de France, 1st in 2006 Giro d’Italia
Ouch: Floyd Landis – Former 2006 Tour de France Champion (Stripped of Title)
Rock Racing: Tyler Hamilton – 2008 U.S. Road Race Champion
Saxo Bank: Jens Voigt – 2nd in 2007 Tour of California
Saxo Bank: Andy Schleck – Best Young Rider in 2008 Tour de France
Saxo Bank: Frank Schleck – 6th in 2008 Tour de France
Expect Levi Leipheimer to win his third straight behind the help of one of the strongest teams the sport has seen (Astana). Lance Armstrong will want a good showing, but expect him to do Leipheimer the favor of being a domestique now in return for Leipheimer’s help during the 2009 Tour. Look for Sastre and VandeVelde to be in the mix with stronger TT abilities and the Schlecks and Ivan Basso to be attacking hard up the mountains. This is as wide open as a field gets and anything can happen with an unexpected breakaway. But it’s tough to pick against Levi Leipheimer, the leader of the strongest team being pulled by a 7-Time Tour de France champion.
Watch for these names in the Points Classification (Points are awarded for finishing position after each stage as well as crossing certain checkpoints first throughout the course):
Cervelo TestTeam: Thor Hushovd – 1st Paris-Nice Points Classification
Columbia: Mark Cavendish – 4 Stages 2008 Tour de France
Columbia: George Hincapie – 1 Stage 2008 Tour of California
Quick Step: Tom Boonen – 2008 Paris-Roubaix Champion, 1 Stage of 2008 ToC
Rabobank: Oscar Freire – 1st in 2008 Tour de France Points Classification
Saxo Bank: Fabian Cancellara – 2008 Olympic TT Champion
Saxo Bank: Stuart O’Grady –2007 Paris-Roubaix Champion
This will be a shootout between Cavendish and Boonen as one of them will take the prize. Fabian Cancellara should be in the mix after he takes the short time trial in the prologue and its tough to leave out Oscar Freire’s name, but the pure sprinting power of Cavendish and Boonen is unparalleled in the peloton. I’ll take Cavendish with the flip of a coin.
Complete rosters can be seen here.
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2009 Tour of California Route and Schedule:
Versus live coverage begins this Saturday. The television schedule and route of the Tour of California is listed below (All times are Central):
Saturday, February 14: – Prologue: Sacramento (4PM) – Time Trial
Sunday, February 15 – Stage 1: Davis to Santa Rosa (5PM) – Flat Stage
Monday, February 16 – Stage 2: Sausalito to Santa Cruz (11:30AM) – Mountain Stage
Tuesday, February 17 – Stage 3: San Jose to Modesto (4PM) – Flat Stage
Wednesday, February 18 – Stage 4: Merced to Clovis (3PM) – Flat Stage
Thursday, February 19 – Stage 5: Visalia to Paso Robles (3PM) – Flat Stage
Friday, February 20 – Stage 6: Solvang Time Trial (3PM) – Time Trial
Saturday, February 21 – Stage 7: Santa Clara to Pasadena (4PM) – Mountain Stage
Sunday, February 22 – Stage 8: Rancho Bernardo to Escondido (4PM) – Mountain Stage
