2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Bookwalter retains Qatar lead as BMC beat Sky

Brent Bookwalter retained the overall lead in the Tour of Qatar as BMC beat Team Sky in the team time trial on day two.
American Bookwalter, Taylor Phinney, Michael Schär, Lawrence Warbasse and Greg Van Avermaet completed the 14km Al Rufaa Street course in 16:07.
That was five seconds quicker than Sky's squad of Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bernhard Eisel, Mathew Hayman, Gabriel Rasch, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard, Chris Sutton and Geraint Thomas.
Bookwalter, who outsprinted two breakaway companions to win stage one in the 12th edition of the race rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI Asia Tour, leads compatriot Phinney by six seconds on GC with Adam Blythe - who like fellow Britain Stephen Cummings lost contact with his BMC team-mates towards the end of the TTT - four seconds further back in third.
Bookwalter said the team did not panic when it reached the halfway point nine seconds slower than Sky.
"My biggest worry was that we would get too excited and blow guys up," he said.
"I felt like we already had a consistent pace and we were actually cautious on the turnarounds. So maybe we lost a couple seconds there. But I was confident the energy we saved was going to come through near the finish. Taylor (Phinney) and Michi (Schär) were ridiculously strong at the end."
BMC fill the top five places on GC followed by Team Sky trio Eisel (+11 seconds), Boasson Hagen (+15) and Welshman Thomas (+15).
The Arabian state’s pan-flat roads will provide a haven for sprinters in the four remaining stages although crosswinds can cause havoc.

Results:

BMC 16:07

Sky 16:12

Omega Pharma 16:17

RadioShack 16:18

Katusha 16:22

Astana 16:24

FDJ 16:30

Orica-GreenEdge 16:30

Cannondale 16:31

Saxo Tinkoff 16:33

Argos-Shimano 16:37

Netapp-Endura 16:40

AG2R finish 16:40

IAM Cycling 16:44

Vancansoleil 16:58

Champion System 17:22

Japan 17:55

 

[Smallville22]

Howard claims Trofeo Campos

Orica-GreenEdge sprinter Leigh Howard claimed the Trofeo Campos, the second stanza of the Challenge Mallorca.
The Australian beat Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) in a bunch sprint at the end of a 167km trek from Campos to Ses Salines.
Christian Meier (Orica), Natnael Berhane (Europcar), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Fabio Calabria (Novo Nordisk), Roman Van Zandbeek (De Rijke), Jon Larrinaga (Euskadi) and Luis Mas (Burgos) were involved in an early break.
They built up a lead of over seven minutes as the peloton travelled through the south of the island doing two full laps of a 62km rolling circuit with many small climbs.
But their advantage was down to under three minutes with 65km remaining and they were caught with 27km left to set up a sprint finish where former omnium world champion Howard claimed his first victory on the road since September's Tour of Britain.
Challenge Mallorca sees teams able to enter squads of 10 riders and rotate their line-up through the four days.

 

[Smallville22]

Isolated Cavendish takes Qatar sprint

Manxman Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory on stage three of the Tour of Qatar after leaving his team-mates behind.~
The Omega Pharma - Quick-Step rider took his second victory of the season ahead of Barry Markus (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEDGE).
He also picked up 10 bonus seconds to move up to fourth on GC.
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step led the peloton for long periods leaving the Briton's team-mates incapable of giving him a lead-out in the sprint. Cavendish had to latch on to former Team Sky colleagues Luke Rowe and Edvald Boasson Hagen to launch an ****** with 350m to go - and just ****** Kruopis on the line.
He was not disappointed with his team's work, however.
"It was really chaotic in the final stages. I lost my last lead-out man and I just had Niki Terpstra taking me into the final kilometres," said Cavendish.
"There were so many lead-out teams. It became chaos. I saw Luke Rowe and Boasson Hagen on the right and I know how good Luke is, so I thought 'that's the wheel I want to be on' and went over.
"With 350m to go, I was 12 guys back and I had to go. Like always, I had the second kick.
"I was really happy with the guys all day. They kept me sheltered. I'm really happy with that."
BMC Racing's Brent Bookwalter retains the lead of the race by six seconds after coming home in the peloton, with Cavendish only eight seconds behind him.
Bookwalter's team-mates Taylor Phinney and Briton Adam Blythe are second and third at six and seven seconds respectively.
Cavendish is not pinning much hope on the overall win.
"Anything can happen in this race. You have to take every day as it comes. I know I can make it every time in the front echelon, but things can happen," he said.
"I'm not saying it's out of the question, but we will see what happens."
Seven riders escaped early on the 143km route, which featured two and a third laps of a triangular-shaped circuit between Al Wakra and Mesaieed.
A breakaway of riders seeking points at the intermediate sprints was caught with 30km to go and Omega Pharma - Quick-Step took control of the peloton.
The final 8km saw several teams push at different times, leading to the chaotic ending.

 

[Smallville22]

Armstrong 'will not be prosecuted for doping'

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong's public admission that he took performance-enhancing ***** will not change US prosecutors' decision to spare him of criminal charges, an attorney who oversaw the federal investigation said on Tuesday.
The statement by André Birotte, the US attorney based in Los Angeles, follows Armstrong's confession in a televised interview last month.
"We made a decision on that case a little over a year ago. Obviously, we've been well aware of the statements that have been made by Mr. Armstrong in other media reports. That does not change my view at this time," Birotte said at a news conference in Washington to announce an unrelated lawsuit against Standard & Poor's.
The government will continue to look at the case, Birotte added, but Armstrong's admission "hasn't changed our view as I stand here today."
In February 2012, Birotte said his office had closed its investigation into possible crimes by Armstrong.
Speculation about charges began anew after Armstrong reversed his past doping denials in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey. He told Winfrey he used performance-enhancing ***** and doping in cycling tournaments.
Legal experts said Armstrong exposed himself to possible charges of perjury or obstruction of justice.
Separately, Armstrong faces a civil whistleblower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis accusing Armstrong of fraud. The U.S. Justice Department has not said whether it intends to join the suit, and Birotte did not address the suit at the news conference.
Armstrong has been ****** from cycling for life and stripped of race wins, including seven Tour de France victories.
A lawyer for Armstrong did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

 

[Smallville22]

Valverde rises to challenge in Mallorca

Alejandro Valverde won the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, the latest part of the Challenge Mallorca.
The winner of the 2009 Vuelta a Espana took the victory ahead of Team Sky's Sergio Henao at the end of a 153km trek from Deia to Monasterio de Lluc.
The route on the south-west coast of Mallorca saw two third-category climbs, two second-category climbs and an ascent of the first-category Coll de Puig Major.
There was a string of attacks on the Puig Major with Valverde and Movistar team-mate Rui Costa plus Henao and Blanco's Dutch climber Robert Gesink making the decisive move.
They crossed the summit, which came 19km from the finish line, ahead of the whittled down peloton and held off the chasers on the run-in to the finish where Valverde - a winner of four stages in the Tour de France - showed his speed on the uphill drag to the line.
Team Sky's Ben Swift led the bunch home in fifth, 51 seconds behind the winner.
Valverde said: "I knew I was strong, but I didn't quite know how my reactions were going to be as I'm taking things more cautiously this season.
"I knew I had ended the 2012 season in really good shape, and came here with good motivation, and it's true that once you're up-front, you always try to win.
"When on the climb it was just me and Rui with Henao and Gesink, it was a matter of attacking by the two of us to drop Henao, but he was really strong and responded well, so we waited for the sprint.
"Taking a victory so early in the season is always better, because it gives confidence to you as well as to the squad."
Challenge Mallorca sees teams able to enter squads of 10 riders and rotate their line-up through the four days.

 

[Smallville22]

Brailsford mixes youth with experience for World Champs

British Cycling have named six London 2012 gold medallists among their team of 16 riders for the forthcoming World Championships in Minsk, with Sir Dave Brailsford aiming to start the next Olympic cycle in the best possible fashion.
Jason Kenny, Phil Hindes, Ed Clancy, Steve Burke, Dani King and Laura Trott will all make the trip to Belarus at the end of February.
The event also marks Clancy's return to the endurance squad, having ridden in the team sprint event at the Glasgow World Cup.
While experience is bristling in Britain's ranks, it's the next generation that excites performance director Brailsford.
Youngsters Kian Emadi, Vicky Williamson, Jon Dibben, Owain Doull, Simon Yates and Elinor Barker will all make their World Championship debut and Brailsford believes it's the perfect breeding ground ahead of Rio 2016.
"The first year of an Olympic cycle is always an interesting one," said Brailsford.
"It gives the opportunity for our young riders to compete alongside the world's best and experience the competitive environment which is crucial for their development.
"With that in mind, the focus for the team is to perform to the best of their ability as the route to Rio firmly begins.”

Sprint

Matt Crampton

Kian Emadi

Becky James

Jason Kenny

Phil Hindes

Vicky Williamson

Men’s endurance

Steven Burke

Ed Clancy

Jon Dibben

Owain Doull

Sam Harrison

Andy Tennant

Simon Yates

Women’s endurance

Elinor Barker

Dani King

Laura Trott

 

[Smallville22]

Howard victorious in Mallorca

Australia’s Leigh Howard claimed a fine win in the Trofeo Platja de Muro, the latest instalment of the Challenge Mallorca.
The Orica-GreenEdge rider came through to clinch victory on the 169.8km route from Alcudia to Playa de Muro.
Maarten Wynants of Belgium was second, with Italy’s Davide Cimolai taking third spot.
Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel of Spain was fourth, while compatriot Jose Joaquin Rojas completed the top five.

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish wins again to take overall lead in Qatar

Briton Mark Cavendish used canny knowledge of the elements to win his second stage in a row to take the lead of the Tour of Qatar.
The Omega Pharma - QuickStep rider sprinted to victory in Al Khor Corniche after avoiding a crash inside the final kilometre and choosing a position in the group which sheltered him from the wind.
His 10-second time bonus gives him the race leader's gold jersey ahead of Brent Bookwalter, who managed to finish at the back of the 30-man bunch sprint after being delayed by the crash.
Barry Markus (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Andrea Guardini (Astana) completed the podium.
Cavendish's lead is two seconds, with Bookwalter's BMC Racing team-mate Taylor Phinney third at eight seconds.
With 23km to go of the 160km run from the Camel Race Track, the early three-rider breakaway of Andriy Grivko (Astana), Gatis Smukulis (Katusha) and Pirmin Lang (IAM Cycling) still had a four-minute lead.
However the peloton reeled them in with eight kilometres remaining then several teams battled for control of the inevitable sprint.
Cavendish went wide after making contact with one rider - and having avoided the crash, opted to stay left due to his previous experience of the course.
Cavendish was again isolated from his lead-out man Matteo Trentin and the rest of the Omega Pharma - QuickStep team, but did not allow it to faze him as he sprinted to the win.
"We were a little bit nervous about the breakaway... but when we started riding, we started pulling them back really quickly. That was a really strong group out there," he said.
"Zdenek Stybar did a perfect job with 5km to go, and then Matteo Trentin put me in perfect position in the last roundabout at the 1.5-kilometre point.
"Niki Terpstra found me with a kilometre to go and moved me into the top 15 and I used the same tactics I did last year when I won on the same stage. The wind came from the right, everyone goes right, so I went left, and was shielded.
"So, I got the perfect position and acceleration in the sprint to get the win."
Thursday's fifth stage is a 154km run from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal.
"I think tomorrow is the main stage of the Tour of Qatar," Cavendish added. "We will see what happens, and then Friday is the last day, but we'll keep going for the stage wins and see what comes from that.
"I am really, really happy right now. Three wins already [this year] shows me that I made the right move to Omega Pharma - Quick-Step."

 

[Smallville22]

Greipel sprints to Méditerranéen opener as ill Schleck abandons

German Andre Greipel sprinted to victory on the opening stage of the Tour Méditerranéen in the South of France, but Andy Schleck was ****** out of the race with breathing problems.
The Lotto-Belisol rider led home Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) and Maxime Daniel (Sojasun) at the conclusion of the 146.5km stage between Limoux and Gruissan.
Schleck was ****** to abandon the race on the first day "due to an infection of the respiratory tract", according to his Radioshack-Leopard Trek team.
"This morning I already had breathing problems," said the rider. "Instead of getting better, it just got worse during the race because of the cold and the wind.
"I didn’t want to abandon out of respect for the fans and the organisation, but also because I need this competition. After the Tour Down Under I felt I was in a good way and I was really looking forward to this race.
"I am now sicker than I was before. I need to let my body recover and I hope I can resume training as soon as possible. In theory my race programme will not change."
The team added that he will likely return at the Tour du Haut-Var on February 16-17.

 

[Smallville22]

Swift in hospital

Briton Ben Swift suffered a nasty crash and compatriot Bradley Wiggins also retired.
Swift is in hospital where he will undergo an MRI scan after a crash on the final descent of the 169.8km race from Alcudia to Playa de Muro.
His Team Sky team-mate Wiggins had earlier pulled out 100km from the finish, but was apparently uninjured.
Wiggins is easing into his season on the Balearic Islands and finished 161st and 152nd out of 178 riders in the two previous races.

 

[Smallville22]

USADA extends deadline for Armstrong to cooperate

The US Anti-Doping Agency has given disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong two more weeks to cooperate fully in an investigation into cycling's darkest episode in return for a possible reduction of his life ban.
Armstrong had initially been set a February 6 deadline by USADA to answer questions under oath, but that was extended on Wednesday after the athlete's attorney Timothy Herman said the timing for an interview could not be accommodated.
"We have been in communication with Mr. Armstrong and his representatives and we understand that he does want to be part of the solution and assist in the effort to clean up the sport of cycling," chief executive Travis Tygart said in a statement.
"We have agreed to his request for an additional two weeks to work on details to hopefully allow for this to happen."
After years of denials, Armstrong admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey last month that he had cheated his way to a record seven Tour de France titles with systematic use of ******, performance-enhancing *****.
Last year he was stripped of his titles after being labelled a "serial cheat" by the USADA.
Tygart then told the CBS "60 Minutes" program on January 27 that his agency had requested an interview with Armstrong while disputing the cyclist's claims of a clean comeback in 2009.
"His ***** tests in 2009, 2010 ... one to a million chance that it was due to something other than doping," Tygart said.
In a letter to USADA on January 25, Henman said his client was willing to cooperate with the agency but that pre-existing obligations made the February 6 deadline impossible.
In that letter, Herman raised questions about the role of the USADA in ridding cycling of performance-enhancing *****. He noted that "professional cycling is and has been largely a European sport".
Herman applauded the International Cycling Union's announcement that it would work with the World Anti-Doping Agency in a broad probe into the use of ***** and rely on a "truth and reconciliation" process.
"As such, we would like to make sure we coordinate with the truth and reconciliation process to examine the culture of doping in cycling in the past and to clear the air so that cycling can move forward," Herman wrote.
Armstrong, 41, said in his interview with Winfrey on her cable network OWN that the lifetime ban against him was like a "death penalty".
He added that he had no ambitions to return to professional cycling but would like to compete in sanctioned athletic events.

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish wins third straight stage in Qatar

Mark Cavendish won his third successive stage in the Tour of Qatar to extend his overall lead in the process.
The Omega Pharma QuickStep rider romped home to take stage five in a time of 3:11.11 from Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarusian as he stretched his lead at the event.
Cavendish thrived on the 154km stage from Al Zubara Fort to Madinat Al Shamal, and pipped Hutarovich and Orica-GreenEdge’s Aidis Kruopis in the final stages.
The Brit now leads the race from Brent Bookwalkter by 15 seconds, having taken the overall lead on stage four.
Cavendish’s team provided him with a perfect leadout with Niki Terpstra dropping off the sprinter’s shoulder inside the final 250m.

 

[Smallville22]

Boom storms to time trial win in Tour Méditerranéen

Lars Boom triumphed over the 24km route between Cap d’Agde and Sete in the time trial on stage two of the Tour Méditerranéen.
The Dutchman’s 32:25 was a full 22 seconds clear of the field, and catapulted him to the top of the standings, taking the leader’s jersey from Andre Griepel, winner on stage one.
Maxime Monfort (RadioShack Leopard) took second place behind the Blanco Pro Cyclign rider, while Anthony Roux (FDJ), 14 seconds further adrift, completed the top three.
Nicolas Roche of Ireland finished eighth on the day.
Stage three of the race, which finishes on Sunday, continues with a 140km route from the outskirts of Marseille to St Remy de Provence.

 

[Smallville22]

Lance Armstrong sued over £7.6m in Tour de France prize money

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been sued by a company that paid him about $12 million in prize money (£7.6m) in connection with three of the seven Tour de France titles that have since been stripped from him for his use of ****** *****.
SCA Promotions Inc, in a suit filed in Texas state court in Dallas, alleges Armstrong and his management company, Tailwind Sports, defrauded SCA into paying Armstrong $12.1 million in prize money for his 2002, 2003 and 2004 Tour de France wins by lying about Armstrong's use of performance-enhancing ***** during those events.
Last month, Armstrong ended years of vehement denial and admitted in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had cheated his way to a record seven Tour de France titles through the use of ******, performance-enhancing *****.
Armstrong has been ****** from cycling for life and stripped of race wins, including all of his Tour de France victories.
"Lance Armstrong cheated to win all of his Tour de France victories," SCA Chief Executive Officer Robert Hamman said in a statement. "He has admitted as much on national TV."
"As a result of Lance Armstrong's unjustly achieved victories and related activities, SCA paid $12,120,000 to Tailwind Sports Inc," Hamman said. "SCA also suffered reputational damage and substantial loss of business."
An attorney for Armstrong could not immediately be reached for comment.
Armstrong already has other legal problems.
He faces a civil whistleblower lawsuit filed by former teammate Floyd Landis accusing Armstrong of fraud. The US Justice Department has not said whether it intends to join the suit.
Also, last month two California men sued Armstrong and his book publishers for fraud and false advertising, claiming his best-selling memoirs, billed as non-fiction, were revealed to be filled with lies after his confession to systematic doping.

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish wins Tour of Qatar

Mark Cavendish won the Tour of Qatar after taking victory on the sixth and final stage.
The Omega Pharma QuickStep rider was 15 seconds clear going into the 116km final stage and won to take overall victory in the race.
Cavendish had to come from a long way back in the final kilometre to overhaul the leaders on the final straight, eventually pipping Yauheni Hutarovich to the line by just half a wheel as he crossed the line in three hours 24 minutes 31 seconds.
The ride capped off an extraordinary week for Cavendish, who won four consecutive stages as he claimed overall victory.

Stage six results:

1. Mark Cavendish (GBR) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step

2. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR) Ag2R La Mondiale

3. Barry Markus (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM

4. Adam Blythe (GBR) BMC

5. Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC

6. Kenny Robert Van Hummel (NED) Vacansoleil-DCM

7. Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Katusha

8. Bernhard Eisel (AUT) Team Sky

9. Nacer Bouhanni (FRA) FDJ

10. Guillaume Boivin (CAN) Cannondale

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish 'over the moon' after winning in Qatar

The ride capped off an extraordinary week for Cavendish, who won four consecutive stages as he claimed overall victory in what was only the former world champion's second race for the Belgian outfit.
"I'm over the moon," Cavendish said. "We come here every year almost guaranteed an overall victory with Tom Boonen, but he's recovering from an injury.
"So it put a little bit of pressure on me and I was a bit nervous. But I'm really happy to get the win. The guys worked incredible here. They really looked after me so, so well here and delivered every single day.
"I am so happy and proud I can bring it home again for the team again. We've won Tour of Qatar six times, and I don't know how many stages, so I am happy to be a part of that."
The Manxman's win came despite a ***** crash just 15km into the final day.
"I tweeted this morning that I've won and crashed this stage before — the previous one — and the fact is I did both again," Cavendish said with a laugh. "I was just going along after 15km, came to a roundabout not going hard, just riding. I was riding on someone's wheel and he just went down. He doesn't even know what happened. But, that's bike racing. It was a freak accident. I'm a bit banged up, but I'm OK. I am just kind of twisted, but we'll get it sorted."
He had no fear that he would be able to win, however: Cavendish, who has few overall triumphs given that he is an out-and-out sprinter, started his Omega Pharma career at the Tour of San Luis in Argentina with one stage victory and he has been showering his team-mates with praise all week in Qatar and did so again on Friday.
"It was kind of like Al Khor, actually," Cavendish said of the final sprint, comparing his tactics to the victory of stage four.
"I knew the wind was coming from the right, knew a gap was coming from the left. Same as when I won in 2009. The same tactics. The guys were going, and going, and going. Other teams started winding up with four laps to go.
"Still, it ended up the same way with one lap to go. It's a bit safer into the last lap and everyone's happy. The guys had been a bit used up for working for me all day and the entire race, so I knew I can kind of just go alone, can leave it late and come up the left side again. That's exactly what I did. I knew they would go right, and I could just use other leadouts to move up in the last 300 meters and jump on the left hand side."
The 27-year-old was little more than a domestique in 2012 at Sky, who put all their efforts into securing a first British win at the Tour de France when Bradley Wiggins topped the podium ahead of compatriot Chris Froome.
Cavendish has 23 Tour de France stage wins to his name.

 

[Smallville22]

Sergeant replaces Olivier as Lotto Belisol head

Lotto Belisol have parted company with general manager Bill Olivier as they seek to "build up" their team.
After the mutual separation, former pro rider Marc Sergeant takes over the position. He operated in directeur sportif and management roles at the outfit before the break-up of Omega Pharma and Lotto.
"It is an internal reason – we had a very small structure next to the sporting structure, and now we will try to build up a larger structure with Marc," team spokesman Arne Houtekier told VeloNation.
"There was a lot of things to do after the split from Omega Pharma and Bill did a lot of work in that area. It would not be true to say that he had not done well – that was not the case. Bill had a lot of things to do, although it was sometimes difficult handle the financial, commercial and organisational things.
"That was too much for one person and now the board has decided to split it up and have a few people working in those areas.”
Sergeant, 53, won stage five of the 1987 Tour de France and was Belgian road race champion the year before.

 

[Smallville22]

Méditerranéen stage three cancelled

There was no third stage of the 2013 Tour Méditerranéen as organisers cancelled the Friday racing due to ‘logistical issues’
La Provence report that the third stage, set to finish in Saint Remy de Provence, could not be secured and with no alternate route available, the decision was made hours after Lars Boom had claimed the leaders jersey with victory in stage two.
"There are logistical problems beyond our control," said the race organisation.
Blanco Pro Cycling rider Boom moved into the overall lead with success in Thursday’s 24km time trial from Cap d’Agde with a climbing finale. He leads RadioShack Leopard’s Maxime Monfort by 22 seconds.
The Tour will resume on Saturday with what was scheduled to be the fourth stage, a 151km trek from Rousset to Toulon featuring a mountain-top finish at Mont Faron.
The conclusion takes place on Sunday with a 192km stage from Bandol to Grasse.

 

[Smallville22]

Paris-Nice 2013 route confirmed

The 2013 Paris-Nice race will again end with a 9.6km individual time trial after this year’s course was unveiled in full.
Olympic gold medallist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins won the concluding trial, held up the Col d’Eze climb overlooking Nice, to secure the overall win at the expense of Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
Wiggins’ Giro d’Italia ambitions mean he will not be defending his Paris-Nice title, however, with the 2013 edition beginning with a brisk 2.9km prologue time trial on the streets of Houilles on Sunday March 4.
Tony Martin, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar), Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing Team) have all been confirmed as participants, with this year’s ‘Race to the Sun’ expected to be hotly contested without the presence of Wiggins, Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans or Vincenzo Nibali.

2013 Paris-Nice overview

Prologue: Sunday 3rd March: Houilles, individual time-trial (2.9 km)

Stage one: Monday 4th March: Saint-Germain-en-Laye - Nemours (195 km)

Stage two: Tuesday 5th March: Vimory - Cérilly (200.5 km)

Stage three: Wednesday 6th March: Chatel-Guyon - Brioude (171 km)

Stage four: Thursday 7th March: Brioude - Saint-Vallier (199.5 km)

Stage five: Friday 8th March: Châteauneuf-du-Pape - Montagne de Lure (176 km)

Stage six: Saturday 9th March: Manosque - Nice (220 km)

Stage seven: Sunday 10th March: Nice - Col d’Eze, individual time-trial (9.6 km).

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton: Bruyneel and Riis need to own up

Tyler Hamilton has urged former directors Johan Bruyneel and Bjarne Riis to come forward and admit to their knowledge of doping.
American Hamilton rode under Bruyneel at US Postal between 1999 and 2001, before joining up with Riis’s CSC team for two seasons.
Bruyneel faces doping charges from an ongoing USADA investigation, and could be ****** for life if found guilty.
Lance Armstrong led US Postal during the time period at the centre of the inquest, and recently confessed to doping in a sit-down interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Bruyneel is currently embroiled with a USADA investigation and faces charges relating to doping that could see him ****** for life. Lance Armstrong, who was the leader of US Postal team at the centre of the investigation, has already confessed to doping during parts of his career.
But although Hamilton, Alberto Contador, Frank Schleck, Jörg Jaksche, Michele Bartoli, Dave Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, and Michael Rasmussen have all either admitted to or been suspended for doping under Riis’s watch, the Dane has escaped any prolonged investigation.
Riis confessed to doping himself while an active rider, explaining his career decisions in his 2012 autobiography “Stages of Light and Dark”. But Hamilton told Cyclingnews that Riis broke more laws than he was letting on during the 1996 Tour de France.
“If they [Riis and Bruyneel] come forward and tell all then why not give them another shot. They shouldn’t just get a free walk. Everyone has to have some sort of consequence,” Hamilton said.
“There’s obviously more that Riis needs to open up about. He should be given that opportunity with some sort of knowledge that he’ll get another chance.
“If not it will remain the same and secrets will remain in the peloton.”