2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Froome in red as Rodriguez wins stage four in Oman

Briton Chris Froome overtook Peter Sagan for the overall lead at the Tour of Oman after Joaquim Rodriguez won stage four.
Katusha's Rodriguez emerged from a battle with several top riders to cross the finish line, situated on the Green Mountain climb, in first place.
"It was a spectacular win ," said the Spaniard. "I'm very happy with this performance: my rivals are great riders, so the fact I managed to take this stage makes this victory even more important. Obviously they're not in top shape, but neither am I. I'm in good condition for February though.
"I knew this climb very well, because it is the third year I have taken part in the Tour of Oman. It is really demanding, but I knew where to start my sprint and this helped me a lot."
Froome finished in second - and with incumbent general classification leader Sagan (Cannondale) falling behind the front-runners, the Team Sky rider moved into the overall lead.
Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) finished third which puts the Australian second on GC, 24 seconds behind Froome. Alberto Contador's fourth-placed finish leaves him in third overall, an additional second behind Evans. Sagan's Cannondale stablemate Vincenzo Nibali came in fifth.
After 16km of the 144km stage Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Gregory Rast (RadioShack-Leopard), Gatis Smukulis (Katusha), Paul Voss (NetApp-Endura) and Matthias Friedman (Team Champion System) escaped.
They built up a lead of 4:10 as they crossed three gentle ascents but Saxo-Tinkoff, Astana and Katusha headed the peloton and the lead was less than two minutes with 14km remaining.
And they were caught early on the steep summit finish on Jabal Al Akhdhar, or “Green Mountain”, which tops out at 1235m where Purito beat a small but select group which did not include Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins who was dropped on the lower slopes.
The Tour of Oman continues on Friday with the penultimate stage, a 144km trek from Al Alam Palace to the Ministry of Housing in Boshar - a stage which takes in three ascents of the brisk Bousher Alamrat climb.

 

[Smallville22]

Martens beats Cavendish in Algarve opener

Blanco's Paul Martens won the opening stage of the Tour of Algarve.
The German prevailed at the end of the 198.8km stage between Faro and Albufeira, beating local hero Thiago Machado (Radioshack) and team-mate Theo Bos to the line.
Mark Cavendish was only sixth after Martens jumped clear in the final kilometre.
Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), Sergio Paulinho (Saxo-Tinkoff), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Marco Corti (Colombia Coldeportes) and Chris Jones (UnitedHealthcare) formed an early escape.
They built up a lead of three minutes as they crossed the day's only mountain climb but were caught with 8km remaining to set up the gallop to the line.
It was a second win of the season for Martens who also triumphed in stage four of the Vuelta a Burgos.
Britain's Cavendish and German Tony Martin are the headline acts in the 39th edition of race.
Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) is taking part for the first time in the Tour of Algarve after his victory last week at the Tour of Qatar.
German Martin, winner of the 2011 edition, is favourite for the race which has been reduced by one stage to four days and concludes on Sunday with a 34.8km individual time trial.

 

[Smallville22]

CAS grants Katusha World Tour license on appeal

Katusha will be able to compete on the elite World Tour this year after the Russian team succeeded in their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the rejection of their original application.
"CAS has upheld the appeal by Katusha against the International Cycling Union," the Lausanne-based court said in a statement.
Katusha, who finished second in the World Tour standings last year, appealed to CAS in December after the UCI rejected their application to compete in the top flight because of the team's doping record over the past four years.
"Following the hearing, the CAS Panel did not reach the same conclusions as the UCI Licensing Commission and decided to uphold the appeal," CAS said.
The decision means Katusha, who have world number one Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain riding for them, will now be able to take part in all of cycling major races, such as the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, the Tour of Spain, as well as several top one-day and one-week races in 2013.
"Undoubtedly, this is one of our biggest victories," said Igor Makarov, president of the Russian Cycling Federation and Katusha boss. "All of us are very happy that justice has finally triumphed."
In rejecting Katusha's original application, the UCI's licence commission said the Russian outfit have had the most doping cases among all the Pro Tour teams, citing four cases between 2009 and 2012.
One such case involved Katusha's top sprinter Denis Galimzyanov, who tested positive for the ****** ***** booster erythropoietin (EPO) last April.
Katusha General Manager Vyacheslav Ekimov has flatly denied the allegations.
"The UCI said Katusha don't do enough tests within the team to catch doping cheats," he told reporters in December.
"They also blamed us for Galimzyanov's positive test, even though the rider had admitted that it was his own mistake."
Ekimov, a long-time team mate of disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong, also rejected his own involvement in doping.
"During the hearing, the UCI never mentioned my name, (Katusha leader) Denis Menchov or (Italian doctor) Michele Ferrari," triple Olympic champion Ekimov said at the time.
Menchov came under a cloud in 2011 when French sports daily L'Equipe produced its doping suspicion index, in which riders were given a rating of suspicion on a scale from 0 - not suspicious - to 10 - highly suspicious. Menchov was rated at 9.
The Russian denied the allegations and said it was just a case of sour grapes by the French.
Ferrari was ****** from cycling for life for his alleged ties to Armstrong, helping him win a record seven Tour de France titles on the back of a highly sophisticated doping scheme.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome outwits Contador in Oman

Team Sky's Chris Froome recorded a sensational victory in stage five of the Tour of Oman.
The British rider beat multiple Grand Tour winner Alberto Contador to the line in the penultimate stage of the race.
A 10-man escape group attacked early and led by 3:30 with 43km remaining of the 144km test from Al Alam Palace to Housing in Boshar.
But the stage exploded on the first of the three climbs of Boushar Alamrat due to the fierce pace made by Team Sky defending the leader's jersey.
On the penultimate climb, Team Saxo-Tinkoff's Contador suddenly jumped out of the saddle in a vicious move and only Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was able to respond while Froome kept his cool behind his team-mates.
There was a re-groupement after the descent but Spaniard Contador launched another ****** on the final ascent of the 355m climb but Froome and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) bridged the gap to form an elite leading trio 12 kilometres from the finish.
They came under the Flamme Rouge together and 2012 Tour de France runner-up Froome had the burst of speed at the finish to win the stage and move 27 seconds clear of Contador on GC going into Saturday's final stage.
Cadel Evans drops to third overall, 39 seconds behind, after finishing eighth with Rodriguez third on GC at 50 seconds.

 

[Smallville22]

Dibben using Clancy's advice ahead of world debut

Jon Dibben may have seen his place in Britain's team pursuit quartet at the Track Cycling World Championships hit by Ed Clancy's return but that isn't stopping him turning to the double Olympic champion for advice.
The 19-year-old is set to make his senior World Championship debut in Minsk next week where he will compete in the omnium while being in contention for one of four places in the team pursuit.
Dibben is the youngest of the seven British endurance riders selected but has enjoyed a fine past 12 month winning silver at the junior worlds and two medals of the same colour at the junior Europeans.
He also made his Track World Cup debut in Glasgow in November finishing fifth in the omnium with coach Chris Newton, who won points race bronze at Beijing 2008, helping nurture him in the event.
Dibben is also determined to take in the knowledge ****** down by double Olympic team pursuit champion, and omnium bronze medallist from London 2012, Clancy ahead of the World Championships.
Clancy's switch back to the team pursuit after a spell riding the team sprint has demoted Dibben from being man four to man five however he insists the 27-year-old's help is too good to pass up.
"Ed's just dropped back into the team so I'm man five at the minute," said Dibben. "You can see he has got so much experience, he knows exactly what he is talking about coming back into the team pursuit.
"A lot of things he has said have helped. For the omnium I am sure I will speak to him more about it and get a few tips from him.
"The points race [in the omnium] is where I suffered in Glasgow, that was such a different race to the junior level because it was stop and start whereas the juniors are a lot more consistent.
"So hopefully I can make an improvement there. After that Glasgow points race Chris told me a lot of things, I watched it back on the video and he has pointed out little things that will make a big difference.
"He knows exactly what he is doing so it's good to have him as almost the textbook."

 

[Smallville22]

Bos sprints into lead of Tour of Algarve

Blanco's Theo Bos won the sprint on stage two to claim the overall lead of the Tour of Algarve.
The Dutch five-times world champion beat off competition from Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack) and Bruno Matos Sancho (Carmim-Tavira) after a 195km run beginning and ending in Lagoa.
Bos leads team-mate and stage one winner Paul Martens by four seconds on GC with Nizzolo another four seconds back. Martens was unable to finish in the lead group.
Italian Saxo-Tinkoff rider Manuele Boaro secured the mountain jersey by leading a 10-man breakaway - including Dmitry Kozontchuk (Katusha), Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco), Ricardo Garcia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Bertjan Lindeman (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team), Omar Fraile (Caja Rural), Dalivier Ospina (Colombia), Tomas Metcalfe (Carmim-Tavira), Hugo Sabido (La Aluminios-Antarte) and Alejandro Marque Porto (OFM-Quinta Da Lixa) - which stayed out for most of a stage featuring two categorised climbs.
They built a lead of eight minutes after 82km but with Omega-Pharma then taking control of the peloton, the riders were gradually sucked back in.
Ten became six - Kozontchuk, Vanmarcke, Garcia, Boaro, Marque and Lindeman - and their lead was down to 30 seconds with 10km left to race.
Vanmacke attacked with Marque and Boaro but they were swallowed up with 4km remaining ahead of the final sprint.

Results

1 Theo Bos (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 4:50:15

2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard

3 Bruno Matos Sancho (Por) Carmim-Tavira

4 Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team

5 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

6 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team

7 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team

8 Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise

9 Edwin Alcibiades Avila Vanegas (Col) Colombia

10 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff

11 Samuel José Rodrigues Caldeira (Por) OFM-Quinta Da Lixa

12 Kiel Reijnen (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team

13 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise

14 Steffen Radochla (Ger) Euskaltel-Euskadi

15 Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor (Col) Colombia

GC

1 Theo Bos (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team 9:57:30

2 Paul Martens (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team +4

3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) RadioShack Leopard +8

4 Tiago Machado (Por) RadioShack Leopard +8

5 Hugo Sabido (Por) La Aluminios-Antarte +9

6 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha +9

7 Bruno Matos Sancho (Por) Carmim-Tavira +10

8 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Caja Rural +11

9 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff +12

10 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team +12

11 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team +14

12 Alessandro Bazzana (Ita) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team +14

13 Thomas Sprengers (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise +14

14 Samuel José Rodrigues Caldeira (Por) OFM-Quinta Da Lixa +14

15 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team +14

 

[Smallville22]

Froome seals Tour of Oman title

Team Sky's Chris Froome has completed victory in the Tour of Oman.
The final stage, a 144km route from Hawit Nagam Park to the Matrah Corniche on the coast of Muscat, ended as predicted in a bunch sprint.
Froome held a 27-second advantage over Alberto Contador, with Cadel Evans a further 12 seconds adrift going into the last day.
And by finishing safely in the bunch the Team Sky rider held on to complete the first stage-race victory of his career.
Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ won the stage, pipping Matthew Goss and Taylor Phinney to the line.
Gatis Smukulis of Katusha was the first to make a breakaway, while a couple of chasers, Wesley Kreder and Andrea Di Corrado then joined him. They stretched their lead out to 6:30 at one stage, but that began to dwindle as the racers approached the final circuit in Muscat.
With two-and-half-laps - about 15km - of Muscat to conclude the Tour, the breakaway group were pulled in and a sprint became an inevitability.
Team Sky held control of the peloton in the final stages, overseeing Froome's ride to the line. Philippe Gilbert of BMC briefly ascended to the front, but in the end both were left behind.

 

[Smallville22]

Pozzato wins third Laigueglia title

Filippo Pozzato of Lampre Merida won a bunch sprint to claim the 50th Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy.
Pozzato, who won the 2004 and 2005 editions, came in ahead of fellow Italian Francesco Reda (Androni Venezuela) and Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini) after an undulating 196.5km ride around Laigueglia on Italy’s Ligurian coast.
Pozzato is the first man to win the day race on three occasions.
He was helped by an excellent team performance from Lampre Merida, who dominated the race from the front.
There was a major attempt to spread the peleton by Italian champion Franco Pellizotti with 6km left, but Lampre hauled him back to set Pozzato up for the bunch sprint.

Provisional result:

1. Filippo Pozzato (Lampre Merida)

2. Francesco Reda (Androni Venezuela)

3. Mauro Santambrogio (Vini Fantini)

4. Diego Ulissi (Lampre Merida)

5. Anthony Roux (FDJ)

 

[Smallville22]

Hushovd wins Haut-Var opener on comeback

Thor Hushovd won the opening stage of the Tour du Haut-Var as he began his comeback from fitness problems.
The 35-year-old Norwegian claimed a sprint victory after the 152.5km ride from Le Cannet des Maures to La Croix Valmer.
Hushovd endured a terrible 2012 season following a mystery virus, which resulted in muscle inflammation. He withdrew from the Giro d'Italia after five stages, with the fitness problems ruling him out of the Tour de France and London Olympic Games.
But the BMC man’s first ride of 2013 saw him power home ahead of Tom-Jelte Slagter (Blanco Pro Cycling) and Arthur Vichot (FDJ).
The stage was marked by a number of failed attacks.
Only 10km in, Rudy Kowalski (Roubaix Lille Metropole), Arnaud Gerard (Bretagne-Séche environnement) and Dimitri Le Boulch (BigMat Auber 93) managed to put a minute between themselves and the pack, which was extended to seven minutes after 40km.
But the trio were eventually hauled back and, subsequently, the peleton managed to reel in several attempts to pull clear by the likes of Romain Zingle (Cofidis) and Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale).
That set up a sprint finish, which Hushovd took in style for his first stage win since 2011.

 

[Smallville22]

Henao wins penultimate Algarve stage to take lead

Team Sky’s Sergio Henao won the queen stage of the Volta ao Algarve with a dominant final climb of the Alto do Malhao, taking the overall lead.
The Colombian, 25, pulled away from the pack with Portugal’s Rui Costa with 2km to go before the summit finish.
Henao then pulled away from the Movistar rider to finish three seconds ahead of Costa and four clear of Lieuwe Westra in third.
He is now seven seconds clear with one stage remaining, although that is a 35km time trial in which he is likely to concede overall defeat.
It completes a good day for the British-owned outfit, with Chris Froome sealing victory at the Tour of Oman earlier.
There were also two other Sky riders in the top 10 with another Colombian, Rigoberto Uran, fourth, and young Briton Josh Edmondson seventh.

 

[Smallville22]

Wiggins: Giro goal will keep motivation high

Bradley Wiggins hopes favouring the Giro d'Italia over the Tour de France will be the best insurance against a lack of motivation following his career-defining title last year.
Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour after also claiming the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine week-long races.
He followed his French triumph with an Olympic gold medal in the individual time trial.
"I wanted a new set of challenges, it took a lot time for the motivation to come back and after the Olympics there was a long time where I was thinking what the hell am I going to do here next year, because in that 18 months I had put so much into that Tour project," Wiggins told reporters at the Tour of Oman, his first competitive outing of the season.
"So I had to find something to inspire me and the Giro is something I would really love to try and win."
The Giro, starting on May 4 in Naples, is scheduled earlier in the season than the Tour so the 32-year-old has radically changed his racing programme, riding the Tour of Catalunya, Tour of Trentino and Liege-Bastogne-Liege - none of which he took part in last year.
"To have a different set of challenges, we put Liege in this year, the Catalunya race I'd like to do well in," Wiggins explained.
"Having to go to Paris-Nice in two weeks time (March 3-10) and defend that title and have a direct comparison with last year would not help, obviously.
"So it's about working back from the Giro, and establishing goals and when we hit them we hit them as we did last year," he added.
Australian Cadel Evans had the same goals last year as in 2011 when he won the Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour de Romandie stage races before clinching his only Tour de France title.
In 2012, Evans finished 32nd in Tirreno-Adriatico and 29th in the Tour de Romandie.
"I didn't want to have that direct comparison all the time with last year," said the Belgium-born Wiggins.
"The only way was to win all that again and that was to fail, really, and I wanted to avoid that, I didn't want to put that pressure on myself."
Wiggins, however, is not targeting the Giro because he fears failing to win the Tour de France again
"It goes back to my *********, I grew up reading magazines and the Giro was always stuck in my mind, I don't know if it's just the pink jersey," he said.
"I particularly remember (1988 Giro winner Andrew) Hampsten climbing in the snow, it seemed quite inspirational. It's the only race in cycling they never really mention doping in the whole race.
"It's kind of refreshing in some way when you're there, for the racing, people come out and watch the sport and spectators idolise the racers. It's a bit of a free for all, chaos sometimes.
"I've always had a love-**** relationship with it. A few years ago I said I'd never go back there. In 2010, it was so hard... So I always had a soft spot for it," added Wiggins.
Following his outstanding performances last year, Wiggins has become something of a ********* and is often stopped on training rides by people asking for photographs, sometimes dealing with the unwanted interruptions in a novel way.
"Yeah, people want photographs but I say: 'I'm at work. Where do you work, let me come to where you work, turn the machine off for five minutes and take a photograph'," he said.
"I actually pretend to ignore them, pretend I'm French."
Wiggins's next race will be the Tour of Catalunya from March 18-24.

 

[Smallville22]

Vichot wins Haut-Var as Boom sprints to second stage

Arthur Vichot won the two-day Tour du Haut Var despite finishing second behind Lars Boom in a four-man sprint in Draguignan.
At the conclusion of the 207km stage, Blanco's Dutch rider Boom edged ahead of Frenchman Vichot (FDJ), with Italian Daniel Oss (BMC) and Boom's compatriot and team-mate Laurens ten Dam just behind.
Norway's Thor Hushovd (BMC), who impressed with a comeback victory in stage one on Saturday, was 14 seconds off the pace in sixth and 10s behind France's Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ).
Hushovd ends the French mini-tour in fifth, with Boom and Ten Dam sharing winner Vichot's overall time.

 

[Smallville22]

Valverde wins Ruta del Sol prologue

Movistar's Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde began the defence of his Vuelta a Andalucia title with victory in the prologue.
Valverde took the first of four stages on the simple 6km course starting and finishing in San Fernando by two seconds from Simon Spilak (Katusha) with Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) four seconds off the pace.
Katusha's Maxim Belkov laid down a competitive time early on which was only bettered by the top four, Patrick Gretsch (Argos - Shimano, +6s) and Stef Clement (Blanco, +9s).
Bart De Clercq (Lotto Belisol) and Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil) matched Belkov's time, which was 10 seconds off the eventual winner's pace of 6:46 - set as the last rider out.
Red jersey Valverde's victory last year came soon after his return from a doping ban.
The race also known as the Ruta del Sol continues on Monday with a 164km run from San Fernando to Ubrique.

 

[Smallville22]

Martin claims second Algarve title

Tony Martin won the Volta ao Algarve for a second time after dominating the time trial on Sunday.
Germany’s world time trial champion was always the favourite to win the final stage, and he did so with such ease that he was able to overhaul Sergio Henao, who had led after Saturday’s queen stage.
The 27-year-old adds this season's title to his 2011 win in Portugal. He was second last year.
"I am really happy," Martin said. "I was really looking to have a good day, and I had a good feeling immediately this morning during the reconnaissance.
"The parcour was really hard, with a lot of technical parts and little climbs where it was necessary to relaunch the action every time. Fortunately, it didn't rain during the TT.
"I really pushed a lot, and everything was perfect. There was a perfect approach to the race, and the result was because of all of these things."
Martin’s time of 45 minutes and nine seconds in the 35km ride from Castro Marim to Tavira was over a minute faster than OmegaPharma-QuickStep team-mate Michal Kwiatkowski, who was second on the day and overall.
Jesse Sergent of RadioShack was third in the time trial but only a second faster than Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil, who did enough to finish on the GC podium.
Colombia’s Henao was 3:15 off the pace and finished up in 12th.
Poland's Kwiatkowski, 22, was delighted with his first podium of the season.
"We did a great recon this morning with Tony and with him there is always something I can learn," Kwiatkowski said.
"Today I liked this kind of parcour. It was not one for the big gear - it was a bit more technical with a lot of shifting.
"I am very happy about the entire week, even on the climb yesterday. I saw the job I did in the last month to improve on the climbs pay off. I had good results at this race and I am happy about it."

Stage four result

1. Tony Martin (Ger) OmegaPharma-Quick-Step 45:09

2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) OmegaPharma-Quick-Step +1.07

3. Jesse Sergent (NZ) RadioShack-Leopard +1.15

GC

1. Martin 15:36.26

2. Kwiatkowski +58s

3. Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM +59

 

[Smallville22]

Hoogerland targeting May return

Johnny Hoogerland is planning a return to racing in early May after being released from hospital on Sunday.
The Vacansoleil-DCM rider had been seriously injured when hit by a car during a training ride in Mallorca two weeks ago, sustaining spinal fractures, five broken ribs and liver injuries.
There is still some doubt over whether Hoogerland will be able to return to racing at all - doctors have been unable to confirm whether his liver will heal fully - but the Dutchman is upbeat about his hopes of making a full recovery, a process which can at least begin now that he is back home.
"I am delighted to be able to return home and will begin with walking and exercises from the physiotherapist." he said.
Team manager Daan Luijkx is also hoping to get his rider back quickly.
"Of course we will miss him this spring, but he's motivated and in good hands to get up there again soon," he said. "(We want) to bring him back so that he can show what he is capable of as a rider."

 

[Smallville22]

Katusha included as 19th team on elite World Tour

Russian team Katusha have been added as a 19th team to the elite World Tour after winning an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) overturning the rejection of their original application.
"The UCI today announced that exceptionally there are 19 registered UCI ProTeams in the 2013 season," the International Cycling Union (UCI) said in a statement on Monday.
"The decision to have 19 as opposed to 18 teams was taken by the Professional Cycling Council today."
Katusha, who finished second in the world standings last year, appealed to CAS in December after the UCI rejected their application to compete in the top flight because of the team's doping record over the past four years.
CAS upheld the appeal last Friday.
ProTour teams are automatically granted a start in the top races of the season, including the grand Tours and the most prestigious classics.

 

[Smallville22]

Olympic champion Kenny upbeat ahead of track cycling Worlds

Jason Kenny knows the best cure for an Olympic hangover - get out there and do it again.
Kenny won double gold at London 2012 and is competing in three events at this weeks's track cycling World Championships in Minsk. Despite his career three Olympic golds, Kenny has won only one world title, awarded after France's Gregory Bauge was stripped of the 2011 prize due to an anti-doping infringement. It was nearly 12 months before he received his rainbow jersey in the bowels of the Olympic Stadium during last year's UCI World Cup in London, an unceremonious ceremony in which he looked a little embarrassed. "The record books say I'm a world champion and I've got the jersey but it wasn't the best way to win one, it's a bit rubbish doing things by default," he said. "The ***** is to win it properly and I've every chance of putting myself in that position this week. "The championships after an Olympics are always hard to call but I'm happy with where we are." Kenny's first medal event is Wednesday's team sprint, where he'll be joined by fellow Olympic champion Philip Hindes and either rising star Kian Emadi or Matt Crampton. Great Britain hasn't won a team sprint world title since 2009 but Hindes is upbeat, despite the absence of Sir Chris Hoy, who is still deciding on his future plans post-London. "Preparations have been good and this is what this season is all about," he said. "It's the start of the new Olympic cycle but it's all still exciting for me. "Having Kenny there ahead of me is a motivation. I want to be riding in the individual events as well but I know how hard he has worked. "I've got a busy summer planned racing sprint events in Germany and other countries to get the experience of individual competition that I really need."

 

[Smallville22]

Hamilton reveals all about Puerto doctor

American cyclist Tyler Hamilton has described in detail how the doctor at the centre of the Operation Puerto trial oversaw his programme of ***** doping and supplied him with ****** substances including EPO.
Speaking through an interpreter by video link from the Spanish embassy in Washington, Hamilton spoke for almost three hours about his time as a patient of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes between 2002-04 when the rider paid him as much as 110,000 euros for his services.
Hamilton, 41, who came clean about his doping past in an award-winning book 'The Secret Race', said he met Fuentes, who denies involvement in doping, at a clinic or in apartments in Madrid and Monaco and in "many, many hotel rooms" and the pair spoke and sent text messages using "secret phones".
With Fuentes watching him on a large-screen television, the American told the court in Madrid his first ***** transfusion under the doctor's direction was in March 2002 and he said he had met him "probably 15 times", each time having ***** extracted or reinjected.
Their relationship ended in September 2004 when traces of someone else's ***** was found in one of Hamilton's samples and the rider was suspended for two years, he added.
Last August the American was stripped of the time-trial gold medal he won at the 2004 Athens Games by the International Olympic Committee.
"Yeah he (Fuentes) gave me a calendar with a schedule of races, a schedule of when to take what performance-enhancing **** and if I remember right he gave me EPO (erythropoietin)," Hamilton told the court.
"He offered me EPO, testosterone, growth hormone, insulin, I think that's it," added the American who was wearing a light grey suit, white shirt and striped tie. "My biggest fear was something like this (trial) would happen."
Fuentes and four other defendants, including his ****** Yolanda, are appearing in court almost seven years after anabolic steroids, transfusion equipment and numbered ***** bags were seized by police as part of the Puerto investigation.
The proceedings have attracted international scrutiny because anti-doping authorities, who are represented in court, are hopeful it will finally lead to evidence of wrongdoing by athletes in sports other than cycling coming to light.
Fuentes said shortly after the trial began he had clients in sports including soccer, tennis, athletics and boxing.
A World Anti-Doping Agency request for access to the ***** bags has been repeatedly denied by the Spanish courts and the organisation awaits the Puerto judge's ruling on their latest petition made last month.
As Spain's current anti-doping legislation was not in ***** in 2006 when the police raids took place, Fuentes and his fellow accused are being tried for ********* public health regulations and the prosecutor has asked for prison terms of two years.
Hamilton, who said he used EPO and ****** growth hormone treatments before becoming involved with Fuentes, was questioned about whether he had been warned of the possible risks from ***** doping and if he had any adverse reaction to the transfusions or *****.
He said he had always checked to make sure his code number "4142" was on the bags of ***** to be reinjected.
"I had a transfusion in July of 2004 (during the Tour de France) that gave me a bad fever and I felt sick," said Hamilton. "The reason why I knew was that 30 or 40 minutes later when I went to the bathroom my ***** was black.
"The insulin I tried one time but did not like the way it made me feel, sweating, increased heart rate, just a strange sense.
"You'd always feel a little bit different. I would say that no two times were exactly the same. But yeah your body reacted to the ***** extractions and reinfusions."
The judge asked Hamilton if he had anything to add at the end of his testimony.
"Yeah I'm sorry for breaking the rules," he said.
The lawyer for one of the defendants then announced he no longer wished to call Spanish rider Alberto Contador to the stand.
Contador, who was stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title after testing positive for a ****** substance, was due to appear in court on Friday.
The trial is set to end on March 22.

 

[Smallville22]

Hivert wins first Ruta del Sol stage

Jonathan Hivert of Sojasun won the first stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol in Ubrique.
Hivert won the sprint to lead home a large breakaway group on a 164km stage which featured three climbs.
An early four-man breakaway that started just 4km into the race was reeled in at the 100km mark,
Prologue winner Alejandro Valverde finished second to retain the lead in the general classification.

 

[Smallville22]

Hivert wins again at Ruta del Sol

Jonathan Hivert of Sojasun won the second stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia Ruta del Sol in Montilla.
The French sprinter followed up his win in Monday's first stage with another blistering sprint on the 194km second stage to edge Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Francesco Lasca (Caja Rural) for the win.
Hivert is already enjoying a superb season having taken overall victory in the Etoile de Besseges, but he still trails Ruta del Sol prologue winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in the general classification.
Valverde leads the overall standings by seven seconds from Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and 11 from Bauke Mollema (Blanco).