"Enough is Enough" - At least you have a story...

Hoogerland says 'enough is enough' and ends 2011 season

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hoogerland-says-enough-is-enough-and-ends-2011-season)

Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) has decided to call time on his 2011 season, citing fatigue and the injuries he sustained at the Tour de France as contributing factors. Hoogerland took out 12th in this year's Amstel Gold, but felt that continuing further this year "would hurt future seasons."

"I never had time to properly recover and regenerate since the end of the Tour," Hoogerland told De Telegraaf. "My body is just ‘done’. I’ve done two Grand Tours and rode 15 of the post-Tour criteriums. I’ve done something like 120 days of racing this year. I just don’t have the energy to continue."

The Dutch rider’s last race, the elite men’s road race in Copenhagen nearly ended well for Hoogerland, with the 28-year-old featuring in a late break that also included Thomas Voeckler. That move was eventually brought back by a tenacious British team; however it did give Hoogerland some encouragement for next year’s worlds taking place in Holland.

"It was great to have a go, but I’ll try again next year, when the championships return to Holland."

Hoogerland still thinks about what could have been at the Tour de France with ‘that crash’. In the day’s winning breakaway, he became the centre of global headlines when a media car from the convoy swerved suddenly as it attempted to drive past the escape, plowing into Hoogerland and throwing the Dutchman into a barbed wire fence on the side of the road.

Though it has helped to raise his profile, both in Holland and abroad, he regrets missing out on the opportunity to contest the finish.

"If I had won a stage and had retained the polka dot jersey for longer I would be really happy with the season. I was in really good form, but that’s life."

Will people ever learn to keep their mouth shut?

UCI vs Landis: the missing lawsuit

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/uci-vs-landis-the-missing-lawsuit)

It’s been almost five months since the UCI issued a press release in which it stated that it would sue Floyd Landis. However, the former professional has not had any communication with either the governing body or its Swiss lawyers, suggesting that the case could fail to materialise.

In November of last year, Landis appeared on German television and claimed that “it is known in the peloton” that the UCI has “protected some people” over the years. He also accused the UCI of taking bribes, conducting cover-ups and manipulating test results.

Days later, UCI president Pat McQuaid accused Landis of being a ‘liar’ but it took until February of this year before the UCI backed up the claims and threatened to sue the former rider.

In a letter dated February 7, 2011, addressed to Landis, the UCI gave the American a 15-day window in which to retract his comments or face legal proceedings. Reymond & Associes acted for the UCI’s former and current presidents, Hein Verbruggen and Pat McQuaid.

Landis’ reaction was one of bluff and mocking contempt. He set up a fake legal firm and began to email the UCI’s legal team. He even set up a website for his fictitious legal firm, Greymanrod.com (the website has since been removed), creating a lawyer to represent him. One of the legal team’s areas of expertise was in Vegetable Rights Abuse Advocacy.

It wasn’t until May that the UCI, after Landis refused to back down, announced that they would take him to court to ‘defend their honour’. In a public statement they said: “The International Cycling Union (UCI), its current President, Mr Pat McQuaid, and one of its former Presidents, Mr Hein Verbruggen, have lodged a case in the Swiss courts against Mr Floyd Landis regarding repeated, serious attacks against their characters.”

“By this step, made necessary by numerous unacceptable public statements by Mr Landis, the UCI is seeking to defend the integrity of the cycling movement as a whole against the accusations of a rider who, by breaching the Anti-doping Rules, caused cycling serious harm.”

However, since then the case appears to have gone cold. McQuaid told Cyclingnews at the recent World Championships in Copenhagen that the wheels were still in motion but that he didn’t know exactly where the lawyers were with the proceedings.

“It’s ongoing but the legal team are dealing with it,” McQuaid said.

“I will not accept anyone saying that I or the UCI is corrupt. If you say that about the UCI, that’s 90 people affected. I will not accept that the UCI is corrupt or has ever been corrupt. I just will not accept that. If someone wants to say that, they need to stand up and show the proof.

“It’s definitely going ahead but I don’t know when. I haven’t spoken to legal but they’re looking after it. You can’t dictate resolutions on legal cases. They go at their own speed and you have to let the lawyers take care of it.”

Cyclingnews contacted Landis and asked if he had received any notification or communication from the UCI since they announced the start of legal proceedings. Like McQuaid, he had no idea where the case was heading but he did disclose that he had received no communication.

More importantly, he told Cyclingnews that he had hired his own US lawyers – real ones this time – to trawl the Swiss courts to find a case that matched his name. According to Landis, nothing was found.

“They put out a press release on their website saying they had filed a law suit. That was months ago and they can’t pretend that didn’t happen. I had lawyers search the courts of Switzerland for something with my name on it and there is nothing,” Landis said. “So McQuaid is full of it.”

Landis can’t prove why the UCI would go so far without actually taking the necessary steps to sue him but he did throw out a potential theory:

“I expect the reason he doesn’t want to sue me and I’m sure Lance Armstrong’s lawyers think the same thing, is because they don’t want to give me an opportunity to start exposing things. Then I get to subpoena people and depose them. There’s also the fact that I’m telling the truth, which is another problem for him.

“The fact that they said they sued me and they didn’t - you can’t have them do that. How can we trust them if they’re going to go around making things up?”

While McQuaid was fuzzy on the details, he did have one last warning aimed in the direction of Landis. Cyclingnews informed the UCI president that Landis didn’t believe a case existed.

“Let him wait and see,” McQuaid said. “He’s already had communication from our lawyers so he should treat it seriously.”

So where exactly were you?

Rasmussen admits his mistakes

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rasmussen-admits-his-mistakes)

Alex Rasmussen has claimed that the three warnings he received for problems regarding his whereabouts for out of competition doping controls were due to sloppiness on his part and had nothing to do with cheating or doping.

Rasmussen was temporarily suspended by the Danish Cycling Union and fired by his team HTC-HIghroad earlier this week after it was disclosed that he had commited three “whereabouts” violations. He now risks up to a two-year ban and has lost his place with Garmin for 2012.

The 27-year-old explained how the three violations occured to the Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet.

The first one came from Anti-Doping Denmark in February 2010, when he was not where he had stated he would be, but instead was competing at the Six Day race in Berlin.

“I had actually completed my whereabouts and had written the name of our hotel in Berlin. Unfortunately I forgot to press the 'Send' button on the computer and the update never reached doping authorities,” he said. Ironically, he underwent a UCI doping control at the Six Day race.

He then compounded his mistake by making an unfounded assumption. “I explained it to them afterwards and actually thought that the warning was cancelled. It was not.”

Eight months later he was warned again by Anti-Doping Denmark, for filing his whereabouts for the fourth quarter of 2010 too late. “There is not much to say about that. It cannot be explained away. I'm forgetful and just didn't get it done in time. I accepted the warning, but still believed that the first was annulled. At this time I had two warnings, but I thought I only had one. It was not super, but I was not worried. I knew I just had to be very careful.”

He was not careful enough, however. The third warning came from the UCI, for an event on April 28. He had said that he would be at his home in Girona, Spain, but had travel to Denmark for his sister's confirmation and not changed his whereabouts statement. Because he was gone, he missed the UCI testers who came to Spain to take an out-of-competition control.  A missed control is considered to be equal to a positive control.

“Just after the confirmation I was told that there was a failed doping test. I knew it was crazy, but I tried to explain to myself. It failed, and I knew I would get a warning. I still thought that it would be only the second warning. Only when I received a letter on the 18th August did it dawn on me that it was the third. It was a huge shock for me.”

Rasmussen hopes to convince a Danish disciplinary hearing that he did not puposely tried to avoid tests. He has received the support of several teammates and colleagues. Many confirmed his lack of organization skills, with Greg Henderson of Sky tweeting, “If u know him u will realise he couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery."

UCI, Elite Men's World Champship Results

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-road-world-championships-2011/elite-men-road-race/results)

Great Britain won the world road race championship for the first time in 46 years when Mark Cavendish finished off an incredible demonstration of team work and pace-making by his seven teammates with a perfectly judged sprint on the drag up to the finish to beat Australia's Matt Goss by a wheel. Germany's André Greipel took the bronze medal, just edging out Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) by a tyre's width.

Sweeping into the final straight, Cavendish was a long way back in the line, behind a clutch of Australians, Germans and Norwegians, and had a huge amount of work to do. But, showing outstanding coolness considering the situation, the Manxman picked his way towards the front, before finally nipping though the narrowest of gaps along the right-hand barrier to launch his sprint with 150m to the line.

In typical fashion, his initial jump carried him clear of his rivals. Goss, who had hesitated very briefly as Cavendish flashed by on his outside, came hard at the Briton as the line neared, but the Australian's effort came too late as Cavendish held on to become the first British winner of the men's world road title since Tom Simpson in 1965.

Cavendish's victory crowned a hugely impressive performance from the British team. Right from the early stages of the 266km race, the British septet riding in support of Cavendish set the pace on the front of the bunch, looking very much in control until the mayhem of the final kilometre.

Cavendish was quick to pay tribute to them. "We had eight of the best guys in the world, and this is the first time we've come together. They were incredible. They took the race on from start to finish and we won. I can't believe it," said Britain's new world champion.

"We knew three years ago when this course was announced, that it could be good for us. We put a plan together to come with the best group of guys to this race and to come away from it with the rainbow jersey. It's been three years in the making. The guys have worked so hard throughout the season to get points so that we could have eight riders here and, as you just saw, they rode incredibly. I feel so, so proud."

High speed from the start

In the days building up to the race, many of those taking part had said that they expected the pace to be hot right from the off, and that was exactly how the race shaped up. The huge field started very quickly on the 14km circuit that had an altitude gain of just 40 metres per lap. The average speed was close to 50km/h for the first 30 minutes as breaks went and were brought back. Even at this early point, though, the Great Britain team was prominent on the front of the bunch.

Eventually seven riders did get clear, with only two of the strongest nations represented. Pablo Lastras was up there for Spain, with Anthony Roux representing France. Also in the group were Christian Poos (Luxembourg), Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan), Oleg Chuzhda (Ukraine), Robert Kiserlovski (Croatia) and Tanel Kangert (Estonia). As these seven riders went to work, the bunch eased off a tad behind, allowing their lead to stretch to more than eight minutes before Great Britain's Steve Cummings and David Millar began to push the pace a little more quickly on the front of the peloton.

With the gap down to a little over four minutes with 148km covered, the first attack from the main group finally came. Heading up through the finish to complete the 11th of 19 laps, Belgium's Johan Van Summeren accelerated on the right-hand side of the road. France's Yoann Offredo got on his wheel and Italy's Luca Paolini sprinted across to make three. Belgium's Oliver Kaisen and Australia's Simon Clarke also made it across to the move. These five riders quickly began to eat into the lead break's advantage, with Offredo staying mostly at the back of the line with his teammate Roux up ahead.

Hushovd's defence stymied by crash

Back in the bunch, the British riders continued to set the pace with occasional help from the US and German teams. Coming through to complete the 13th lap and with six still to go, a crash toward the back of the field left a number of riders on the deck and halted many others. Among those affected were defending champion Thor Hushovd (Norway) and new world time trial champion Tony Martin (Germany), who had been expected to play an important lead-out role for Greipel at the finish.

The incident split the peloton. Although Hushovd and New Zealand's Jack Bauer did attempt to close the gap, this second group steadily fell further behind and completely out of contention.

Approaching the 200km mark, the two groups ahead of the main field joined forces, giving France and Belgium two riders each up front. The 11-strong group - Poos having fallen back to the main pack - led by just two minutes now, with Great Britain happy to lead a steady pursuit and chase down any other sallies off the front of the peloton.

The tension increases with three to go

With four laps to go, it briefly seemed that the British team's relentless pace-making was taking a heavy toll. An attack by Denmark's Anders Lund didn't ultimately come to anything, but several nations took the opportunity to send riders across to the Dane in an attempt to weaken Cavendish's teammates. However, the British riders quickly regained their positions on the front of the bunch and the Lund-inspired attack was nullified. But the question was: would Team GB be able to remain in charge when the race reached its most crucial moments?

 

By now the gap to the 11 leaders was hovering around the one-minute mark. More attacks went and were countered, notably one instigated by Switzerland's Michael Albasini and containing two Belgian riders, Sweden's Thomas Lövkvist and Australia's Michael Rogers. As this group was chased down, Denmark's Lars Bak jumped away, no doubt hoping that others riders would join him, but pressing on nevertheless when no one did.

Going into the penultimate lap, with the break now within sight of the peloton on the long straights and Bak in between, the powerful Frenchman Roux attacked from the front group. It was a well-timed move as the peloton were quickly on the riders Roux had spent a lot of the race cooperating with. But with just 20 seconds in hand and more than 20km to the finish, the French rider was never likely to stay out front for long.

Voeckler goes on the attack

In the end, Roux's long day was brought to a close by a familiar face. As the bunch closed, Thomas Voeckler (France) accelerated off the front, paused briefly with Roux to acknowledge his huge effort with a pat on the back, then pushed on again with Denmark's Nikki Sorensen and Belgium's Klaas Lodewijk for company.

This trio led by 18 seconds going into the last lap. A handful of kilometres into it, they were joined by Holland's Johnny Hoogerland, whose arrival saw Voeckler drop to the back of the line and significantly reduce his work rate.

Behind these four, time trial world silver medallist Bradley Wiggins was steaming along on the front of the bunch, cutting lumps off the small advantage the break had. Hoogerland gave all he had to drive the break along, but Wiggins had simply too much horsepower for the Dutchman and his three companions. Voeckler made one final effort with 7km remaining, but quickly eased off as Wiggins motored by.

Stunning Stannard paves way for Cav

By now the British team had plenty of company toward the front of the bunch. Australian, Italian and German jerseys were also massing, and it was the Australians who eventually took over from Wiggins with 3.5km to go. They had four riders working for Goss, and the Germans too emerged strongly, leaving the British team swamped and, for the first time all day, slipping back down the field.

Inside the final 2km, Britain's Ian Stannard, having done a stack of work already, manoeuvred his way up through the fast-moving pack with Cavendish on his wheel. Joined by Geraint Thomas, Stannard's effort took him to the very front of the line as the bunch swept around the final corner with 500 metres left up to the line.

Before Stannard pulled aside, Thomas looked back to see where Cavendish was. Realising that his sprinter was some way back in the pack, Thomas followed Stannard's example in swinging out of the way rather than upping the pace. For a moment it looked like the Brits had lost out in the very final kilometre, but the slight drop in pace at the front meant Cavendish was able to gain some vital ground as the Australians started to set up Goss for the finish.

As Goss prepared to move, Cavendish saw daylight to his right against the barriers, squeezed through the tightest of gaps and was gone. Team Great Britain's incredible day was about to reach the perfect conclusion.

"War for the peloton "

Team GB's Wiggins warns of war for the peloton in the Worlds

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-gbs-wiggins-warns-of-war-for-the-peloton-in-the-worlds)

Bradley Wiggins believes victory for Mark Cavendish at the UCI World Championship road race on Sunday would be the best of the Manxman's career, although he warned the race would be war for the peloton.

Speaking after the finale to the men's U23 race, Wiggins, part of an eight-man Team GB squad, believed the race would end in a sprint and one in which Mark Cavendish would have to produce "the ride of his life" to emerge victorious.

"It's going to be a war out there," said Wiggins, "and I think if we get one guy to that last corner with Cav, I think we will have been successful."

Wiggins, who won silver in the time trial earlier in the week, said he was personally relaxed but he spoke passionately about the challenge that lay ahead of the team and its star sprinter.

"[Cavendish is] going to have to do the ride of his life, and he has only ever done one ride of his life before and that was Milan-San Remo. Everything else he's won, he won easily. If he's ever going to do it with this team, with the form he's got, on this course, I think it could happen on Sunday."

He said the Manxman's form was good despite him pulling out of the Vuelta a Espana on stage 4. Cavendish completed a training block with GB teammate David Millar in Spain before completing the Tour of Britain which yielded two stage victories. Wiggins believes the fast course and the tactics of other nations such as Germany and USA will ensure a final sprint.

"The course is so fast. You can attack off the group that's doing 50-53km/h an hour but you've got to sustain 56-57km/h to get away, and it's just not going to happen.

"I think our plan is not to put anyone in the break - it's a wasted man who could be doing the job later on - but at the same time make sure the right break goes."

He said the dream scenario would be for the team to contribute to a combined effort to bring the break back late in the race before setting Cavendish up for the sprint.

He added David Millar would take responsibility for decision-making during the radio-free race.

"I think if Cav was to win on Sunday, that would go down as his best-ever victory in cycling, regardless of whether he won the Olympic road race next year. In cycling I don't think it gets much bigger than the Worlds. In historical terms you're following in a line of people who have dominated this sport."

He added that although Cavendish was feeling nervous and anxious, he was used to the pressure. "He's a leader through and through," said the Londoner.

Sneak Peak at Sunday's Road Race

Thor Hushovd thinks stacked field will make it hard in Copenhagen

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thor-hushovd-thinks-stacked-field-will-make-it-hard-in-copenhagen)

Current World Champion Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) has said that although the course in Copenhagen may suit him, the field is among the most open he can recall and that it will be very hard for his team to control the race on Sunday.

"There is some really strong opposition racing, I think it’s going to be hard," said Hushovd to L’Avenir.net. "I think with guys like Peter Sagan, Philippe Gilbert, Oscar Freire, Mark Cavendish, there are plenty of potential winners.

"Bennati has one of the strongest teams in the race, and I would suggest the Germa-s have a very solid team led by Andre Greipel.

"Meanwhile for Norway we only have four riders! With so many quality teams we’re just going to have to rely on the work of others."

The Norwegian was reportedly on strong antibiotics while racing in the Tour of Britain, however he now feels that he is fully recovered. Hushovd added that he was pleased with his build up after the Tour de France.

"I believe I'm well rested after a successful Tour de France," he said. "The stage victory in the Tour of Britain confirms that the form is there, and now all that waits is the racing on Sunday."

The men’s road race takes place on Sunday September 25.

Men's Worlds Championship TT

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/uci-road-world-championships-2011/elite-men-time-trial/results)

Tony Martin (Germany) dominated the elite men's time trial world championship, setting the fastest time at each split, as he powered to his first world title on the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark.

The 26-year-old German recorded a scintillating time of 53:43.85 for the 46.4km parcours to beat silver medalist Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) by 1:15.83. Defending and four-time world champion Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland), consistently setting the second-fastest splits throughout the day, overshot a corner late in the race, nearly crashing into the course barriers, and had to settle for the bronze medal 4.76 seconds down on Wiggins.

The world championship has capped off a stellar season for Martin as he claimed overall wins at the Volta ao Algarve and Paris-Nice plus second overall at the Tour de Romandie. His performances against the clock have been superb season-long as he won time trial stages at the Tour de France, Vuelta a España, Volta ao Algarve, Paris-Nice, Vuelta al Pais Vasco and the Critérium du Dauphiné, now punctuated by his first-ever world championship.

Martin's ride also delivered Germany its second elite world championship in as many days as compatriot and HTC-Highroad teammate Judith Arndt won her first world title, too, in the elite women's time trial on Tuesday.

“In the last kilometre I was sure that I was going to win. It’s such a good feeling. It’s a dream come true. It’s amazing for me,” Martin said, revealing that catching David Millar during his ride helped him do even better.

“David was one of favourites and for sure when you pass him and you are 1:30 faster, you must be having a good ride. I gave my all, so I was really happy. I felt under pressure but I’ve learnt to work with the pressure.”

Martin's masterpiece

While the sky was overcast throughout the day, the rain held off for the elite men's time trial as 65 riders, competing in four waves for two laps of the 23.3km circuit, vied for the rainbow stripes in Copenhagen.

Alexandr Dyachenko (Kazakhstan), the 20th rider to start, held the hot seat for much of the day until the cream of the time trial stalwarts got on the course in the last of four waves. The first to break Dyachenko's time of 57:03.61 for the 46.4km parcours was Australia's Jack Bobridge, who stopped the clock in 55:57.71, only to have the next rider across the line, former time trial world champion Bert Grabsch (Germany), top that with 55:15.61.

British road champion Bradley Wiggins, fresh off a podium finish at the Vuelta a Espana, picked up his pace throughout the day and became the first rider to crack the 55-minute barrier as he assumed the hot seat with a time of 54:59.68.

But Martin, the second-to-last rider to start, was simply on another level as he re-set the best times at each split. The German caught the two riders who started in front of him, David Millar (Great Britain) and Mikhail Ignatyev (Russian Federation), and came close to reeling in a third rider, Taylor Phinney (United States of American), who started 4:30 ahead of the German.

Use this on all articles. The player is narrow enough to fit next to the article gallery images box on the right.

Martin's time of 53:43.85 demolished the effort made by Wiggins, and the only question yet to be decided would be what medal Fabian Cancellara, the final rider off, would claim.

The Swiss powerhouse had been consistently in second place at each split, but he started faster than Wiggins and his advantage over the Briton had been decreasing throughout his effort.

Nonetheless, Cancellara looked to have the silver medal sewn up, but an uncharacteristic mistake at a right-hand turn late in the race likely cost him a second place finish.

The Swiss rider overshot a turn and came to a complete stop to avoid crashing into the course barrier. He strained to get his big gear rolling again and returned to top speed, but as he made his way down the finishing straight his time of 55:04.44 would result in a bronze medal, 1:20.59 down on Martin and a slender 4.76 seconds behind Wiggins.

Women's Worlds Championships

I know this is a day late, but better late than never I guess...

Women of the Worlds

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/women-of-the-worlds)

The women will be riding hard in Copenhagen at the UCI World Championships, looking for glory for themselves and their countries.  Who can be expected to stand atop the final podiums?

Time trial

The World Championship ITT is always a difficult race to predict, especially as the Olympics get nearer, when the riders from the peloton are joined by the specialists for the first time – and even the riders who have been racing in Europe all year haven’t raced against each other in a time trial that’s similar to this one.

The elite women ride 27.8km, two laps of the 13.9km city centre course that is the same circuit as the junior men and women.  There are one or two technical sections, including a small run of cobbles, but mostly this course will be combining straight roads – including a long part on different sides of the same road – with city corners.  With no climbs to face, it is the weather that could provide the biggest challenge for riders, especially if it changes over the course of the race.

A favourite for the race has to be Judith Arndt (Germany).  She not only has two bronze and three silver medals in previous World ITT Championships – coming second behind Great Britain’s Emma Pooley in Geelong last year – but she also has built up some superb form in the run-up to the race, winning the two September ITTs, the 23.6km Memorial Davide Fardelli in Italy and the 33.4km Chrono Champenois in France. 

Pooley herself will be a contender for the medals, although she may prefer a course with more hills, and the Netherlands' Marianne Vos will be well worth watching.  Last year Vos decided not to ride the ITT in order to focus on the road race, but this year she announced that she is planning not to contest the track events in next year’s Olympic Games, but to focus on the road race and the time trial.  Vos has been the stand-out rider of the year, and has already won a 2011 World Champion title at cyclocross and on the track, and this will give an idea of her chances of Olympic Gold.

Specialists in Copenhagen as part of their Olympic preparations are the Canadians,Tara Whitten and Clara Hughes.  Hughes won silver in the 1995 World ITT Championships, and bronze in the ITT and on the track in the Olympics the following year, before focusing on speed skating, winning Olympic medals.  She announced her return to cycling last year, aiming at London 2012.  Although she hasn’t raced in Europe this year, she won the Pan-American ITT title, the ITT and the overall GC at the Tour of the Gila, and the UCI 1.1-ranked Chrono Gatineau, and this will be her chance to benchmark herself against the European competition.

There is also the local rider Linda Villumsen.  Although she rides under a New Zealand licence, she was born in Denmark, and has been bronze medallist for the past two years.  She may prefer a more hilly course, but that home-country advantage can never be underestimated.

Road Race

If Vos is a favourite for the time trial, that goes double for the road race.  She has never finished lower than second since she rode and won her first elite World Championship Road Race in 2006 – and this course looks like it suits her down to the ground.

With ten laps of the same 14km circuit as the men, including some short, sharp climbs, this will be a real race of attrition, with the winds likely to play a key role.  When the women’s peloton ride courses like this one, it is usually all about which teams can use the wind and the climbs to force breaks, so positioning will be key, something that the Dutch riders excel at.  Vos is supported by 2011 World Cup winner Annemiek van Vleuten and sprinter Kirsten Wild, who currently sits eighth in the UCI rankings – either of whom are capable of winning the race themselves, if Vos misses a break.

If it ends in a sprint, Ina-Yoko Teutenberg (Germany) could be the woman to beat, and with the strongest German team for years, she will have the support to get her to the end.  2010 road race Champion Giorgia Bronzini, too, could contest this one – and the Italians always bring superb tactics to the World Championships, with riders for every outcome, as they demonstrated last year and in 2009, when Tatiana Guderzo took the gold and Noemi Cantele the bronze.

If it ends in a small break, watch out for Emma Johansson, the Swede who almost never misses the crucial break, Teutenberg’s team-mate Judith Arndt, and the queen of long distance attacks, Emma Pooley.  There maybe aren’t enough hills for her, and Team GB always seems to ride for Nicole Cooke in the road race - but Pooley is given an opportunity to escape, she could make it all the way.  Cooke herself finally broke her long run of bad luck with a solo attack out of a small group to win the flat Stage 5 at the Giro d’Italia, and she will be hoping for a similar situation in Saturday’s race.

The women’s race is always exciting, and this one should follow the pattern women’s cycling fans love – lots of attacks, and excitement up to the line!

Gesink Update

Successful surgery for Gesink

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/successful-surgery-for-gesink)

Robert Gesink has undergone successful surgery on his fractured right femur. The Rabobank rider suffered the serious injury in a training crash on Sunday.

The Rabobank rider had a pin installed in his leg on Sunday night at the Meander Medical Center in Amersfoort in the Netherlands. He will remain in hospital a few days, and must have ten days of absolute rest, before starting rehabilitation.

Rabobank sport director Erik Breukink said that Gesink did not remember how the crash happened.

The crash is another blow for the 26-year old after a difficult 12 months. His father died in October 2010 as the result of a cycling accident. Gesink started well in the season, winning two stages in the Tour of Oman en route to overall victory. A crash at the Tour de France left him with back and hip injuries and he finished the race 33rd overall. He recently he finished second in the GP de Quebec, and was looking forward to repeating his two-time win in the Giro dell'Emilia. Now his season is over and he faces a winter of rehabilitation and physiotherapy.

Gesink's place on the Worlds road team will be taken by Rabobank teammate Steve Kruijswijk.

In another team change, Dominique Rollin (FDJ) has withdrawn from the Canadian team. He has not recovered from injuries suffered in a crash at the GP de Montreal. His place on the road race will be taken by Michael Barry of Team Sky.

*100th Blog* - High School Cycling Leagues

I wish we had a cycling team in High School. Of course, there is really no track or safe roads around, but it's a lower impact option than football:

High school racing continues to grow in United States

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/high-school-racing-continues-to-grow-in-united-states)

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) announced expansion plans featuring two programs while at Interbike in Las Vegas, Nevada this week. The American organization behind high school racing launched a new program called the 50-State Coach and Club program and announced a new league.

The 50-State Coach and Club program is the most far-reaching program yet. "With the 50-State Indie Club program, we are excited to reinstate our ground-up approach to creating leagues, which originated in 1998 when four students responded to a school bulletin. This was the foundation of the Berkeley High School Mountain Bike Club, which grew into the NorCal League," said Matt Fritzinger, NICA's executive director.

In recent years, coaches with the desire to set up a high school team in their state have had to wait for the formation of a league and then become a member of it before obtaining their NICA Coaching Licence. The Indie Club program now enables coaches to acquire the coaching licence, one component of which is attending a NICA Leaders' Summit, and then they are able set up an independent high school mountain bike club without the requirement of an existing NICA league.

The intense activity in forming new leagues is fueled partly by highly positive feedback from participants in existing leagues. Statistics from a 2011 survey of NICA athletes suggest the following:

- 97 percent of non-graduating student-athletes intend to participate again next year. 93 percent encourage their friends to join.

- For 26 percent of NICA student-athletes, 2011 was their first year of riding. 65 percent have been riding for less than three years.

- 89 percent of NICA student-athletes ride year-round. 99.5 percent think they will continue to ride throughout their lives. 98 percent of parents think their child will ride throughout their lives.

- 84 percent of student athletes reported increased understanding and respect for other trail users, while 73 percent reported increased awareness and respect for the environment.

New League in Utah

NICA also announced its next League in Utah, which furthers the organization's goal of taking high school mountain biking coast to coast by 2020.

The chain of high school cycling leagues now runs: Washington, California, Utah, Colorado, Minnesota, and Texas.

"We were very impressed by the strength of the Utah bid and the groundswell of support for high school mountain biking in Utah. Lori Harward and her team are doing incredible work and the opening season next fall is going to be fantastic for Utah youth," said Fritzinger.

Harward, the new director of the Utah League, said, "This is a great thing for Utah. NICA's five core principles of inclusivity, equality, strong body, strong mind and strong character are what attracted me to NICA. As cycling coaches, my husband Dave and I have been looking for ways to get more kids into cycling for some time. NICA's all-round package is perfect for kids and community, and we're all really excited to be part of this tremendous national movement!"

The Utah High School Cycling league will receive a NICA Grant and a wide range of support services as the successful applicant from several groups in the ongoing NICA bid process, which challenges organizers to surpass requirements for community and financial support. The newly formed NICA Grant program helps upstart leagues cover start-up costs and is made possible by NICA's sponsors.

A Leader's Summit for coaches will take place in the spring and racing will commence in the fall of 2012, interested coaches should contact Lori at Lori@utahmtb.org. View the Utah League website at www.utahmtb.org.

The Tooth, The Whole Tooth, and Nothing But The Tooth...

(Thanks to my husband for the title)

As posted yesterday, Andy Schleck is out of the World Championships. As always, people are taking this news the wrong way...Schleck doesn't want to represent his country. NOT TRUE!!!! He's been fighting tooth problems since the Tour de France. He does want to race, but he has been medically advised not to. Why can't we as cycling fans...and humans...support him in this time?

Andy Schleck talks about his tooth problems

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-talks-about-his-tooth-problems)

Andy Schleck has revealed that a lost filling during the Tour de France was the cause of his tooth infection that has disrupted his end of season and cost him his spot at the World Championships. 

The infected tooth was pulled two weeks after the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado but his recovery was hit by an infection and he needed to take antibiotics. That made it too risky for him to ride the Worlds road race.

“Both my dentist and the team doctor advised me against participating in the World Championships. My health is the most important thing, and I really don't want to risk a heart muscle infection, which would mean I would have to sit out a year,” he told Tageblatt.lu.

Schleck vehemently denied that the dental problem was just an excuse not to ride in Copenhagen, and that he didn't care about representing his country.

“I absolutely don't make up stories in order not to participate in the World Championships, which is always a great moment in the career of any athlete. I feel I have always represented Luxembourg during my big successes, like the stage wins at the Tour de France.”

Schleck hopes to race again this season, although he is still not able to fully train. “Whenever I get into the higher pulse rate, I also have strong pains,” he said.

He must wait and see how he recovers and then will decide his race program. “But if I can't build my form backup, then the Colorado tour would be my last race  Which I don't hope in the case.”

Next year, Schleck will ride for RadioShack-Nissan-Trek, which he inisists will be registered in Luxembourg.

“One thing is for sure, the team will remain a Luxembourg team. As for any further details I can only refer you to the management and the next press release,” he said.

He also knows one other thing definitely: he and brother Fränk will continue to ride together. “There is nothing to it,” he said of the rumours that his brother might leave the team. “In the future we will always ride on the same team.”

No Worlds Championship for Andy Schleck

Andy Schleck confirms he will miss the Worlds Championships

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-confirms-he-will-miss-the-worlds-championships)

Andy Schleck has confirmed that he will not ride alongside his brother Frank at the World Championship road race next week in Copenhagen. The Tour de France runner-up has been taken out of the Luxembourg six-man roster initially published on the federation's website.

"I'm not going to the world's because of my tooth problem. Healing slower than expected," the younger Schleck tweeted on Friday.

Schleck has been suffering from an infection of a wisdom tooth for several weeks, making the removal of the tooth necessary. The surgery has already forced him miss the GP de Quebec and the GP de Montreal race in Canada.

It is unclear if Andy will race again this season.

The Luxembourg federation has decided not to replace Andy in the line-up, as the only rider who could have possibly taken his place, Bob Jungels, is still an Under 23 rider. The Luxembourg team will thus enter the road race with only five instead of six riders: Fränk Schleck, Jempy Drucker, Christian Poos, Laurent Didier and Ben Gastauer.

What will the peloton be without Dessel?

This is sad news for me...I hate when riders I like retire...

Cyril Dessel retires after 11 years in the peloton

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cyril-dessel-retires-after-11-years-in-the-peloton)

Cyril Dessel has announced he retiring at the end of the season. The Frenchman has ridden professionally since 2000 and wore the yellow jersey for a stage during the 2006 Tour de France.

Dessel, 36, made his announcement on the website of the French cycling federation.  “I've made my decision, I am stopping,” he said. “The life of a high-level athlete, life as being a professional stops at this point for me. I will now take a break and think about the future.”

The highly respected Frenchman turned pro with Jean Delatour and then rode with Phonak in 2003 and 2004 before joining Ag2r. In 2006 he finished sixth overall in the Tour de France, wearing both the leader's jersey and mountain jersey for one stage. That same year he won both the Tour de Mediterraneen and the Tour de l'Ain. In 2008  he won stages at the Four Days of Dunkirk, Volta a Catalunya and the Criterium du Dauphine Libere.

Dessel is not the only veteran rider deciding to call it a day and hang up his wheels.  Andrea Noe of Farnese Vini retired after this year's Giro d'Italia at the age of 42, Inigo Cuesta, who also turned 42 this year, retired from racing after his Caja Rural team did not receive an invitation to the Vuelta a Espana. Carlos Sastre, 36, has said he will announce his future plans on Thursday.

However other riders in that age range will continue to race in 2012. Jens Voigt, who turns 40 on Saturday, has already signed a contract to ride for RadioShack-Nissan-Trek next year, where he will meet up with Chris Horner, who turns 40 in October. Robbie McEwen, 39, will ride the first part of the 2012 season with GreenEdge before serving as a technical advisor.

Want your tweet on the Maglia Rosa?

I think this is a cool way of incorporating the fans into the races:

Fans can help design 2012 Giro d'Italia maglia rosa

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/fans-can-help-design-2012-giro-ditalia-maglia-rosa)

Cycling fans have their chance to help design next year’s maglia rosa for the Giro d’Italia. Italian manufacturer, Santini, who design the famous jersey, has come up with three designs, allowing fans to vote for their favourite.

Santini and the Giro organisers have also opened a competition that allows fans to suggest messages that can be included on the jersey.

Fans can tweet what the Giro means to them with #magliarosa. The best 10 will be printed on the jersey along with the best 10 tweets from professional riders. Entries close at the end of the month.  Fans can vote on which jersey they like here.

2010 Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso (Liquigas Cannondale) was at the launch at Eurobike and gave a scintillating endorsement of the competition: "It is the dream of every Italian boy to win the Giro d'Italia and wear the maglia rosa, so for me to win it twice is, of course, is a dream come true. But I want to win it for a third time.”

The Italian added: "Twitter and Facebook are very important to me because they allow me to keep in touch with my fans, especially the young ones." Basso is a regular Tweeter and recently Tweeted “Buongiorno da Colorado Springs …” and  “The 1st emotion,the 2nd glory,the 3rd...a dream #magliarosa”

“I write naturally what comes to me in my mind. Some of my fans want to hear about the technical side
 of racing and others are more interested in me personally and I try to contact with both of these types of fans.”

When asked what he'd tweet about the Giro, Basso thought long and hard before answering: “I will simple tweet that Ivan Basso wants to win a third Giro d'Italia.”

Hurricanes Just Keep Getting In The Way

Well not only did North America get hit hard with Hurricane Irene, but apparently Katia stuck around to hit Britain...

Weather forces cancellation of Tour of Britain stage

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/weather-forces-cancellation-of-tour-of-britain-stage)

The second stage of the Tour of Britain has been cancelled due to adverse weather conditions in the north of England. The area has been buffeted by high winds and heavy rainfall over the past twenty four hours as the remains of Hurricane Katia pass over the country.

Race organisers took the decision on Monday morning before the beginning of the stage two in Kendal. The presence of debris on sections of the route is understood to be the principal reason for the cancellation of the stage. Strong winds were also anticipated at the finish on Blackpool’s seafront.

Race director Mick Bennett explained that the exposed sections of the course would have posed particular dangers given the 75mph gusts that were reported in the area.

“There were large sections of the stage on exposed hillsides, including the three Skoda King of the Mountains locations, plus the final five kilometres of the stage along Blackpool Promenade, where conditions were deemed unsafe by ourselves as organisers, hence the regrettable decision to cancel the stage,” Bennett said.

“We've had to take the decision based on the advice we've had from the police and Highways that it is unsafe to run today's stage so it is being cancelled," Tour of Britain Commercial Director Alistair Grant told bbc.co.uk. "The high points of the stage, and particularly Blackpool on the seafront, are unsafe, unfortunately."

The peloton will instead ride a neutralised lap around Kendal before travelling to Stoke-on-Trent, where stage 3 begins on Tuesday. “There are thousands of people here in Kendal and we want to give them something to see,” Grant said.

A spokesman from the Met Office said that conditions were unlikely to prevent the running of Tuesday's third stage. "Although it will still be a windy day on Tuesday, we are not expecting the strength of those gusts to be as bad for the third stage tomorrow," Dan Williams said.

Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) leads the race overall after winning the opening stage in Dumfries on Sunday.

RadioShack-Nissan-Trek...That's a mouthful!

I'm glad the Vuelta is over and that things have finally calmed down at work. Now I have time to blog about articles that I find interesting, instead of just posting the Grand Tour results.

I think the biggest news to have hit during the Vuelta was that of the Radioshack/Leopard-Trek merger. I'm wondering if this is going to become the new "super" cycling team?

Bruyneel and Becca speak out on new team

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bruyneel-and-becca-speak-out-on-new-team)

Johan Bruyneel is looking forward to helping Andy Schleck win the Tour de France. The Belgian said that will be one of his main goals at RadioShack-Nissan-Trek in the coming season, while admitting that the team is having some growing pains at the moment.

It was announced earlier this week that RadioShack and Leopard Trek will join forces to ride as one team next season.

He  “very much looks forward” to working not only with current RadioShack riders but also with current Leopard riders, including Fabian Cancellara, Fränk Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Maxime Monfort and Daniele Bennati, Bruyneel wrote on his website.

The biggest challenge, however, would seem to be Andy Schleck, “obviously one of the most talented riders in cycling and it is my goal to help him achieve the goal of winning the Tour de France. As with every rider, there are always improvements to be made and I think with these adjustments and the team we will put together, Andy will have his best chance yet of standing on the top step in Paris.”

The final details of the structure of the new team are still being worked out, and Bruyneel acknowledged that “the information (sometimes not completely accurate) finds its way into the press, which has caused us to announce this new venture a bit earlier than we originally planned.” The final team roster will be announced by September 15.

UCI apparently not informed

The International Cycling Union issued a stiffly-worded announcement Wednesday evening concerning the new 2012 team, and indicated that it had not been informed beforehand of the changes. The UCI said that it “is aware of the information published in the media concerning the project”, and added that “the UCI has also learned from the same sources of the intention of the CSE Pro Cycling LLC – financial managers of the American team RadioShack – to give up the UCI WorldTour licence that it had been granted for the 2010-2013 period.

"The UCI is currently evaluating the information received and is not available to comment further at this time.”

Leopard sponsor questions deal

The UCI was not the only one who appeared to have been taken by surprise. One of Leopard Trek's sponsors is Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg, which was taken aback by the arrival of its rival Nissan as new sponsor.

In a statement issued this week, the auto company said that it was surprised to see the Leopard press release which said that RadioShack and Nissan would be two top sponsors of the team as of 2012. Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg notes that it has "a valid contract with Leopard SA through the end of 2013. The consequence of the latest decision by Leopard SA must now be discussed by the contract partners."

Flavio Becca, the financier behind the team, saw the situation differently. “We have a contract with Mercedes which can be cancelled at any time under various circumstances,” he told Wort.lu. “We will be equipped by Nissan as of 2012. I want to thank Mercedes-Benz Luxembourg and also Enovo [a further sponsor -ed.]. They believed in us and I think we gave them a lot of visibility.”

Personnel comings and goings

RadioShack had 30 riders this season, and Leopard has 25. The new team may have no more than 30, so it is obvious that changes will be made. Several riders have already announced new teams for the coming season, but others fear for their jobs.

Becca made it clear that the new team would consist largely of current Leopard riders. He indicated that of the 25 riders now on the team, the five whose contracts expire the end of the year would leave. “That reduces the number of our riders to 20. If you do the maths, you can see that we can take on 10 new riders.”

Those five riders are Jens Voigt, Martin Pedersen, Bruno Pires, Thomas Rohregger and Stuart O'Grady. The latter has already announced that he will ride for the new GreenEdge team next year.

Two of the RadioShack riders who will be with the team next year are Markel Irizar and Haimar Zubeldia. Irizar last Saturday signed a new two-year contract with Bruyneel, telling biciciclismo.com, “I'm in, but you have to remember the people who stay outside and that the current situation is not good for cycling.”

Zubeldia echoed those sentiments, saying “We're in but is a pity that some are left out.”

Becca has said that Sports Director Kim Andersen is welcome to stay on with the team, with Andersen telling the Danish newspapers Ekstra Bladet, “I assume that I will continue.”

He added, “it is clear that things are changing and when everything is in place, I will consider whether I am interested in being part of the set-up that comes out of it.” He said that he particularly would like to continue to work with the Schlecks and Fuglsang.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 21

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-21/results)

Peter Sagan's Vuelta a España debut got even better as the Liquigas-Cannondale rider made it three stage wins in this year's edition by beating Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati in the final stage through Madrid this afternoon.

The 21-year-old Slovakian sprung from nowhere in the finale and cheekily swept under the drag race between Petacchi and Bennati to take another stage win in his first grand tour and indicate that he'll be a man to watch at the UCI Road World Championships later this month in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"It's been a great day. I was riding at the front and I took the wheel of Bennati but I got boxed in a bit, so I had to stop my effort and had to re-start from behind. It was hard, but I was still fresh because my team protected me from the wind during the whole stage.

"I was only focused on winning today. It was a technical course, exactly what I like and I was feeling very well," Sagan said.

While he took three stage victories, Sagan said he was frustrated at the botched sprint on stage 16 when a wrong turn at a roundabout ruined his chance to gain points toward the green jersey. He ended up fourth in that classification, just 22 points off Bauke Mollema's winning margin.

"I'm satisfied anyway. This experience of three weeks will help me for the future," Sagan said, downplaying his hopes for winning the world championship in Copenhagen at the end of the month.

"I prefer not to think of the coming world championship. It's difficult to plan. Luck is needed. Team work is an important factor and we'll have a team of three Slovakians. I believe the Velits brothers will be on my side. I'm not bothered about the future. I'm happy with how I go. At the beginning of this season, I didn't think that I could win all these races."

'The Bison' charges into Madrid

The man upon which all eyes focused as the peloton swept into Madrid was Juan José Cobo however, the unexpected leader and champion elect of the Vuelta a España enjoying the limelight with a little fanfare and plenty of satisfaction.

That's because it's been a long and arduous journey for Cobo, the man who was considered one of Spain's best prospects for stage race victory just three years ago when he finished second to Leonardo Piepoli on the Hautacam stage of the Tour de France while riding for the now-defunct Saunier Duval squad (he was later awarded the stage when Piepoli tested positive for CERA).

Since then he's been embroiled in controversy surrounding that team, fallen into obscurity and even considered retirement several months ago; on Sunday afternoon that was the last thing on his mind.

"I've passed through some bad moments the past few months, but now I see things differently. You realise that hard work and sacrifice are worth it – this win makes up for the suffering that I've gone through on the bike," Cobo said, admitting that he's suffered from depression for a year and a half.

He came into the race with no pressure, there presumably to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov, and he admitted that he wasn't doing well in the first week of the race. "I've suffered a lot up the Sierra Nevada. I didn't have the legs. I didn't have the race rhythm and I was lucky the head wind neutralized the race uphill."

"On that day, I was far from imagining that I'd be the eventual winner of the Vuelta. After that, it's been with no worries."

After terrific performances in stage 14 and 15 to La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo and Anglirú, respectively, Cobo defended the red jersey with gusto until the final day, which took riders into the heart of Madrid. He celebrated with that leader's jersey, where 12 months earlier Vincenzo Nibali had stood, the latest champion of the Vuelta a España.

"I knew that I was in a good shape since the Tour of Burgos at the beginning of August and I've had two weeks after that to improve my condition," Cobo said. "But I came to the Vuelta to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov and three weeks later, I'm here to talk about winning the Tour of Spain, it's unbelievable!

Following his win on the Anglirú, Cobo told reporters "The objective was to take time on Wiggins and things turned out better than expected. We will defend to the death, but when you're in the lead, things are easier."

And so it was, his Geox-TMC teammates often riding at the front of the race to shut down any potential threats to Cobo's lead and the 30-year-old himself did everything he could – successfully – to prevent Team Sky's Chris Froome usurping his advantage on the stage to Peña Cabarga.

By race's end, his margin of victory was just 13 seconds over Chris Froome, with the Brit's Team Sky stablemate Bradley Wiggins in third, 1:39 behind Cobo. Bauke Mollema recorded his best grand tour result with fourth and Cobo's teammate Denis Menchov took fifth.

Double podium presence for Sky

Despite several attempts to gain back his missing 13 seconds in the past few days, Froome and his teammate Wiggins remained in second and third, respectively, giving Great Britain and Team Sky an excellent Grand Tour performance.

Wiggins came in as the team's top contender, but it was Froome who was able to challenge Cobo. Ultimately he fell shy, but Froome captured the hearts of two nations - Kenya, where he grew up, and Great Britain, where he holds his racing license.

"Three weeks ago, I couldn't envisage such a result and I believe it's the beginning of great stuff," Froome said. "For the first time I got the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour in the best conditions and I took my chance.

Wiggins, who crashed out of the Tour de France and eyed the Vuelta as his chance for redemption, couldn't hide his disappointment.

"The Vuelta isn't the Tour, you have to win the Vuelta," Wiggins said. "I put pressure on myself during three weeks. I saw myself as the winner. I truly believed that I was going to win, that's why I'm not satisfied.

"I'm speaking negatively but there's some positive as well. Nine weeks ago, I broke my collarbone and I would have laughed if anyone told me that I was going to finish third of the Vuelta after that. I've also learned more on how to ride a Grand Tour. At the end of 2010, some people thought that I had come fourth at the 2009 Tour de France by coincidence, now I've made those people understand that it was not the case."

Making their way to Madrid

At only 94km, the final stage of this year's Vuelta was a procession, to say the least, and after a tough three weeks the Spanish capital was a sight for sore eyes within the peloton.

Having made the ceremonial entrance into the city it was time to get on with some racing, and subsequently various groups tried their luck getting away from the bunch until a selection of just three was made with about 58km remaining.

The trio consisted of Joan Horrach (Katusha), Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Jose Alberto Benitez (Andalucia Caja Granada), although a solid group of pursuers had assembled behind, with a thundering peloton – led by the vigilant men of Geox-TMC – keeping a close eye on the leaders.

Facing the final 50km of this year's race, the break had itself 32 seconds over the peloton and it looked unlikely that the plucky trio was ever going to get much more than that. Ten clicks later and that proved to be the case as the gap sat at 51 seconds, the main field keeping the escapees on a short leash.

With 26km left in the 63rd Vuelta a España, the break led by 50 seconds, a sprint finish never in doubt as the likes of Lampre-ISD, Leopard Trek and Saxo Bank-Sungard ensured that the gap wouldn't stretch too far and they could set up their fast men for a dash to the line.

And with just 11km remaining it was Horrach who held out the last piece of resistance, having left Caruso and Benitez behind the local lad was content to carry on until the peloton deemed his time out front over and set up the final sprint to the line.

That time would come some nine kilometres from home, the pace lifting dramatically thanks to the work of Lampre-ISD and Leopard Trek, the squads of Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati toiling to try and take one last win from the Vuelta.

Aiding in their cause was Saxo Bank-Sungard, with Juan José Haedo waiting in the wings for another crack at glory; it wasn't much match for Stuart O'Grady and Leopard Trek's effort, which was gargantuan in the final three kilometres.

As the sprint opened Sagan still hadn't shown his figure and as Petacchi and Bennati went to the left, the Slovakian sprung into the middle of the road, accelerating impressively to grab another win, much to the disappointment of the experienced Italian duo.

Little noticed in the mix just behind was Mollema, who was helped to ninth on the stage by his Rabobank teammates and therefore took the green points jersey from Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha.

David Moncoutie (Cofidis) strolled in two minutes after the stage winner, his polka dot climber's jersey wrapped up the day before.

With now three Grand Tour champions in its midst, the Geox-TMC squad earned the title of best team, with race winner Cobo also netting the win in the combination classification. The performance of the Spanish underdogs will go a long way toward helping the team climb up the UCI's overall rankings for the 2012 WorldTour selection.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 20

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-20/results)

Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati has been a frustrated sprinter at this year’s Vuelta a España but victory beckoned in Vitoria on stage 20 on Saturday afternoon and he ensured he wouldn’t leave the race empty handed with an impressive win in the Basque city.

The Italian prevailed in a long sprint over Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished second and third respectively, with Garmin-Cervélo rider Sep Vanmarcke fourth and Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort fifth.

Bennati recognised how hard today’s stage was for a sprinter aiming for victory and thanked his teammates for their efforts throughout the day, particularly in the final 50km. “Today is the penultimate stage; there’s been a lot of climbing in this stage for a sprinter… But for me it’s a win for the team,” Bennati said immediately after the stage.

The man who won two stages and the points classification at the 2007 edition of the Vuelta did it the hard way, spending much of the day in the 26-man break that formed before dropping back into the protective custody of his Leopard-Trek squad that controlled proceedings in the finale to ensure Bennati claimed a win in this year’s race.

Despite Chris Froome’s calls for an attacking day to chase the general classification lead, the red jersey remained on the shoulders of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) at day’s end, the Vuelta champion elect well protected by his teammates to ensure the Spanish squad would go into tomorrow’s stage with little with which to concern themselves except a celebration.

There had been a 13-second margin between the two heading into the penultimate day, which prompted the Team Sky rider’s claim that he could make something of the day’s offerings but in reality it was going to prove a mountain too high against a Cobo in top condition and extremely motivated to take the biggest victory of his career on home turf.

Last chance hotel

It may have boasted a flat finish but the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta still had its fair share of climbing – a brace of first category ascents in addition to a category two and three climb, which offered something for the men desperate to take their shot at a stage win late in the event.

This was reflected in the number of noted climbers getting themselves into the day’s break, which detached itself from the peloton early in the stage, as the overall heavyweights looked to conserve ahead of what promised to be an interesting finale.

With Froome and Cobo separated by the aforementioned 13 seconds, there was the possibility of fireworks near the finish, although 26 men were keen to try their luck the hard way – in the break – before that point.

Those men were: Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), AG2R La Mondiale pair Nicolas Roche and Lloyd Mondory, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia Caja Granada), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Inaki Isasi Flores and Amets Txurruka.

Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) was trying his luck in the move again, along with Katusha trio Vladimir Karpets, Eduard Vorganov and Luca Paolini; Lampre - ISD was represented by Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi and Manuele Mori while Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati was in the mix, as was Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar), Jan Bakelants and Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Also present were Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo and Steven Kruijswijk, Saxo Bank-Sungard had Jaroslaw Marycz and Nick Nuyens while Koen de Kort was representing Skil – Shimano and Christophe Le Mevel flew Garmin-Cervélo’s flag.

After 99km of racing the 20-man move had itself a lead of 4:10 but unsurprisingly with 70km until the finish that had dropped to 1:27. That mark dipped below a minute with 55km remaining as it became obvious the peloton was preparing to stretch its legs on the final climb of the day, the category one Puerto de Urkiola.

That was down to 36 seconds, with 52km remaining, and as expected the break was on its knees on the opening slopes of the Urkiola. It was Barredo’s cue to go solo from the leading group, hitting out ahead of his fellow escapees, who were being swamped by the peloton.

The Spaniard had 53 seconds on the peloton with 48km to go to the finish, battling slopes that touched 15 percent in sections and putting in a brave showing on the final categorised climb of this year’s Vuelta. He added 22 seconds to his lead over the peloton during the following kilometres in a sign that he was motivated to throw everything at the stage win.

Carlos runs into flat finale fun

Having crested the Urkiola, Barredo set about consolidating his lead on the descent and subsequent flat run to Vitoria with a slender lead of 36 seconds over the remnants of the break, with the peloton a further minute behind. Trailing him by 43 seconds with 40km remaining was a seven-man group of chasers that included teammate Kruijswijk, plus Kiserlovski, Le Mevel, Roche, Caruso and Txurruka.

Undeterred, Barredo continued his run to the line and with 35km until the finish he still had 27 seconds on the chasing group – not a heavy buffer but a lead he would fight gallantly to protect as Vitoria – and victory – beckoned. That advantage sat at 33 seconds with 31 clicks remaining but the peloton, led by Leopard Trek, had moved to within 20 seconds of the chasers.

The proximity of the peloton to the chasers caused some consternation in the group and before long the septet was caught, the dream over with exactly 30km before the finish. It wasn’t a good sign for Barredo’s chances of staying away but with about half a minute separating him from the main field, the likes of Leopard Trek and Team Sky called a temporary halt in hostilities to prepare for the hectic finale.

It was a case of marking time for the sprinters’ teams leading into the final 20km of the stage as Barredo continued his doomed run to Vitoria, which would come to an end with 15km remaining when he was caught by a solo Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC), but not before Froome and Cobo had shaped up to battle the final intermediate sprint in pursuit of precious bonus seconds, which ended in a no-contest.

Their die cast, it was time for Sastre and Barredo to work together and with 10km remaining they had 31 seconds over the peloton. That was reduced by just one second a kilometre later and had hit 23 seconds with eight clicks until the finish. At that point Barredo put up the white flag and left Sastre to his own devices out front, with a feisty field bearing down on the lone Spaniard.

His bolt shot, Sastre’s resistance ended with just under three kilometres remaining, which was time for Leopard Trek to go back to work for Bennati; coming into the final kilometer, the plan seemed to be working to perfection and with the Italian’s overwhelming strength in the finale he was able to open a long sprint and hold on to take a sought-after stage win.

Result
1	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek	4:39:20
2	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
3	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
6	Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD
7	Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
8	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

CG Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	82:38:32
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:39
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:03
5	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:48
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:04:13
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:04:31
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:45
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:05:20
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:05:33