Why Yes, I am a Trek-ie

...thank you for asking!

As of thus far, my favorite bike is the Trek Madone 6.9 series. I fell in love with it last year as the Leopard-Trek team bike:

Then I wanted the replica of Andy Schleck's bike:

Then, I wanted the replica of Sparticus' bike (aka Fabian Cancellara):

Now I want a new bike:

RadioShack-Nissan's Trek machines for 2012

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/radioshack-nissans-trek-machines-for-2012)

Trek Bicycle Corporation sponsored both the Leopard Trek and RadioShack teams last year so it's no surprise that when the two teams merged during the off-season that the Wisconsin company would carry on in that role for 2012.

Indeed, returning Leopard Trek riders will essentially have to make no adjustments whatsoever as aside from cosmetics, virtually every piece of equipment is carried over from the 2011 season. Anchoring the entire package is Trek's top-end Madone 6.9 SSL frame, dressed in a complete Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 electronic group plus a wide array of components from the company's parts and accessories arm, Bontrager, including the new Aeolus wide-profile carbon tubular wheels, handlebars, stems, saddles, and even bar tape.

Finishing bits include Schwalbe tires, Cane Creek headsets, Bontrager computers with DuoTrap integrated cadence and speed sensors, and Trek BAT bottle cages – a curious choice in terms of cost (it's one of Trek's least expensive options) but one that makes more sense when you consider the reasonable weight and very secure grip.

Team leader Andy Schleck's bike in particular looks to be especially unchanged from when we profiled it during last year's Tour de France in terms of both the build and positioning. We didn't have a chance to weigh team bikes during the team media presentation last week but we expect it to be just barely UCI-legal at around 6.86kg.

As before, Trek will again offer team replica bikes to the public via its Project One program. Suggested retail price (sans pedals) is US$11,686.48.

The Tour de France isn't the Giro

Andy Schleck maintains Tour de France focus

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-maintains-tour-de-france-focus?ns_campaign=news&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0)

Andy Schleck has rejected the idea that he might switch his focus to winning the Giro d'Italia in 2012 after three consecutive second-place finishes at the Tour de France. A latter day eternal second place finisher at La Grande Boucle, the RadioShack-Nissan rider nonetheless maintained that returning to the Giro, where he first announced himself on the world stage in 2007, would mark something of a regression.

"I've been three times second in the Tour so I think it would be a step back in my career if I say ‘'I'm not going to win the Tour, so I'll try and win the Giro,' Schleck said in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg. "I want to win the Tour. I don't want to go back and start with the Giro and see if maybe I can go back and reach the level to win the Tour.

"If I never win the Tour, then maybe I might choose the Vuelta or the Giro one year, but for now the goal stays like it was last year. I want to go for the Tour and that's priority. The Giro is a beautiful race and so is the Vuelta. But nothing else for me in the whole world of cycling is the Tour de France and it never will be."

With almost 100km of time trialling on the menu at the 2012 Tour, Schleck is painfully aware that he must improve against the watch if he is to make the final leap onto the top step of the podium in Paris. Although he conceded 2:31 to Cadel Evans (BMC) in the final time trial last year, the Luxembourger has set himself the rather lofty goal of attempting to limit his losses to 20 seconds in a 40km test this time around. "I really believe myself that I can reach a level to perform also like that," he said.

Schleck explained that he had already begun efforts to tweak his time trial position, but he was less enthusiastic about working on his descending, in spite of his travails on the road to Gap and Pinerolo last July.

"I don't really know how you should train descents. I think that it's a little too dangerous to train on," he said.

When the road goes uphill, however, Schleck's support should be bolstered significantly in 2012, thanks largely to the addition of the veterans Andreas Klöden and Chris Horner to the arsenal of talent at his disposal. The 26-year-old Schleck acknowledged that he could benefit from the experience of his new teammates and was adamant that their ambitions would dovetail rather than collide.

"Maybe I'm the leader, but I'm not the road captain," he said. "I listen to these guys. Maybe in the Tour, in the end I am the one who gets the flowers if everything goes as I dream of, but actually Klödi is the road captain - he has experience.

"We're not going to have conflicts because we are all smart guys. So if we come to the second week of the Tour and Klödi is ahead of me, I will ride for him, I have no problem with that."

Going against Contador

Schleck's 2012 season will again be built around the pursuit of a maiden Tour de France victory on the road, but he may achieve that goal in the courtroom in a matter of weeks, should the Court of Arbitration find against Alberto Contador. The Spaniard tested positive for Clenbuterol en route to beating Schleck into second place at the 2010 Tour, and the three-time dauphin said that he would abide by whatever verdict CAS reaches.

"This case is black or white," Schleck said. "If they're going to suspend him, then for me it's the right decision because there's not a lunatic sitting there - it's educated people who know what they are doing and are taking the decision. On the other hand, if he is free, then he didn't do anything wrong, and I believe it.

"It's not up to me to make the decision. I believe the decision coming out of CAS is the right one, and I think for cycling it's good that it's finally over."

And if Contador were sanctioned, would Schleck accept a belated yellow jersey?

"If he is disqualified, yes. Because then, as I said, it was the right decision and he was doing something wrong. But if he is not, for me he never did anything wrong."

Mars Cycling Australia Road National Championships 2012

Congrats to new Australia Champion Simon Gerrans:

January 8, Elite men's road race: Buninyong 163.2km

Gerrans crowned Australian Road Champion in last lap thriller at Buninyong

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/mars-cycling-australia-road-national-championships-2012/elite-mens-road-race/results)

Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) as one of Australia's best cyclists over the last decade has been rewarded for his exploits, winning Sunday's Australian Road National Championship from Matthew Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) and Richie Porte (Sky).

"This is one of my proudest moments in cycling," Gerrans said having completed the 163.2 kilometre race in a time of 4:07:38.

For Gerrans, who won the national under 23 title in 2002 and was the bronze medallist in the 2011 edition of the championships, today's result was just reward given the 31-year-old also has the honour of being the only Australian to have won a stage in all of the Grand Tours.

"This is well and truly up there," the Victorian explained when asked where the win sat in comparison to some of his grand achievements. "It's such a proud moment to be Australian Champion and I'm just going to wear this jersey with pride for the next 12 months."

Lloyd, silver medallist on the day and a former winner of the title, was most appreciative of the result.
"I was mega-stoked for Simon and Richie because it's a race that's very special and that jersey, once you've got it you can never take it away," he explained. "It's beautiful to see."

The win marked the first for his new team with the road race an important goal for the UCI WorldTour neophytes as they embark on the 2012 season – the pressure always on GreenEdge to ensure one of their key men would wear the green and gold bands at the biggest races in Europe.

With 16 men lining up for the team at Buninyong, GreenEdge definitely had an advantage in numbers where their opponents did not but Gerrans admitted that with their head start came extra pressure "to try and win the race and really utilise the guys that we had."

Bronze medallist Porte paid compliments to GreenEdge, but also spoke of the hard work by new teammates at Sky, Mathew Hayman, Michael Rogers and Chris Sutton who were all still in the mix on the final lap.

"We had quality, not quantity," Porte explained. "Mathew Hayman just kept coming back and Chris Sutton was probably the fastest guy at the finish and then Mick as well. It's such a good team but hats off to GreenEdge. They used their numbers well and it's Simon who deserves it the most... In all respects."

A closed race to foreign riders in 2012, Gerrans said that the decision taken by race organiser John Craven had been vindicated by the standard of racing on show, but did not deny that it helped the chances of GreenEdge.

"It worked in our favour at GreenEdge because we've got so many Aussies," he admitted. "If foreigners were allowed to race it might have boosted the teams like Sky and Rabobank.

"I think we've got a worthy enough field to have a world class national championships with just Australians so there's no need for foreigners in the race anymore."

In arguably the best racing ever witnessed at the national championships, the race did not have a clear winner until the last of the gruelling 16 laps of the 10.1 kilometre Buninyong course, which had seen the field decimated from the opening circuit where GreenEdge immediately went on the attack through defending champion Jack Bobridge and Luke Durbridge.

For some time, it appeared as though Gerrans' teammate Cameron Meyer would be the man for the win with the 23-year-old producing a mammoth solo effort with around 100 kilometres of racing already completed, staying away until appearing to bonk inside the final three laps. Gerrans said that the race became "an even playing field" at that point.

"We had the same amount of guys in the front as a lot of other teams and it was pretty much every team for themselves and we lost our advantage in numbers," he explained. "It was a lot of hard work to win the race."

At the end of 15 laps, 23 riders were still in contention for the title and Gerrans, who had gone into the race as the GreenEdge's protected man, was the first man to launch an attack on the start of the climb with Lloyd following his wheel. Porte decided that he too should make a run for the finish soon after, and time trialled across the gap to eventually reach the lead pair with a kilometre to go.

Seeing the Sky kit in the distance, Gerrans actually thought it was Porte's teammate who was also in the chase group, Chris Sutton coming after he and Lloyd.

"I was doing a lot of looking over my shoulder and I thought that CJ was doing a heck of a strong ride but it turns out it was a time trialist in Richie," said Gerrans.

Both Lloyd and Porte joked post-race about the ‘sprint' for the minor placings, while Gerrans was always confident in victory given his opponents.

"You will never see me sprint faster in my life," laughed Lloyd.

How it unfolded

An all-Australian field rolled out for the first time in Buninyong for the elite men’s road race, and with the presence of GreenEdge, the countries’ first top tier team, it was always going to be an historic day.

The riders seemed to realise this as well, because almost seconds after start gun went, ably done by a colonial musketman, a group of three riders jumped off the front of the bunch.

They were Luke Durbridge, Jack Bobridge (both GreenEdge) and Nathan Haas (Garmin-Cervelo).

Their gap hovered over the 30-second mark, and for nearly two laps they appeared to be starting something that wouldn’t come back. Two junior would time trial champions and one of the hottest prospects in Australian cycling at the moment in Haas.

But with the chase behind in earnest, the peloton seemed unhappy with the trio ahead, and by the start of lap 3 things were once more together.

The next move was instigated by none other than Stuart O’Grady. The 2003 national champion pulled away mid way through the third lap with his former Leopard teammate Will Clarke (Champion System).

The two worked well together before being joined by Pat Shaw (Genesys) to form another strong group of three. Shaw, a native of Ballarat, was super motivated to make a mark and he did not disappoint.

70 kilometres in and the peloton had well and truly shattered behind. The frenetic pace meant that three chase groups of around 20 riders followed the lead trio who still held a small margin at the front.

Shortly after the leaders of Shaw, O’Grady, and Clarke were joined by several other riders including Cameron Meyer, Durbridge, Bernard Sulzberger, Wes Sulzberger, Richie Porte, Jai Crawford, Heinrich Haussler, Simon Gerrans and many more.

Again GreenEdge was well represented, and seemed content to tap out the tempo at the front. Leigh Howard was prevalent, as was Durbridge with both being used as the team quite obviously as sacrificial lambs for the more favoured riders on the team.

One of the pre-race favourites Matt Goss wasn’t in the selection ahead, and after too-and-froing in the chase decided to call it quits.

As the laps ticked down there were attacks after attacks. The break seemed reluctant to form, but finally one did including Clarke and Shaw again, Matt Wilson, Wes Sulzberger, Bernard Sulzberger, Durbridge, Cameron Meyer, and Mark Renshaw – who was climbing out of his skin.

This move looked to be the winning one. Durbridge, W. Sulzberger and Wilson went to the front and hammered the group, while Meyer sat on looking very ominous. Their advantage never ballooned out however.

Sensing that the time was right to try something different, Cameron Meyer and Matt Wilson jumped away on the grippier part of the climb, and quickly built an advantage of a minute to the chase.

Behind things were getting interesting as well with a larger chase – made from the remainder of the peloton forming more than 30 riders, bearing down on the leaders.

Wilson disappeared from the front when Meyer’s pace was too much, leaving the time trial champion to do just that.

Meyer’s gap went to over two minutes. But he was facing a long road to the finish if he was to win. He looked smooth though, and realizing the danger Haussler decided to try and cross the gap alone.

Getting a free tow from Haussler was Durbridge who seemed to be everywhere, and on a super day.

Disaster struck for Meyer just when he seemed like he was going to extend his advantage to something insurmountable. Put it down to youthful exuberance, but he failed to eat and bonked big time with around 35 kilometres to go.

Painfully for Haussler, the same lap he caught Meyer, the peloton caught him, and things were once again all together.

O’Grady, who was clearly on a flyer of a day, went almost as soon as the catch happened. This time it was Mathew Hayman who linked up with him. The duo worked well together, but again the move was brought back.

It was into the final 18 kilometres now, and for the remaining climbers that signaled the time to launch an all-out assault.

Matthew Lloyd appeared for the first time in the race when he launced a big move, and he was quickly followed by Simon Gerrans, and Richie Porte.

Chris Sutton was surprising plenty of people as he bridged, and Bernard Sulzberger joined them to make a group of five.

As the final lap loomed, things came back together once more, and just as they did Lloyd, Gerrans and Porte went again. This time it was the big one and with the small peloton cramping like there was tomorrow, the three disappeared.

On the false flat Lloyd went again with Gerrans leaving Porte just behind. The Sky rider was forced to go into full time trial mode to get back in contact, which he did and with two to go they were a group of three guaranteed a medal, but still fighting for the one that mattered.

It came down to a sprint, and unsurprisingly; it was Gerrans who triumphed over his compatriots, by far the fastest finisher of the three. It was his first national title, and a great end to the weekend for his new team GreenEdge, who picked up the women’s title as well yesterday.

Results

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Simon Gerrans (Vic)	4:07:38
2	Matthew Lloyd (Vic)	0:00:02
3	Richie Porte (Tas)
4	Adam Hansen (QLD)	0:01:05
5	William Clarke (Tas)	0:01:09
6	Steele Von Hoff (Vic)	0:01:11
7	Christopher Sutton (NSW)
8	Baden Cooke (Vic)
9	Anthony Giacoppo (WA)
10	Bernard Sulzberger (Tas)

Andy Schleck Announces 1st 2012 Race

Andy Schleck to start off at Tour of Oman

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-to-start-off-at-tour-of-oman)

Andy Schleck, runner-up at the last three stagings of the Tour de France, has revealed that he is to start off his 2012 campaign at the Tour of Oman. The race runs from 14-19 February and Schleck feels that it is the ideal starting point for a season where his main target will once again be the Tour de France.

"It's the perfect race, with ideal terrain and weather conditions," the 26-year-old from Luxembourg said on Friday at the launch his newly-merged team RadioShack-Nissan.

It is thought that Schleck will then join his brother Franck at Paris-Nice before focussing on the major Classic races later in the spring, though team boss Johan Bruyneel declared that Schleck's full early season schedule hasn't been completely finalised yet.

Missed Drug Test for Cavendish

Cavendish admits to missed drug test in 2011

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cavendish-admits-to-missed-drug-test-in-2011)

Mark Cavendish has moved quickly to diffuse any suspicion around him, after Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport published an article in its print edition this morning claiming that he had missed at least one out of competition drug test during the 2011 season.

As reported by Cyclingnews this morning, the paper claimed that several sources were privy to this information, despite UCI President Pat McQuaid stating that he knew nothing about it.

Cavendish, who won the Road World Championships and the Tour De France green jersey in 2011, released a statement admitting that he was indeed at fault and spoke of his regret at missing the test last spring. He has the full support of Team GB and Team Sky supremo David Brailsford, who said that Cavendish's integrity wasn't in doubt.

"I missed an out of competition test last April," Cavendish, who was awarded the 2011 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award last month, said. "It was my mistake. I was with a film crew for the BBC and Giro d'Italia on Mount Etna. It was a simple, genuine administrative error. Of course I totally understand the importance of testing in sport. I was tested by the UCI a couple of weeks before that and twice in the fortnight after, and had around 60 tests in all last year. It's part of the job and it's my job to make sure I don't miss another."

"There is absolutely no doubt about Mark's integrity," Brailsford said. "I am totally satisfied that he made a genuine mistake. He is tested regularly and is a powerful advocate for testing and ensuring that sport is clean."

Cavendish, who has voiced strong anti-doping opinions in the past, will face no action over the missed test, with UCI doping guidelines saying that no rider should miss three dope tests within an 18-month period. It is his first offence.

What's better than the Tour de France?

...Tour of Poland? Um, ok?

Boom would rather ride Tour of Poland than Tour de France

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/boom-would-rather-ride-tour-of-poland-than-tour-de-france)

Lars Boom will skip the Tour de France this year. The Rabobank rider sees the Tour of Poland as a better race for him to look for stage wins and to prepare for the London Olympics, where he hopes to ride both the time trial and the road race.

“I would really like to ride the Tour for myself, but I understand that our team is built around Robert Gesink and a few other GC riders,” he told the ANP news agency.

“Last year I rode for Robert Gesink. There's nothing wrong with that and it also went just fine. But a stage win is the biggest thing in the Tour for me.”

Boom will now look for those stage wins in Poland. "I think it's a better preparation for the Games. Then I do hope to ride the Tour of Spain, shortly before the world championships. "

This weekend he will look to take his sixth consecutive Dutch national cyclo-cross title, after which he will devote himself again to the road.