Sorry about the break and Valverde

Well I am very sorry my readers for my extended absence. I was on some trips that took me up to northern Michigan. But I am home now and am ready to update you'll. Well some more threatening news has occurred for a rider involving doping allegations. This time though the target was the 2006 UCI pro tour Champion was in the line of fire. Alejandro Valverde has been banned from taking part in the World Championship next month in Stuttgart, Germany. This is all due to his name appearing in multiple places in operacion puerto. Hes not the first rider to be affected this year from this investigation from two years ago. Earlier in the season Ivan Basso was fired from Team Discovery due to his involvement. Once again a big name has been associated with doping.

Tour of Ireland

Team CSC showed up an attack the young Stijn Vandenbergh from team Unibet.com. To bad for the 23 year old rider his team will be disbanded after this season. Heres some of the results provided from velonews.com.
Results Stage 2
1. Matti Breschel (Dk), CSC 3:57:07 (42.5kph)
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (N), Maxbo Bianchi
3. Bernhard Eisel (A), T-Mobile
4. Borut Bozic (Slo), LPR
5. Kristian House (GB), Navigators Insurance
6. Moises Aldape Chaves (Mex), Ceramica Panaria
7. Daniel Lloyd (GB), DFL-cyclingnews-Litespeed
8. Martijn Maaskant (Nl), Rabobank
9. Matteo Priamo (I), Ceramica Panaria
10. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr), Navigators Insurance


Overall
1. Stijn Vandenberg (B), Unibet 7:58:57
2. Marcus Ljungqvist (S), CSC, at 0:20
3. Aaron Olson (USA), T-Mobile, at 0:21
4. Wesley Sulzberger (Aus), South Australia-AIS, at 0:24
5. Gabriel Rasch (N), Maxbo Bianchi, at 0:25
6. Pieter Jacobs (B), Unibet, at 0:27
7. Valeriy Kobzarenko (Ukr), Navigators Insurance, at 0:28
8. Craig Lewis (USA), Slipstream, at 0:28
9. Glenn Bak (Dk), Murphy & Gunn, at 0:43
10. Matti Breschel (Dk), CSC, at 13:15

Canyon Bikes?

Once again I have found a all new bike producer. This time its a pro sponsor of a cat-1 team, Unibet.com. They produce 3 road bikes and a large assortment of mountain bikes. The mountain bikes are what really impressed me though. They are very similar geometry of treks and other such bikes. Not only was I impressed by these bikes but so were my coworkers. Within their product lines they offer many different options to choose from. The top of the line products have very impressive components to compare to the very impressive frame design. Go ahead and check out their product line at canyon.com Heres a photo of the top product of the Nerve ESX/ ES 8.0. The photo was provided by the company and I hope you like what you see.

U.S, Pro Crit. Results

Well I got some real quick top 5 results of the U.S. pro crit. results. Here they are I'll post more tomorrow.
USA Cycling Professional Criterium Championship
Downers Grove, Illinois
1. Martin Gilbert (Can), Kelly Benefit Strategies-Medifast
2. Kirk O'Bee, Health Net-Maxxis
3. Shawn Milne, Health Net-Maxxis
4. Alex Candelario, Jelly Belly
5. Tony Cruz, Discovery Channel

A win for Team CSC

Today Jens Voigt has taken his second straight victory in the Tour of Germany. Heres the results I have to leave early tonight and I might not be able to update tomorrow. I'm heading out of town. Results and photo supplied from velonews.com

Tour of Germany
Stage 9
1. Gerald Ciolek, T-Mobile, 143.1km in 3:16:55
2. Erik Zabel, Milram, same time
3. Mark Renshaw, Crédit Agricole, s.t.
4. Juan José Haedo, CSC, s.t.
5. Danilo Napolitano, Lampre-Fondital, s.t.
6. Olaf Pollack, Wiesenhof-Felt, s.t.
7. Robert Förster, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8. Lloyd Mondory, Ag2r, s.t.
9. René Weissinger, Volksbank, s.t.
10. Carlos Da Cruz, Française des Jeux, s.t.

Overall
1. Jens Voigt, CSC, 30:57:21
2. Levi Leipheimer, Discovery Channel, at 1:57
3. David Lopez Garcia, Case d'Epargne, at 2:10
4. Leonardo Bertagnolli, Liquigas, at 3:05
5. Robert Gesink, Rabobank, at 3:15
6. Chris Sörensen, CSC, at 4:06
7. Maxime Monfort, Cofidis, at 5:22
8. Laurens Ten Dam, Unibet.com, at 5:26
9. Erik Gustav Larsson, Unibet.com, at 6:08
10. Davide Rebellin, Gerolsteiner, at 6:16

Jensinator

Jens Voigt has set himself to win his second straight Tour of Germany. Today he surprised many of the top time trail riders by taking the win by 14 seconds. Not only does Jens has one more stage left, its also a very flat stage which means it for the sprinters. This also will make it very easy for Jens to sit in the peleton and control the race. So team CSC is sitting pretty going into tomorrows stage. Heres the results from velonews.com

Results Stage 8
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 39:42.4
2. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun), Credit Agricole, at 0:14.8
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:25:6
4. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:39.1
5. Linus Gerdemann (G), T-Mobile, at 0:39.8
6. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, at 0:43.7
7. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, at 0:46.1
8. Gustav Erik Larsson (S), Unibet, at 0:46.5
9. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 0:50.3
10. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, at 1:14.6

Other North Americans
13. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:36.0
43. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 2:47.6

Overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 27:40:26
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:57
3. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 2:10
4. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, at 3:05
5. Robert Gesink (Nl), Rabobank, at 3:15
6. Chris Anker Sørensen (Dk), CSC, at 4:06
7. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, at 5:22
8. Laurens Ten Dam (Nl), Unibet, at 5:26
9. Gustav Erik Larsson (S), Unibet, at 6:08
10. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 6:16

Other North Americans
22. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 7:55
27. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 8:23
29. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 8:37
43. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 13:02

Tour of Germany Update

Sorry I was unable to update you yesterday this month has been very hectic lately. I have found very little time to write but I can today. So today was the sixth stage of the Tour of Germany. T-Mobiles Gerald Ciolek has taken a second win for the the past two days. While Ciolek is winning Jens Viogt is defending is overall lead. He has kept a strong 33 second lead over second place and will most likely retain it heading into tomorrows 33.1 kilometer time trail. But as always heres some results a little shorted up like usual. They were provided by velonews at velonews.com as well as the photo.

Tour of Germany
Stage 7
1. Gerald Ciolek (G) T-Mobile, 191.2km in 4:08:20
2. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, same time
3. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
4. Aurelien Clerc (Swi), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
5. Danilo Napolitano (I), Lampre-Fondital, s.t.
6. Rene Weissinger (G), Volksbank, s.t.
7. Mark Renshaw (Aus), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
8. Olaf Pollack (G) Wiesenhof, s.t.
9. Sven Teutenberg (G), Volksbank, s.t.
10. Koldo Fernandez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.

Overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 27:00:44
2. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:33
3. Robert Gesink (Ned), Rabobank, at 1:14
4. Chris Sorensen (Den), CSC, at 1:24
5. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:31
6. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, at 2:19
7. Laurens Tendam (Ned), Unibet, at 2:34
8. Damiano Cunego (I) Lampre, at 2:48
9. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 3:27
10. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, at 3:45

Unibet.com is going to join the likes of Discovery

The Unibet.com Team has just announced that the team is going to cease operations. This team suffered the same fate of Team Discovery Team. Both could not find sponsors or could not keep their sponsors on board. A lot of talk says that these teams are dissolving because of the doping problem. No company wants to support drug users so this leaves teams without sponsors. The loss of Unibet.com team is not as such a big blow as it was discovery. Unibet was not allowed to race in many races due to the fact they are sponsored by a gambling company. Many race officials don't want the sport to be exposed to such sponsors so Unibet has been left out of races many times.

Jens still on top.

Going into the fifth state today Jens Voigt has retained his lead. But for the stage it was Lopez Garcia from Caisse d'Epargne that beat out Jens by only 12 seconds on today's mountain stage. The second place finish by Jens has increased his gap overall. Heres the results provided by velonews.com

Stage Results
1. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 157.6km in 4:21:07 (36.02kph)
2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:12
3. Robert Gesink (Nl), Rabobank, at 0:20
4. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 0:33
5. Laurens Ten Dam (Nl), Unibet, at 0:46
6. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, at 1:04
7. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:10
8. Christian Pfannberger (A), Elk Haus-Simplon, at
9. Chris Anker Sørensen (Dk), CSC, at 1:29
10. Josep Jufre Pou (Sp), Predictor-Lotto, at 1:43

Other North Americans
36. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 5:28
43. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 6:26
46. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 6:26
70. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 9:19

Overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 18:54:44
2. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:33
3. Robert Gesink (Nl), Rabobank, at 1:14
4. Chris Anker Sørensen (Dk), CSC, at 1:24
5. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:31
6. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, at 2:19
7. Laurens Ten Dam (Nl), Unibet, at 2:34
8. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 2:48
9. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 3:27
10. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, at 3:45

Other North Americans
25. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 5:49
33. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 6:47
34. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 7:05
58. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 12:23

CSC still has lead but Discovery is Closing fast

Sorry but I only have time to post results so here they are for the tour of germany's fourth stage.
Results - Stage 4
1. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital, 183.8km in 4:28.06
2. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 0:00
3. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:00
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:05
5. Patrick Calcagni (Swi), Liquigas, at 0:05
6. Peter Velits (Svk), Wiesenhof Felt, at 0:05
7. Andrea Tonti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:05
8. Florian Stalder (Swi), Volksbank, at 0:05
9. Manuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval-Prodir, at 0:05
10. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:05


Overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 14:33.31
2. Chris Anker Sørensen (Dk), CSC, at 0:01
3. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:27
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:27
5. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:27
6. Davide Rebellin (I), Gerolsteiner, at 0:45
7. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, at 0:45
8. David Lopez Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:49
9. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:52
10. Matthias Russ (G), Gerolsteiner, at 0:55

CSC in the lead in Germany

CSC's riders Jens Voigt retains his lead in the Tour of Germany. He has remained in yellow over the past few days. Today the third stage took place and Erik Zabel took the win. But currently CSC is dominating the overall standings. They have control over the top 6 places. An American is in the top ten, my man Bobby Julich is sitting in second place. Heres some more results enjoy.
Tour of Germany
Stage 3
1. Erik Zabel (G) Milram, 4:49:25
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, s.t.
3. Bradley McGee (Aus), Française des Jeux, s.t.
4. Manuele Mori (I), Saunier Duval, s.t.
5. Patrick Calcagni (I), Liquigas, s.t.
6. Rene Weissinger (G), Volksbank, s.t.
7. Bjorn Leukemans (B), Predictor-Lotto, s.t.
8. Gerald Ciolek (G), T-Mobile s.t.
9. Rene Mandri (G), Ag2r, s.t.
10. Martin Elmiger (Swi), Ag2r, s.t.

Overall
1. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, 10:05:20
2. Bobby Julich (USA), CSC, same time
3. Alexandr Kolobnew (Rus), CSC, s.t.
4. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, s.t.
5. Chris Sorensen (Den), CSC, s.t.
6. Volodymir Gustov (Ukr), CSC, s.t.
7. George Hincapie (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:27
8. Jurgen van Goolen (B) Discovery Channel), s.t

The End of a Dynasty

I got some bad news today. It has just been announced that the Discovery Cycling Team will cease its operations. After following a search for a new sponsor, since Discovery decided to not continue its sponsorship, the team has decided to stop searching and to end all talks. This is quite a surprise due to the success the team has shown. Tailwinds Sports, the parent company of the Discovery Cycling Team, has taken the 8 of the last 9 victories of the world renowned Tour de France. One of the main reasons it has been difficult for the team to find a new sponsor is that companies don't want to be linked with a rider who is guilty of doping. This is following the release of Ivan Basso due to his connections. This should not alarm the riders from this team. They all are very talented and should be able get contracts with other teams. Some already have for example George Hincapie has signed with T-Mobile. Others will definitely land on their feet. There is interest in this years Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and his teammate Levi Leipheimer. This is a sad day in cycling for every. This will be a great loss to the sport.

T-Mobile Contract Extension and the New Tricross

T-Mobile has announced that it will remain the a part of the T-Mobile Cycling team. They will remain connected to the team till 2010. This is really all the news I have to tell you today. I do have a product review though. The all new 2008 Specialized Tricross Expert has been released. I have recently been able to ride this all new bike. It has a carbon fork and seat stays. The seat stays also come with the zertz insert to reduce the vibrations while riding. It also a FSA Sl-k MegaExo crank set. This bike also has mainly sram rival componentry to go with the FSA crankset. This bike rides very smooth and is very fast. Ill tell you what this bike will dominate any road bike on a dirt road. I give it a 8 out of 10 on my rating scale. The only flaws I would like to see changed is that specialized produce a full carbon tricross and also provide the bike with a better componentry line.

Implosion of Team Astana

After learning that Team Astana's Co-Captain Alexandre Vinokourov had tested positive during a later stage in the Tour de France forced the team to remove themselves from the competition. It resulted in Vino's suspension and maybe firing from Astana. But now he is not the only rider that has tested positive from Team Astana. Kazahk Andrey Kashechkin now has also tested positive. His positive test result came from an out of competition test in which the positive test resulted from homologous blood doping. He was suspending and any further action will be taken once the team has received the results from his B sample test.

Race Updates

Hey all of you readers I got some intense race updates. Well the six day long tour of Denmark has been finished. And Team CSC took the victory, oh yeah go CSC. Well actually it wasn't the team but more of Kurt-Asle Arvesen who took the win but hes on Team CSC. Also Volta a Portugal started today. The Italian cyclist Paride Grillo took today's stage but Martin Garrido retained the lead following his win of the races prologue.

Oh yeah some more race coverage

Well today was the Clasica San Sebastian. It was a 225 kilometer race in the north of Spain. It included six climbs within the 225 kilometers. Leonardo Bertagnolli, with only 5 days of racing total this year, made an attack with 300 meters to go and edged out Juan Manuel Garate for the victory. Here is interesting stat about the race today 168 racers started today and only 117 finished and another 11 riders failed to make it in by the time limit. Well here is the top 10 finishers. They results were provided by velonews.com The highest placed American was Christian Vande Velde.
1. Leonardo Bertagnolli (I), Liquigas, 225km in 5:12:42
2. Juan Manuel Garate (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, same time
3. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:18
4. Alessandro Ballan (I) Lampre, s.t.
5. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, s.t.
6. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
7. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, s.t.
8. Iñigo Landaluze (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 0:28
9. Xavier Florencio (Sp), Bouygues Telecom, s.t.
10. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:37

A loss in Cycling and The new Slipstream!

Well today Barloworld's rider Ryan Cox died from an apparent artery rupture. He just recently went under the knife for iliac artery problems. It was the same problem that Stuart O'Grady had in 2002. Well any ways Cox had successfully went through the surgery and was recovering. But due to financial needs he was forced to leave and return to South Africa, his native country. He had been help to afford the surgery by his close friend Robbie Hunter. But his funds ran dry and was force to leave. This Monday while in South Africa recovering he was rushed to the hospital and the doctors tryed to repair the artery. The doctors were unsuccessful and Ryan Cox died. He was only 28 years old. I do have some good news though. The all new U.S. based Slipstream team has now announced that David Millar, Christian Vande Velde, and David Zabriski will be joining the team in 2008 season.