News and Results – January 26, 2009

January 26th, 2009 by Al Fresco View Comments

Heading for sunny California tomorrow morning, so the next report will come from there. Here’s the news for today…

Luis Amar (Colombia) won the sixth stage of the Tour de San Luis, but Alfred Lucero took the overall. Ivan Basso managed to sneak up to 5th. Saxo Bank’s J.J. Haedo won the seventh and final stage, but Lucero held onto the lead. (Actualidad del Ciclismo/Velo News)
After the third day of the Berlin Six, defending champion Erik Zabel & partner Robert Bartko narrowly lead the race, sitting just 5 points ahead of Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli. (Tuttobici)
Lance Armstrong finished 29th overall at the Tour Down Under, just 49 seconds off of race winner Allan David (Quickstep). Armstrong acknowledges that he still has som tuning to do, but he feels upbeat about his condition. (BBC Sport)
Doping expert Robin Parisotto of the UCI has said that there are more than 30 professional cyclists that are under suspicion of doping offenses. This is the first release of information from the analysis of the thousands of samples taken under the UCIs biological passport program. (SportBILD)
The Kelly Benefits Strategies team is back for 2009 thanks to an increased commitment and partnership from current title sponsor John Kelly of Kelly Benefit Strategies. (Velo News)
The 14th GP Costa degli Etruschi, the traditional start to the Italian racing calendar, will take place on Saturday February 7th. Among those expected to start the race include 2009 World Champion Alessandro Ballan, Damiano Cunego, Ivan Basso, 4 time winnder Alessandro Petacci, Giovanni Visconti and Italian national champ Filippo Simeoni. (Cycling.it)
Leonardo Piepoli has received a two year suspension from the Italian National Olympic Committee for using EPO/CERA during the 2008 Tour de France. (Eurosport.fr)