Lance Armstrong to race Nevada City Classic + more racing news
June 17th, 2009 by Al Fresco No Comment
Team Mellow Johnny’s is back! Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner will race in next Sunday’s Nevada City Classic. For Armstrong, it will be his final preparation for the Tour de France.
Other News:
- We expected that the suspensions would come swiftly. Lampre and Diquigiovanni have already announced the dismissal of (respectively) Pietro Caucchioli and Francesco de Bonis, two of the five riders cited under the UCI’s biological passport program. The other three riders are: Igor Astarloa Ascasibar of Amica Chips (2003 World Champion), Ruben Lobato Elvira of Spain (not under contract) and Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez of Fuji-Servetto.
- Eddy Merckx celebrates his 64th birthday today. This year’s running of the Tour de France will be 40 years since his victory at the race.
- German neo-pro Simon Geschke (Skil-Shimano) got the phone call that every young rider dreams of: a callup to the Tour de France. “That was the best phone call of my life,” Geschke told Cycling News. “My feeling at the moment is indescribable. I would prefer if it would start tomorrow. I can hardly wait.”
- A landslide 62km from the finish blocked the tenth stage of the Vuelta a Colombia, ultimately resulting in the cancellation of the stage.
- Vacansoleil’s Aart Vierhouten announced his retirement today. The 39 year old rider hopes to close out his career with a go at the Vuelta a Espana.
- Kenny Dehaes will continue with the Katusha team for two more years. There was some rumors of his moving to Topsport Vlaanderen or AG2R, but everyone seems to be happy with each other for now.
- The 2009 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships have been relocated to the 7-Eleven Velodrome in Colorado Springs. The event, slated for August 18-23, will be open for online registration beginning Sunday, June 21. The the high altitude and fast racing surface is expected to set the stage for world records to fall.
- Bernhard Kohl says that triathelete Hannes Hempel provided the CERA that Kohl took before the 2008 Tour.
- Astana’s sponsors did not make the financial guarantees for the rest of the year before yesterday’s deadline, so some are now saying that the team is in joepardy to run in the Tour de France.
- Ivan Basso is back training for the Tour de France after some difficulties with a minor hernia.
- Two independent experts have declared that Tom Boonen did not snort cocaine. Only trace amounts of the drug were found in his system. The numbers would seem to indicate that he may be associated with someone that uses the drug, but that he is not a user himself. Boonen has never admitted to using cocaine.
- Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevre is still waiting for word from the ASO regarding Boonen’s inclusion in the Tour de France.
Results:
- Tejay Van Garderen won the overall classification at the Circuito Montaandntilde;es in northern Spain today. The 20-year-old USA Cycling National Development Team graduate gained the overall lead on Monday with his second-place finish in stage six and held onto it through the 152 km finale on Tuesday.
- Michael Albasini of Columbia Highroad won today’s stage of the Tour of Switzerland.
Something's missing from this post: your voice. Add your comments below!
For the latest in cycling news be sure to subscribe to our RSS feed .
Questions or suggestions? Use our contact page to let us know.
