All of your cycling news – December 21, 2009

In today’s cycling news, USA Cycling continues growth curve, Sastre to race Giro, Cervelo to SRAM?, IT Factory debacle still affecting Saxo Bank and more….

• Gran Fondo is going full circle as Italy’s largest sports travel company will be organizing a tour to the U.S. to ride (Italian style)  Colnago Gran Fondo in San Diego.
• USA Cycling, bouyed by the return of Lance Armstrong to competition, saw its seventh consecutive year of growth in 2009. Memberships increased by 6% and affiliated teams increased by 10%.
• Benjamin Noval, long a “bodyguard” for Alberto Contador in the peloton, hopes to ride for the Tour de France champ in the 2010 race. Noval was kept out of the 2009 race because of internal politics in Astana from the Armstrong/Contador rivalry.
• The ISD-Blacks team arrived in Verona, Italy for camp and was promptly visited by doping controllers to set their first Biological Passport blood profiles for the 2010 season.
• 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre has added the 2010 Giro d’Italia to his race calendar. He says that the route is “very attractive” and thinks that it suits his strengths. Sastre is also hoping to compete in the Tour of Catalunya (March 22-28), the Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April but has not yet decided on his calendar after the Giro. Sastre’s Cervelo Test Team will hold a training camp in Portugal starting on January 10th and will have their official presentation on the 17th.
• We’re still waiting for the official announcement, but word on the street is that the Cervelo Test Team will move from Shimano to SRAM gruppos for 2010. Suspicion about the move came when Cervelo issued a photo of their 2010 kit to the press in which Thor Hushovd was shown with a bike equipped with the Force group.
• Milram convened their first training camp in Mallorca last week. The team is training either collectively or in groups for up to six hours a day as well as well as meeting with team management and staff. The camp will continue through Tuesday.
• The Saxo Bank is still feeling the financial aftershocks of this year’s IT Factory debacle, leading to the dismissals of Russian Alexander Kolobnev (to Katyusha), the Dane Lars Bak (to Columbia-HTC to be drawn), Norwegian Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Team to Sky) and Dutchman Karsten Kroon (to BMC Racing). Bjarne Riis will look to Chris Anker Sørensen, Matti Breschel, Jakob Fuglsang and Andy and Frank Schleck to lead the team in 2010.
• With Andy Schleck focusing on the Tour de France podium, Chris Anker Sørensen will lead the Saxo Bank squad for the Giro.
• Saxo Bank’s Stuart O’Grady was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, putting his start in January’s Tour Down Under into question.
• Xacobeo Galicia cyclist Gustavo César Veloso suffered a fall on Sunday during a training ride. He was transferred to the Hospital Domínguez, Pontevedra, and diagnosed with a broken left collarbone.
• Allan Davis, recently released from Quick Step, may be heading to Astana for 2010. Davis’ brother Scott, currently riding for the Fly V squad, may be making the same move.
• After already being named as Belgian cyclist of the year, Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) also snagged the title of Belgium’s Sportsman of the Year.
• Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez has decided that the Tour de France will be his big goal for the 2010 season. He’ll start his season in Portugal with the Volta ao Algarve and then will take on Paris-Nice before deciding between the Criterium International and the Volta a Catalunya before the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

Cross News:

• Fresh off of snagging the U23 National Championship in Bend, Oregon last weekend, Danny Summerhill showed that he’s still on good form as his third place in Lichtervelde, Belgium netted him the top result among the U23’s.

Six Day News:

• Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli were able to hang on to the lead of the Six Days of Zurich from the 4th night on. The race served as Risi’s official farewell from Six Day racing.
• Robert Bartko, Leon van Bon and Pim Ligthart were able to bump former leaders Iljo Keisse, Marcel Barth and Jens Mouris down to third.

Tags: alberto contador, allan davis, amstel gold race, andy schleck, astana, biological passport, BMC, BMC Racing, Bruno Risi, cervelo, cervelo test team, colnago, columbia-htc, Criterium International, cycling news, Franco Marvulli, frank schleck, Giro d'Italia, Iljo Keisse, Karsten Kroon, Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Lance Armstrong, Leon Van Bon, Matti Breschel, Paris-Nice, Philippe Gilbert, Pim Ligthart, Quick Step, Robert Bartko, Samuel Sánchez, Silence-Lotto, SRAM, Stuart O'Grady, The Saxo Bank, Thor Hushovd, tour down under, Xacobeo Galicia