Bike World News

Germany reports improved doping control compliance, Graeme Browne is Rabobank’s Aussie for the Tour Down Under, Vuelta may return to Basque region after long absence and more….

Chicago was eliminated in the first round and Tokyo fell out after the second round.

Here are a few cyclocross-related bits for the day:

US Grand Prix Cyclocross series expands to four weekends this year:

Sept. 26-27: Planet Bike Cup in Madison, Wisconsin.
Oct. 24-25: Louisville, Kentucky.
Nov. 14-15: Mercer Cup in Mercer County, New Jersey.
Dec. 5-6: Portland, Oregon.

CrossVegas 2008 will be on Universial Sports cable at 6pm on Sunday, January 25th. Click here for additional information, including encore presentation times.
And speaking of bike racing and television, UCI reports that the 2008 cyclocross world championships were the top-ranked sporting event broadcast by the Flemmish-language public TV station in Belgium. In …

Spain, led by Alberto Contador and Carlos Sastre, dominated another doping-rocked year of cycling but will face a daunting task to retain their status when Lance Armstrong returns from three years in retirement.
Seven-times Tour champion Armstrong, who beat cancer before winning the world’s greatest race from 1999 to 2005, shocked the cycling world when he announced in September that he was getting back on his bike to promote his cancer awareness campaign.
In an amazing year for Spain, Contador, Tour de France winner in 2007, became only the fifth man to …

More teams are starting up their training camps and riders are starting to talk about their 2009 plans. As a result, we have a fair bit of news today. Get the latest after the jump:

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It’s looking like Ohio in late fall out there. Cold and rainy. Blech. Here’s the headlines:

Belgium will send only 8 riders to the Saturday’s World Cup Cyclocross event at Koksijde. Niels Albert would have been the ninth, but is out for the rest of the season due to his injury last weekend at Gavere. (Sportwereld.be)
The UCI authorized USA Cycling to file a late application for a race to fill the place of the Tour of Georgia on the international racing calendar, but they declined. There was a possibility of a …

Light news day today. Here’s the latest:

The Grand Depart for the 2010 Tour de France will be in Rotterdam (Sportwereld.be)
Cristina Perez, the wife of the Spanish doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes says, “I know what happened during the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992 and thereafter. I am a Pandora’s box. If it is ever opened, the sport is ruined. When I speak, it would help to destroy some people in this world. ” (sportwereld.be) Maybe at this point, it would be better if she did talk. It’s time to air out …

It’s the slow season for cycling, but it seems that there’s always something going on…

After news broke that the German television networks ARD and ZDF would not be broadcasting the Tour de France, the organizers of the Tour of Germany decided to cancel their 2009 race. The German race depends on television audiences that are coming fresh off of the excitement of the Tour de France and want to see a home race before the Vuelta. (Sportbild.de & ESPN.com)
Jan Ullrich is not completely coming out of retirement, but he is …

Slight change to our news coverage. Note that this post is now called “Road News and Results.” There will be a separate post for cyclocross coverage.

After receiving notice last week that he would be welcome at the Giro, Lance Armstrong has now confirmed that it’s on his calendar. This is his first time to do the Tour of Italy.

In somewhat related news, the first stage of the Giro will be in Venice

Some folks are upset with the UCI for giving Lance Armstrong an exception to race at the Tour Down …

Hmmm. We may have to change our name to Dope World News….

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme expects at least a couple more positive test results from the July race. The French anti-doping laboratory (AFLD) chief, Pierre Bordry echoes that but he is not ready to name names yet.
Luxembourg’s anti-doping agency is expected to expand their investigation into Frank Schleck’s involvement with Operation Puerto. Schleck has promised full cooperation and will be providing a DNA sample to compare against bags of blood that were stored by Fuentes, but that may …