Bike World News

Cervelo “back in black” for 2010, Focus expands sponsorship reach, Katusha holds first camp in Spain, Sky will send two Aussies to Tour Down Under and more…

• Spaniard Xavier Tondo, formerly of the Andalucía-CajaSur team will join the Cervelo Test Team in 2010 to help support Carlos Sastre in the mountains.
• Cervelo Test Team will be back in black for 2010. After rocking a predominately white kit from the middle of 2009, they return to an all black look that team managers say is easier to spot in the pack.
• You win some, you lose some: Omega Pharma-Lotto will go to a primaryily white kit for 2010.
• According to Rad-net.de, Skyter has withdrawn its sponsorship support from the Equipe Nürnberger team, leaving Nicole Cooke, Tixi Worrack and Amber Neben (among others) without a sponsor.
• Tom Boonen (Quick Step) is serious about his intention to focus on the time trial. It will not be next year in Geelong, however, as team coaches have told him it will take a year to reconfigure himself for the discipline.
• Work continues quickly on the new £96 million Olympic velodrome in London, with the builders targeting to complete it by January 2011. Organisers are aiming to create “the fastest track in the world”, which will form the centrepiece of a new VeloPark with a road circuit and mountain bike trails after the 2010 Games.
• Focus Bikes continues to build its brand across the world, and will sponsor the new Continental team NetApp, the Dutch team Van Vliet and the America’s Jelly Belly squad. Milram will continue to ride Focus for 2010 as well.
• Milram will use biodegradable bottles from Tacx in 2010. Light, heat and humidity will have no impact on the quality of the bottle, but the biodegradation process will begin when the bottle is in a microbial environment such as a compost heap or a landfill.
• Paolo Bettini has expressed his intention to meet with Italian tax investigators to settle the matter about his alleged tax evasion.
• Four riders for Caisse d’Epargne – Alejandro Valverde, Luis Leon Sanchez, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Francisco Perez – have written a letter to try and save the Contentpolis Ampo team.
• Kirk Carlsen, U.S. U-23 time trial champion in 2008, will make his professional debut with the Garmin-Transitions squad in 2010.
• Erding will host the kickoff for the 2010 Bavaria Tour. The race will run 5 stages from May 26th to 30th. Other stages of the race will start in Viechtach, Bayreuth, Hersbruck and Berching.
• The Spanish town of Calpe will host the first training camp for Team Katusha from December 10 to 21. Robbie McEwen, Laszlo Bodrogi and Petrov will be skipping the camp.
• Oscar Pereiro expects that he will retire if he cannot resolve the contract dispute with Astana. The 2006 Tour de France champion has filed a breach of contract suit against the team, and if things don’t go his way, he does not think that he could find a team so late into signing season.
• Frank Schleck lengthy knee problems seem to be fixed. In an interview on the Saxo Bank website, the 29-year-old Luxemburger said that he has been pain free since undergoing surgery in September. He took five weeks off after the surgery before returning to light training.
• Bradley Wiggins looks likely to ride for Garmin-Transitions in 2010, as the three-time Olympic champion sees out the final year of his contract. Wiggins had been linked to Team Sky, and was keen to join that team, but Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters wanted to keep him. “I still have to see my contract out with Garmin,” Wiggins said. “I didn’t really have the choice to be honest.”
• Team Sky will make their worldwide debut at the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under. Race Director Mike Turtur, expects the team to do well in its inaugural race. “Team Sky’s vision is bold and unashamedly brash with their aim to ‘create the first British winner of the Tour de France within five years. As their maiden race, I’d expect them to arrive in Adelaide with high expectations and plans to impress.” The squad for the race will be: Christopher Sutton (AUS), Christopher Froome (GBR), Russell Downing (GBR), Benjamin Swift (GBR), Davide Vigano (ITA), Mathew Hayman (AUS) and Gregory Henderson (NZL).
• Olympic mountain bike champion Sabine Spitz has been honored for her consistent anti-doping stance, by the IOC and the German Olympic Sports Federation.

Cross News:

• Czech rider Zdenek Stybar won the fifth round of the World Cup in Igorre, Spain besting world champion Niels Albert and Belgian champion Sven Nys, who collided in the closing laps of the race.
• The 2009 Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series wrapped up Sunday with outstanding performances from series winners Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven/NoTubes) and Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix).
• Katerina Nash (Luna) and and Jeremy Powers (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) win the final day of the Stanley Portland Cup in Oregon. Nash and Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA) take the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross series titles.

Tags: Alejandro Valverde, Amber Neben, astana, Bradley Wiggins, Caisse d'Epargne, Cannondale, Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com, cervelo test team, Contentpolis Ampo, cyclocross, frank schleck, Jelly Belly, Jeremy Powers, Jonathan Vaughters, Katerina Nash, Mathew Hayman, mountain bike, Niels Albert, omega pharma-lotto, oscar pereiro, Paolo Bettini, Quick Step, Robbie McEwen, sabine spitz, Team Katusha, The Saxo Bank, Tom Boonen, tour down under, U.S. gran prix of cyclocross, Zdenek Stybar

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