Valverde wins first stage of Tour de France
Alejandro Valverde has won the first stage of the Tour de France.
The 28-year-old Spaniard will wear the race leader's yellow jersey after breaking away from the pack at the end of a 197.5-kilometer (122.7-mile) ride from Brest to Plumelec on Saturday.
Valverde, who won the Dauphine Libere stage race last month, crossed the line ahead of Philippe Gilbert in second and Jerome Pineau in third.
"I've achieved two of my objectives: to win a stage and to wear the yellow jersey," Caisse d'Epargne rider Valverde said. "That's done today... it gives me peace of mind for the rest of the race."
Valverde is among the favorites for the title, along with Australia's Cadel Evans and Russia's Denis Menchov.
Valverde finished the course in 4 hours, 36 minutes, 7 seconds. Evans finished sixth, 1 second back, while Menchov was 26th, 7 seconds behind the Spanish leader. Most of the other pre-race favorites were all within seven seconds of Valverde.
The Tour's 95th edition, which ends July 27 in Paris, got off to a nervous start. Valverde's strategy was to avoid the crashes that often occur in the flat, early stages and the victory gives him a boost before the race's first big challenge - the Stage 4 individual time trial where Valverde could struggle.
Of the four crashes that marred the race debut, one took down Juan Mauricio Soler, the Colombian who was the Tour's best climber last year. He got back up, his hip and elbow blooded and jersey torn, and struggled across the finish line 3 minutes, 4 seconds behind Valverde. Soler was set to undergo X-rays on his left wrist later Saturday, the race medical team said.
France's Herve Duclos-Lassalle became the first rider to abandon the race. The Cofidis cyclist's debut Tour ended when he tumbled to the ground and broke his wrist after a fellow rider's refreshment bag got stuck in his front-wheel spokes.
Riders will cover more than 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles) during the three-week race.
This year's race is taking place without defending champion Alberto Contador of Spain whose Astana team was banned by organizers after doping infractions by other riders.
(c) Allied Press Limited 2007.
British team for Tour de France accelerated by two years
David Brailsford's ambition of establishing a British team to ride in the Tour de France could be realised two years earlier than envisaged. British Cycling's performance director said last summer that he intended to try to replicate Britain's success in track cycling - currently the best in the world - by entering the more competitive road scene in 2012, but his plans have now been accelerated in line with the rapid progress made by the likes of Mark Cavendish, who last Friday won his second stage in the Giro d'Italia.
Brailsford said that he had devoted a month after the world track championships in March to the professional road-team project, which would need a major sponsor. To help attract one he intends to start the team in 2010 rather than 2012, and "to win the Tour de France with a clean British rider within five to 10 years".
He added: "It has always been conceptual, but now it's a proper plan, with the mission to win the Tour with a clean British rider. Our mentality would be the same as with the track: it's all or nothing. And the aim would be to start in 2010.
"We don't want a small halfway-house type set-up. We do it properly or not at all, so we want to be a full member of the ProTour [the International Cycling Union's top division of teams]. It was always a question of having the critical mass of riders, but it's looking more do-able now."
Brailsford paid a visit last week to the Giro, which finishes on Sunday, to check on the progress of the six British riders currently competing in it. Like Cavendish, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins and Steve Cummings are products of the British World Class programme while David Millar and Charly Wegelius took the traditional route of moving abroad and signing for a continental professional team.
Brailsford would like the next generation to have the option of remaining within the British set-up. He also says that the approach that has served the country's track cyclists so well would be adapted to road racing. "We'd be innovative, we'd coach them properly and we'd pay them properly," he said. "It's serious sums of money we're talking about, and I know what I'm after in terms of sponsors: ideally a British company with global interests."
Budgets of the ProTour teams start at around GBP3m, with a top one such as the Dutch Rabobank, a semi-national squad that might provide a template for a British team, funded to the tune of around GBP7m. "It's a hell of a project but if I thought it was impossible I wouldn't be progressing with it," Brailsford added. "We have the talent coming through - I'm absolutely sure of that."
(c) Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
Frenchman seizes lead in crash-marred Catalunya
Frenchman Cyril Dessel claimed the "queen" stage of the Volta a Catalunya in a spectacular solo bid which also earned him the overall race lead after stage two. On the 191.9 kilometre mountainous journey from Banyoles to La Seu d'Urgell, the 33 year-old climber from the AG2R-La Mondiale made a select group of contenders from a peloton shattered by the hors categorie Alt de Pedraforca and the short, steep ramp of the Alt de Josa del Cadi. He then used the final descent from to launch his race-winning move after the two remaining riders of the day's breakaway crashed.
"For my part, I wasn't feeling too bad, a bit lukewarm, but was keeping an eye on the action in the peloton," Dessel explained of his finale. "When we approached the two leading men there were a lot of attacks including that of Vladimir Efimkin (AG2R) and the Colombian [Rigoberto] Uran [Caisse d'Epargne]. Behind, on the descent, things exploded a bit. I knew I can descend well and I decided to attack.
"I caught Uran, who couldn't hold my wheel. I then descended rapidly, taking risks to try to widen the gap. I held the advantage, and was then able to make an effort without taking risks in the last kilometers. I finished with courage and with cramps," he continued. "This victory rewards a beautiful day for the team. And for me to win a mountain stage, alone, and a ProTour event, it's beautiful and it is essential for confidence.
With the race's toughest stage out of the way, the wearer of the yellow jersey for one day in the 2006 Tour de France now has a strong prospect to win the overall classification. "Nothing is won; some very hilly stages remain, but I have confidence in the team and it will be up to me to have the legs to win," Dessel concluded.
The victory concluded a day of strong riding by the AG2R La Mondiale team, whose director Julien Jurdie was pleased. "It is foremost the satisfaction of winning in a ProTour race. But it is also the satisfaction of seeing the group work well and turn up the volume," said Jurdie. The team had Christophe Riblon in the early breakaway, and when that move came back had Efimkin to counter before Dessel descended his way to the win.
"The team has never really been put in difficulty. Now, the goal is to defend the jersey," Jurdie explained. "We can be optimistic even though we know we'll face a tough battle. It would be nice to win, no Frenchman has managed to prevail in Catalonia for over 10 years."
Copyright Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
USA Cycling to stay in Colorado
USA Cycling ended months of speculation that the American governing body would pull up its roots in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, when it announced that it would remain in that city, but move into new office space on the city's north side.
The building and the land on which it sits were donated to USA Cycling by the Nor'wood Development Group, while additional support from the El Pomar Foundation and the Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation played a major role in keeping USA Cycling's headquarters in Colorado Springs.
The 26,000 square foot building which sits on two acres of land will house a conference center, education and training facilities, and office facilities for more than 60 employees. It is nearly double the size of the existing facility in central Colorado Springs, which is tentatively scheduled to be razed within the next 12-18 months. Because of the impending demolition of its office space and the significant growth competitive cycling has experienced throughout the last several years, the need for a new headquarters became imperative for the national governing body.
"Without the contributions of so many generous individuals and organizations from within the local community, it's likely that USA Cycling would not have remained in Colorado," commented Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling. "The support of the Colorado Springs community has been incredible throughout the process, and Nor'wood's donation, which served as the foundation for this project, is a remarkable gesture for which we are extremely grateful."
USA Cycling is tentatively expected to move into its new building in late 2008.
Copyrigth Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
Kloeden takes cycling Tour of Romandie
1 day ago
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) - Astana's Andreas Kloeden won the Tour of Romandie title on Sunday after the final stage, a 154.2km ride from Le Bouveret to Lausanne.
Italian Daniele Bennati of Liquigas won a sprint finish for the stage honours ahead of Sweden's Markus Zberg and Kazhakh Maxim Iglinsky.
Kloeden had taken the leader's yellow jersey from the third stage.
He took the title ahead of Czech rider Roman Kreuziger of the Liquigas team, who finished 35sec behind and Italian Marco Pinotti of High Road at 43sec.
Copyright (c) 2008 AFP. All rights reserved.
AG2R for upcoming races
French squad AG2R has announced which riders it will send to the upcoming races, Trophee des Grimpeurs and the 4 Jours de Dunkerque.
The Trophee des Grimpeurs, scheduled to be held on May 4, has moved back almost two weeks in the calendar and is an important event for French teams. It makes up part of the hotly contested French Cup. The team will be headed up by Renaud Dion.
Just two days later, Cyril Dessel will lead the team in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, which translates to 4 Days of Dunkirk, yet ironically is held over five days. The stage race is one of the highest classified events in May outside the Giro, and should see riders not participating in the Italian race use the event as an important stepping stone for races such as the ProTour classified Volta a Catalunya (19 25) in Spain and later the Bayern-Rundfahrt (28-1) in Germany.
AG2R for Trophee de Grimpeurs: Renaud Dion , Stephane Goubert, Tanel Kangert, Julien Loubet, Christophe Riblon, Nicolas Rousseau, Jean Charles Senac, Blaise Sonnery
AG2R for 4 Jours de Dunkerque: Cyril Dessel, Renaud Dion, Stephane Goubert, Jean Patrick Nazon, Cedric Pineau, Stephane Poulhies, Christophe Riblon , Stijn Vandenbergh
Copyright Future Publishing (Overseas) Limited, a Future plc group company, 1995-2007. All rights reserved.
Tang Dynasty Travel Provides Cycling Tours in China
Inspire your travel by bicycle. Take a riding trip in China and learn its culture, view its stunning scenery and interact with local people.
London, United Kingdom, April 28, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Why take a cycling tour in China? Hey, it is a vast land that's full of surprises. Be sure to explore it on your own way. Instead of strapping on the coach seats and being driven here and there, taking a bicycle means one can discover it at a comfortable pace and see every detail of China's splendid culture, its people and scenery. Ride on the off-the-beaten route and interact with local people in the most beautiful places of China, which are also the most suitable places for all ages to travel by bicycle.
Guilin: Unique Cycling Trip through the Fabulous Karst Landscape. During the cycling tour around Guilin, visitors will have the chance to ride through the unique limestone mountains, discover idyllic countryside, visit old towns and savor exotic folk customs of the ethnic minorities.
Yangshuo could be the highlight of any cycling excursions in Guilin, which provides the most stunning scenery for cyclists. Here is a suitable phrase that describes Yangshuo's beauty: Guilin's scenery is the most beautiful in the world, and Yangshuo's scenery is far superior to that of Guilin. Riding around Yangshuo, cyclists can get close to Chinese village life by exploring the countryside outside of Yangshuo town center. Cycling on the flat country roads, cyclists will find many lovely untouched spots, lovely rivers and streams, numerous fertile rice fields and a plenitude of old-fashioned villages. Cyclists also can pay a visit to the local farmer's house and interact with local people and their daily lives.
Trekking along the magnificent terraced rice fields in Longsheng County, cruising down the Li River are other recreational things visitors could do in picturesque Guilin.
Yunnan: Cycling along the Remote Backcountry Trails in Southwestern China. Yunnan, a mysterious and beautiful land in southwestern China, boasts its multi-culture, various minorities and stunning scenery.
Stepping on the stone paved streets of Lijiang ancient town, walking along every twist and turn of small lanes, here is the place cyclists can lose all their worldly worries, view the well-preserved distinctive architecture of houses and the rustic Naxi People. Many Naxi people dressed in their traditional costume dance and sing with hand in hand. It's said that Naxi women do most of the house works while Naxi men indulge themselves in other pursuits like poetry and music.
The route is also suitable for brave cyclists who want to challenge physical strength and volition - cycling through the Tiger Leaping Gorge - the world's deepest canyon. The blue sky is so close and at the feet is the torrential river which is confined by the narrow high cliffs and roars and crashes spectacularly over huge rocks. Here, visitors have a chance to talk with local Tibetans who can sing and dance, and always show their worship to the high scared mountain.
A cycling in Yunnan can also reach the waterside of Erhai and the dotted white villages nearby or to the Stone Forest of Kunming, where unique rocks in various shapes challenge your unlimited imagination.
But taking a cycling trip in China is not always an easy thing for some cyclists. They know little things about China, not to mention the routes, the transferring between destinations...The most important thing they would consider is when they ride through China, whether the safety issue could be guaranteed. Here comes the reason why China tour operators exist. A China - based tour operator knows well about China and can also settle down other detailed things like hotels, vehicles and so on.
This does not mean that choosing a tour agency which is based in China is a totally right thing. Making the China trip more assured relies on the professional ability and experience of the tour operators. There are many newly emerging tour operators who may cost visitors more on the trip. An experienced Chinese travel agent build up long and good relationships with other partners around China so that they can provide more competitive prices and more personal backup services for cyclists who take cycling tours around China: accommodations in the best available hotels or guest houses, delicious and healthy Chinese meals, bottled water, coffee for coffee breaks on each cycling day, a back-up vehicle that carries your bags and daily necessities, all entrance fees to historic sites, museums and scenic spots included in the itinerary as well as an experienced English-speaking guide.
Tang Dynasty Travel is the typical example of this kind of professional China tour operator that can provide cyclists professional service at competitive prices. With experience in tourism for nearly 15 years, Tang Dynasty Travel has provided cycling products to cycling groups and foreign travel agencies for several years.
Tang Dynasty Travel
Vivian Lu
(86)773-5824466
market@tangdynastytravel.com
www.tangdynastytravel.com/index.html
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