Category: Racing
The first showdown of the year between Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador ended with the Spaniard crossing the finish line ahead of the Texan in Stage 1 of the Criterium International on Saturday.
Contador finished 1-minute-13 behind the winner and Armstrong finished 4:51 behind.
Sunday update: Armstrong finished 17 places ahead on Contador in the lead group in Stage 2, but with the same time. In the Stage 3 time trial, Contador finished in 2nd place, 2 seconds behind the winner, David Millar of Garmin. Armstrong finished in 15th place, 19 seconds behind Millar.
Pierrick Fedrigo survived in yellow to take the overall win.
But that contest between the two rivals on last year's Astana cycling team was secondary to the stage win by Frenchman …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/27/the-first-armstrong-contador-matchup-of-2010-goes-to/
Rabobank's Oscar Freire set up behind a couple of opposing Liquigas cyclists before exploding across the finish line at the 101st Milan – San Remo bicycle race in Italy on Saturday.
The sprint win marked the third victory at San Remo by the 34-year-old Spanish cyclist at the official opening of Europe's spring classics season.
He was followed closely across the finish line of the 185-mile race by Tom Boonen (Quickstep) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre).
Italy's Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) finished in 5th place; Freire set up behind Bennati …..
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/20/oscar-freire-fired-up-at-milan-san-remo/
For cycling enthusiasts, March Madness continues with Italy's Milan – San Remo bicycle race on Saturday.
Considered the opening day of the Spring Classics series, the one-day race will be streamed live on Universalsports.com beginning at 10 a.m. (ET), following by replays and highlights. The race will be broadcast on Universal Sports cable at 3 p.m. (ET), with repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday.
Americans cycling at the 185-mile slog include sprinter Tyler Farrar (Garmin) and George Hincapie, Brent Bookwalter and Jeffrey Louder (BMC Racing).
Lance Armstrong was scheduled to lead the Team RadioShack contingent…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/19/watching-milan-san-remo-online-and-on-air/
It could have been deja vu all over again for Alberto Contador at the Paris-Nice bike race on Sunday.
The Caisse d'Epargne team was attacking Contador's precarious position as overall leader in the final stage of the week-long race, just as it had in the penultimate stage in 2009.
But instead of succumbing to the pressure and losing the yellow jersey to final champion Luis Leon Sanchez last year, Contador survived the attacks to win his second Paris-Nice championship. His first win came in 2007 …..
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/14/contador-slugs-it-out-with-valverde-and-sanchez-in-paris-nice-finale/
Wondering how the 2010 Tour de France might go this year? You'll want to check out the video of the uphill finish on Stage 4 of Paris-Nice bike race on Thursday.
If the Astana team kit isn't a dead giveaway for the identity of the cyclist in the blurry image at left, consider that he's in the lead on the hilltop finish in Mende and no one is in sight behind him.
Spain's Alberto Contador won Stage 4 and took the overall lead from Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt in the so-called Race to the Sun that ends Sunday.
On the final climb of the day up the steep (average 10% gradient) Montée Laurent Jalabert, Contador gained enough time ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/11/is-paris-nice-a-forecast-of-races-to-come/
Hincapie, Farrar and Cavendish on tap in Italy
Universal Sports kicks off its 2010 pro cycling coverage on Wednesday with Italy's Tirreno-Adriatico, followed up through the season with the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana along with other cycling events.
The partnership of NBC Sports and Intermedia Partners says it will offer at least 10 premiere road cycling races this year on its broadcast and online platforms.
All races will be available live online at UniversalSports.com; same-day coverage will be provided on cable at Universal Sports stations in major TV markets. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/10/universal-sports-begins-cycling-coverage-with-tirreno-adriatico/
After the Paris-Nice peloton battled gusty winds for more than 100 miles, Team Sky's Greg Henderson won the Stage 1 sprint by slipping past Lampre's Grega Bole right at the finish.
Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) attacked the field with less than a mile to go in Contres, but couldn't sustain the long sprint.
Prologue winner Lars Boom of Rabobank remained in the yellow jersey as Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) and Alberto Contador (Astana) dropped to 7th and 8th in the overall standings after suffering crashes. They started the day in 3rd and 4th place ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/08/leipheimer-and-contador-crash-in-paris-nice-still-in-top-10/
Lance Armstrong finished the Vuelta de Murcia on Sunday in 7th place behind winner Frantisek Rabon of HTC-Columbia; Armstrong's plans include adding another race to his Tour de France preparations.
Meanwhile, his Team RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer opened the Paris-Nice bike race with a third place finish in the prologue, 6 seconds behind Lars Boom of Rabobank. The race will roll across France through Sunday.
More action unfolds this week as the Tirreno-Adriatico rolls out Wednesday for seven days across Italy. Highlights will be streamed live on the Universal Sports website.
Regarding his 7th place finish, Armstrong told reporters:
“Worried would be too strong of a word. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/07/murcia-ends-with-armstrong-in-7th-paris-nice-begins-with-leipheimer-in-3rd/
HTC-Columbia's Czech time-trial champion Frantisek Rabon won Stage 5 of the Murcia bike race on Saturday and took the overall lead, as Lance Armstrong climbed into 7th place.
The Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia across southern Spain ends Sunday with a 75-mile stage that's expected to end in a mass sprint.
Elsewhere, the week-long Paris-Nice bicycle race starts Sunday in France, and Tirreno-Adriatico rolls out Wednesday for seven days across Italy.
While top racers struggle for top finishes in the Murcia bike race, most eyes are on Armstrong. RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel made headlines …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/06/team-columbias-rabon-leads-murcia-armstrong-climbs-to-7th/
Lance Armstrong returned to pro cycling at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Regiona de Murcia on Wednesday, more than a month after completing the Tour Down Under.
But it was Robbie Hunter, riding for US-based Garmin Transitions, who supplied the sparks to the first stage of the race across southern Spain that ends Sunday.
The South African won a bunch sprint at the end of stage 1, beating the likes of Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Daryl Impey (RadioShack), among others ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2010/03/03/armstrong-rides-again-at-murcia-hunter-wins-stage/
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