Category: Tour of California
Mark Cavendish put his name in the win column for the first time at the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday by winning a long sprint in Clovis.
Team Columbia's speedster from the Isle of Man stayed in the peloton with his fellow sprinters as Stage 4 wound through the Sierra foothills on the 115-mile day that boasted 5 King of the Mountain climbs.
In spite of a breakaway led by US National road champ Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing), the sprinters' teams pulled the race back together in Clovis. Learning from Tuesday's miscues, Team Columbia got Cavendish to the front where he launched a long sprint ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/19/cavendish-logs-first-tour-of-california-win-leipheimer-still-in-yellow/
The impact of two major climbs and an all-day breakaway didn't factor at all into Thor Hushovd's Stage 3 victory on the wet streets of Modesto on Tuesday at the Amgen Tour of California.
The Norwegian sprinter for Cervélo TestTeam followed a perfectly executed leadout by his teammates at the end of the 101-mile race from San Jose to Modesto. He was followed across the line by Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Mark Renshaw (Columbia).
Levi Leipheimer retained the yellow jersey, in spite of a going down between the two climbs after reportedly touching wheels with Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong. The Texan remains in 4th place; David Zabriskie in 3rd and Michael Rogers in 2nd ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/18/hushovd-wins-stage-3-leipheimer-retains-overall-lead-in-tour-of-california/
Levi Leipheimer single-handedly closed a 3-minute gap on the final climb to take the yellow jersey on the Amgen Tour of California's Stage 2 on Monday.
Taking Leipheimer's slipstream on the descent was Garmin's Thomas Peterson, a native of North Bend, Washington. He passed Leipheimer in the uncontested sprint to win the 116-mile stage from Sausalito to Santa Cruz.
As it turned out, Rock Racing could not defend the yellow jersey earned Monday by Francisco Mancebo. He finished in the third bunch about 1:40 behind Leipheimer.
Astana teammate Lance Armstrong, in spite of his second crash in as many days, was in a group of about 10 that finished 23 seconds behind the winners and dis 4th overall. Armstrong T-boned a motorbike that went down in front; says he's OK. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/16/levi-leipheimer-in-yellow-thomas-peterson-wins-stage-2-at-tour-of-california/
Heavy rains doused a lot of dreams at the Amgen Tour of California on Sunday as Rock Racing's Francisco Mancebo spent the entire day in front of the peloton to win in Santa Rosa.
The 32-year-old Spanish cyclist appeared to thrive on the wet and windy conditions as he outgunned two challengers at the finish line and finished about 2 minutes on Levi Leipheimer, who's making a bid to win a 3rd straight Tour of California.
Because of changes in the finish line, however, Leipheimer is only 1:02 behind Mancebo in the overall standings. Following is David Zabriskie in 3rd, Michael Rogers in 4th and Lance Armstrong in 5th.
Armstrong suffered a flat and a fall during the 106.7-mile stage from Davis to Sacramento, but was right there with teammate Leipheimer in a chase group of about 17 that finished about 1:40 minutes behind. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/16/rock-racings-francisco-mancebo-wins-stage-and-yellow-jersey-at-tour-of-california/
It's deja vu all over again as Fabian Cancellara again won the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California on Saturday in Sacramento, finishing about 1 second ahead of defending champ Levi Leipheimer.
The biggest cheers were reserved for Lance Armstrong, however, who finished in 10th place, just 4.2 seconds behind the winner over the 2.4-mile course.
Cancellara, the Swiss time trial specialist on Team Saxo Bank, won the prologue last year and held onto the leader's yellow jersey until the end of Stage 2. Leipheimer finished in fourth place in last year's prologue.
Other notable finishes in the prologue include David Zabriskie, 3rd; and George Hincapie, 6th…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/15/cancellara-wins-tour-of-california-prologue-armstrong-10th/
I just checked and the new and improved Tour Tracker is up and running at the 2009 Amgen Tour of California website. We're talking two video feeds — the main one boasting 4 times the resolution as last year.
It was running video highlights from the previous three Tours of California before the beginning of the prologue in Sacramento on Saturday. Phil Liggett was the commentator.
There are quite a few improvements in the latest edition of Tour Tracker, but be warned: you'll need to download Adobe flashplayer V. 10. It's a quick download…
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/14/tour-tracker-up-and-running-for-2009-tour-of-california/
He's returning to professional cycling on US soil this weekend, and already the drama has begun.
I'm not talking about Lance Armstrong; I'm talking about Floyd Landis.
Floyd Landis returns to professional cycling in Sacramento on Saturday for the 9-day Amgen Tour of California, but he almost didn't make it. He crashed on Thursday.
Landis has served his two years in purgatory after lab tests during the 2006 Tour de France showed that he doped. Now Landis is leader of the OUCH pro cycling team …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/13/crashed-and-bruised-floyd-landis-still-racing-tour-of-california/
Pro cycling is getting a lot of ink in California publications this week as the peloton gathers to start the 9-day Amgen Tour of California on Saturday in Sacramento.
One of the most interesting stories has been Bob Padecky's column about Johan Bruyneel, the director of the Astana team.
Bruyneel was an accomplished cyclist when he decided to retire in 1998 and considered taking charge of the pro cyclists organization. But a young cyclist named Lance Armstrong asked him if he was interested in being director of the U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/11/bruyneels-big-decision-on-which-road-to-take-in-cycling/
Lance Armstrong's return to pro cycling on US soil adds excitement to the upcoming Amgen Tour of California, but BikingBis readers are picking two-time champion Levi Leipheimer to win the race.
The 35-year-old member of the Astana team received 43% of the votes cast in the blog poll.
Teammate Armstrong finished second in the poll, with 12% of the vote, and Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Chipotle finished third with 10% of votes cast. Returning to cycling after a two-year doping suspension, first year champion Floyd Landis received 9% of the votes …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/10/levi-leipheimer-is-readers-favorite-to-win-2009-tour-of-california/
With less than a week to go before the Amgen Tour of California — it starts in Sacramento on Saturday — I'm curious who you all think will wear the golden jersey on the top step of the podium in Escondido when the race ends Feb. 22.
See the poll at the top of the right column and simply pick your favorite. I'll announce the results in a couple of days.
The 9-day race features the return to pro cycling on American soil by Lance Armstrong. Will he go for the golden jersey or continue to test his conditioning and work in support of 2-time defending champ and Astana teammate Levi Leipheimer?
The inaugural Tour of California champion Floyd Landis will be on hand to launch his return to cycling …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/08/whos-your-pick-to-win-the-2009-tour-of-california/
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