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A list of 25 teams for the upcoming 108th running of Paris-Roubaix has been announced by the Amaury Sport Organisation today. Included on the list were 14 of the 16 teams which, under the 2008 agreement between the ASO and UCI, are given automatic invitations to events such as Paris-Roubaix which fall under the Historic classification. AG2R La Mondiale, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Caisse d'Epargne, Cofidis, HTC-Columbia, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Francaise des Jeux, Lampre-Farnese Vini, Liquigas-Doimo, Milram, ...

Former Astana team manager Marc Biver has admitted he is in talks with a Luxembourg company about creating a team around Fränk and Andy Schleck for 2011. The brothers have promised to wait until after the Tour de France before abandoning current team manager Bjarne Riis but the Dane has yet to find a replacement for Saxo Bank, who will end their backing of his team at the end of the current season. It seems that Biver has been working on the idea of a Luxembourg team lead by the Schlecks for ...

The French continental team BigMat-Auber 93 has added one man to their 10-men roster: Florian Morizot. The 24-year-old returns to the team he rode for from 2006 to 2008. He joined Besson Chaussures in 2009, but his contract wasn't renewed when the team became Saur-Sojasun and moved into the Professional Continental ranks. "I've been afraid to be left with no team but fortunately I can thank [team manager] mister Javalet and the BigMat company," Morizot said. BigMat was the sponsor of the ...

At just 119km in length and with three category one climbs: the Col de la Porte, La Turbie and the final ascent, the Col d'Eze, the conclusion to the 68th Paris-Nice promises to be an exciting battle from start to finish between a trio of Spaniards at the top of the general classification. It's been one of the fastest editions of the race in history, and the penultimate stage of Paris-Nice was no different - the peloton tackled the 220km day in just 5 hours, averaging 43.7kilometres per hour. The ...

Results from the first day of racing in the 24th Madera County Stage Race in Madera, CA

In December, Xavier Tondo was picked up by Cervélo as their final recruit for the 2010 season. Today, the Spaniard delivered an unexpected result in one of his first appearances with the Swiss team with a stage victory in Paris-Nice. The win was well deserved after Tondo's gritty solo effort during the final 35 kilometres of the stage. He escaped from the 23-men breakaway which had been away since the second climb, 180km earlier. "I knew it would be very difficult to stay in the lead ...

In July of 2009, the federal government established the 2010 and Beyond Panel to look at the future of high performance sport in Canada. The Federal Government specifically requested that the Panel produce an independent report that recommends ways for Canada to build upon the Canadian high

The Canadian Track Cycling Team is fine tuning their training regime and equipment as they prepare to travel to Copenhagen for the World Championships March 24-28, 2010.  This season has seen the introduction of several new support staff, including sleep specialists, sport psychologists,

Scarponi wins stage 4 and takes over the GC leadStage 4: San Gemini to Chieti, 243 km1 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli  , 6:23:472 Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux , at 0:143 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli4 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone5

Stage 6 - Peynier to Tourrettes-sur-Loup,   220 km1 Xavier Tondo (Esp) Cervelo Test Team, 5:01:392 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:053 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas Doimo4 Samuel Sanchez (Esp) Euskaltel Euskadi5 Joaquim Rodriugez (Esp) Katusha6 Leonardo Duque (Col)

Cervélo’s Xaiver Tondo was the last man standing at the end of the longest – and toughest – stage in this year’s Paris-Nice on Saturday.

Tondo was part of a 23-man break that left the field on 40km into the 200km sixth and penultimate stage. By the time the race had crossed its eight rated climbs, only Tondo managed to hold on for the win, after a well-timed attack on the day’s final ascent, the Category 1 Col de Vence.

One of the day’s first shots was fired by French national champion Dimitri Champion of the Ag2r, however, the early stabs amounted to nothing as the peloton wasn’t keen on giving anyone too much.

The group of 23 riders managed to slip away at 40km, but with 14th-placed Sylvain Chavanel (at 1:27) in the group, the GC stars put plenty of horsepower at the front of the field to keep the gap from getting much past a minute or two.

By the final climb up the Col de Vence, the gap had narrowed to 1:32. With pressure from a chasing peloton and attacks from within the group itself, the break steadily began to shrink. Tondo attacked about halfway into the 9.7km climb and was soon joined by Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Cyril Gautier (Bbox). But with 3km remaining on the climb, Tondo left his breakaway companions and soled over the top.

The peloton, meanwhile, set about the task of reeling in the remnants of the break and, by the time it reached the summit, only Cunego and Tondo appeared to have a chance at a stage win.

Top-21, stage 6
1. Xavier Tondo Cervelo Test Team
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne
3. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:05
4. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:05
5. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:05
6. Leonardo Duque Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 00:05
7. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:05
8. Christophe Riblon Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:05
9. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 00:05
10. Daniele Righi Lampre – Farnese at 00:05
11. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:05
12. Tadej Valjavec Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:05
13. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 00:05
14. Pierrick Fedrigo Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 00:05
15. Thomas Voeckler Bbox Bouygues Telecom at 00:05
16. Maxime Monfort Team Htc – Columbia at 00:05
17. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:05
18. Eduard Vorganov Katusha Team at 00:05
19. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 00:05
20. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 00:05
21. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:05

Top-20, Overall
1. Alberto Contador Astana
2. Alejandro Valverde Caisse D’epargne, at 0:14
3. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas-Doimo at 00:25
4. Luis-leon Sanchez Caisse D’epargne at 00:26
5. Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel – Euskadi at 00:29
6. Jens Voigt Team Saxo Bank at 00:34
7. Joaquim Rodriguez Katusha Team at 00:36
8. Peter Sagan Liquigas-Doimo at 00:38
9. David Millar Garmin – Transitions at 01:02
10. Reine Taaramae Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at 01:06
11. Jean-christophe Peraud Omega Pharma – Lotto at 01:15
12. Jérôme Coppel Saur-Sojasun at 01:16
13. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step Cycling Team at 01:21
14. Nicolas Roche Ag2r-La Mondiale at 01:22
15. Simon Gerrans Team Sky at 01:30
16. Christophe Le Mevel Francaise Des Jeux at 01:32
17. Janez Brajkovic Team Radioshack at 01:56
18. Christophe Riblon Ag2r-La Mondiale at 01:58
19. Maxime Bouet Ag2r-La Mondiale at 02:02
20. Frank Schleck Team Saxo Bank at 02:05

March 13, 2010 (Chieti, Italy) - Michele Scarponi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli won the 243km Stage 5 of the Tirreno-Adriatico from San Gemini to Chieti today. He soloed in for the vict

March 13, 2010 (Quebec City, QC) - The Salon Info-Vélo bicycle show is on this weekend at Espaces Dalhousie in Quebec City's Old Port area. A record 140 exhibitors are attending th

March 13, 2010 (Murrietta, CA) - The OUCH Sports Medical Center 20k Time Trial - the first stage of the Tour de Murrietta - took place on Fiesta Island in San Diego yesterday. Ruth

March 13, 2010 - After a world-class performance at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008, and in preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games, we are working together with A

The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis continued its preparations ahead of the first NRC race later this month in the opening time trial stage of the Tour of Murietta this morning.The team got off to a very good start, taking the top four positions in the time trial, as well as

Nathan O’Neill has welcomed Floyd Landis to the Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team as he makes his own return to professional bike racing. O’Neill recently finished a two-year suspension for doping after testing positive for the appetite suppressant phenteramine at the Tour of Elk Grove in August 2007. He and Landis will join up with all their new teammates for a weeklong training camp from March 13-19 in Agoura Hills, California. The Bahati Foundation Pro Cycling Team recently announced ...

The Killington Stage Race was one of the most prestigious road cycling event in eastern United States of America but disappeared ten years ago. This year, it returns as a three-day stage race held from May 29-31 in Vermont. “It’s really exciting to bring this event back,” said Race Director Gary Kessler. “It’s a long and storied history. I personally loved to race in this event and spent most of my season planning for it. Many younger racers have heard of it and have ...

Fabian Cancellara has this year's Ronde van Vlaanderen firmly in his sights, but refuses to say the same thing for the World Championships in Australia. The Saxo Bank rider is determined to win the Belgian race at his eighth attempt, but doesn't yet know if he will ride the World time trial in Melbourne. “Of the five monuments, it is maybe the most difficult to win,” he told the Swiss newspaper Der Bund. “But it is missing from my palmares.” Cancellara has ridden the Tour ...

Meyer sported the standard Garmin-Transitions road kit during a break from the track for the 105-minute criterium at OCBC Cycle Singapore in March. Photo: Brian Holcombe

Travis Meyer’s first month as a professional included a win that many of his countrymen chase for their entire careers — the Australian road race championship. The Garmin-Transitions neo-pro, younger brother to teammate and Aussie time trial champion Cameron Meyer, has yet to debut the green and gold national champion’s kit, as he has focused on his track program since the championships.

Meyer will join his team in Girona later this month following the UCI World Track Championships in Copenhagen, where he will bid to win the team pursuit title. VeloNews caught up with Meyer on an oppressively hot day in Singapore in early March.

VeloNews: Tell our readers about Travis Meyer on the bike.

Travis Meyer: I’m a track and road rider. I started off on the track at eleven years old. I’ve always done both and I started off doing road and track nationals as a junior and I’ve continued doing that because I wouldn’t mind making the London Olympics. That’s a big goal for me.

I more specialize in the time trial on the road and the individual and team pursuits on the track, but I do everything on the track for a bit of fun as well. I wouldn’t say I’m a sprinter, I’m a bit of an all-rounder, I guess I would say. I do the Madison with my brother Cam quite a bit.

VN: You came up through the Institute for Sport program?

TM: Yeah.

VN: How’s life at Garmin?

TM: It’s good. Unfortunately I haven’t had much time with them yet because I’m doing my track commitments at the moment. I missed Tour Down Under with them, which was disappointing, but I’ve had a bit to do with Whitey (director Matt White) now, and he’s a really good guy. I get a pretty good vibe from the team; I haven’t been with them much, but I’m looking forward to the season.

VN: When do your track commitments end and you make the transition to road?

TM: Track commitments end straight after worlds in Copenhagen, which are from the 24th to the 28th of March. Then straight after that I’ll head over to Girona, where I’m going to be living with Cam.

Tour of Romandie at the end of April is my first tour and from then on it will be road.

VN: A good, solid month-long training block before Romandie?

TM: Yeah, which is good because with the track the way it goes now, you don’t have to do a lot of road kilometers and that sort of thing — it’s more about power and speed. I haven’t done a lot of road miles at the moment and I’ll need that month to get ready for the road racing.

VN: Not many brothers have the opportunity to ride professionally with their sibling. What does this opportunity mean to you?

TM: It’s pretty huge because we started off racing at exactly the same time when we were younger and we’ve progressed through exactly the same. We’ve gone through from juniors to the Institute for Sport, and from there to Garmin. It’s really good that we’re both on the same team for our first couple of years in the pros. I’m really looking forward to it. Cam and me get along really well, race really well together, so yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.

VN: Has there been a difficult side of that in the past — the sibling rivalry?

TM: It hasn’t seemed to be a problem, spending too much time together. We get along as best friends, basically.

VN: Looking at your calendar, are you going to be on the same stops very often this year?

TM: No, not really, which is really disappointing. I reckon we’re going to do maybe one tour because he’s stepped up a fair bit straight away. He’s planned to do the Giro (d’Italia) again and (Tour de) Suisse as well, so he’s got a few of the bigger races.

I’m more starting off slower with the smaller races, so I don’t think we really do any tours until maybe August together, which is a bit of a shame, but what can you do, it’s all right.

VN: Cam and you split the Australian road titles this year. I can’t think of anywhere internationally where that has happened in recent memory. How does that feel?

TM: It’s still taking a while to sink in, really. It was really kind of expected that Cam would win the time trial; he went in as the hot favorite and didn’t disappoint, obviously. I went into the road nationals just purely to help the other guys. I got into the break and did my job and it all panned out and I happened to win.

It was very good for our family — for me and Cam — they kind of said the Meyer brothers stole the show that weekend. I think when I get to Europe and start racing in the Aussie colors, it’s really going to sink in. It’s pretty unbelievable.

VN: You guys will have a green and gold road kit and speed suit in the apartment in Girona.

TM: Yeah, like we said to each other, we can’t get the kits mixed up. All the skins suits in green and gold will be Cameron’s and in the road kit, I’ll have the green and gold. We won’t need name tags or anything.

VN: You’ve worn the Aussie colors in the past on the track, but now you’ll be wearing them nearly daily on the road. What does that mean to you?

TM: It’s massive to be known as Australian champion, for Cam in the time trial and for me in the road race. I think it’ll really sink in when I have my first race in the kit. It’s a bit of a responsibility, I guess. I’m representing the Australian champion and everyone looks to me — especially when I think about guys like Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwen that have worn it before — it definitely means a lot.

VN: Particularly at this point in your career.

TM: Oh yeah. I mean, it’s my first year pro. I thought that if one day I could win the Australian road championship or time trial championship, it would be a bonus. Just at some point in my career. For it to happen in my first year as a pro is absolutely unbelievable.

VN: What are your targets going into the season? What is your schedule at this point?

TM: I start off with the Tour of Romandie. Then Bayern Rundfhardt in Germany, Delta Tour, and I have a couple of one-dayers in Italy as well. That’s all I know at the moment. I think they’re going to see how I go for the first half and that will determine what I do for the rest of the season.

My goal is really just to do as well as I can — to do a good team job. I’d be happy if I can help the team and am not just hanging on, getting hooped ever day in a tour. As long as the team is happy with how I perform and if I can help anybody in the team in any way get a result, that will be a success.

If I can get one result for the year, I would be happy. At track worlds, I can hopefully break into the teams pursuit and win a world title there, and at the Commonwealth Games at the end of the year as well.

My ambition one day is to be a leader. I’m going to get stronger by being a worker and time will take its course and eventually, hopefully, I’ll start winning races.

VN: What are your ambitions on the track?

TM: In the end of the day, you can’t do track forever. It’s quite hard to put 100 percent focus into the track when you have a road career as well. London is a big goal for me, but I need to see how it progresses. In Australia, there are a lot of young guys putting 100 percent focus into the track and so I need to see whether I just do the road 100 percent if it doesn’t look like I’m going to make the track team.

London would be fantastic; whether it happens, I don’t know. There will be a time when I have to give up the track. When that is, I don’t know.

VN: There is a big Aussie presence in the Garmin program now. How has that made the program attractive to you?

TM: There are five of us now. It is a big attraction because it makes the transition a bit easier for us young guys going into a new team. Having Matt White as a director is fantastic for us as well. The more Aussies the better, in my opinion. We’ve got a good group of guys, but it’s not just the Aussies. We’re mainly from English speaking countries and that’s a big attraction because is make the transition easier.

VN: Chris White at Fly V Australia is building what he hopes will be the first Australian team to ride the Tour. How attractive is a national-based program, like Team Sky, to you?

TM: I think that if one day we could get an Aussie ProTour team, it would be fantastic. I think a lot of Aussies would jump at it, myself included. I think it could still be a while off, but if it happens, yeah, there’s a big appeal to move over like all the British riders did with Team Sky. I have my fingers crossed that one day it will happen.