Astana’s Alberto Contador of Spain picked up his second Tour de France win today as Mark Cavendish the Brit from Team Columbia - HTC crushed the sprint to win his 6th stage of the tour.

Lance Armstrong who announced he will be riding for new American team, RadioShack next year finished on the podium as well in third place.

Stage 21 Results
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC - 4:02:18
2 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia - HTC
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin - Slipstream
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
5 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux
6 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
8 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre - NGC
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
10 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom

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Alberto Contador is within a stage of winning his second Tour de France as the much anticipated Mont Ventoux stage failed to shake up the GC standings. Tried as they may, the Schleck brothers launched attack after attack, but were not able to shake the rest of the GC contenders.

For Rabobank, Juan Manuel Garate was able to win the penultimate stage 20, staying away with an early break and finishing ahead of Tony Martin for the win. Andy Schleck and the GC leaders finished 38 seconds afterwards.

Stage 20 Results
1 Juan Manuel Garate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank - 4:39:21
2 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC - 0:00:03
3 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:38
4 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana - 0:00:41
6 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:43
7 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas - 0:00:46
8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas - 0:00:56
9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - 0:00:58
10 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream - 0:01:03

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Overall leader Alberto Contador took a giant step towards his second Tour de France victory when he humbled the time trial specialists over 40.5-km to take the 18th stage around the lake of Annecy on Thursday.

The Spaniard, who outshone Olympic champion Fabian Cancellara by three seconds, now leads his nearest rival for final victory, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck, by four minutes and 11 seconds, a comfortable gap three days before the finish in Paris.

Lance Armstrong, who announced he will be riding for a new American team, backed by RadioShack in 2010 is in third place and may podium.

Stage 18 Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana - 0:48:31
2 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:03
3 Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus) Team Katusha - 0:00:15
4 Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe) Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:32
5 David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream - 0:00:40
6 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream - 0:00:42
7 Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne - 0:00:43
8 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Agritubel - 0:00:45
9 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana - 0:00:53
10 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin - Slipstream - 0:01:01

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Alberto Contador of Astana rode away from all the contenders today to win the stage and take hold of the Maillot Jaune. Teammate Lance Armstrong climbed to second overall, but admitted that it was time to work for Contador.

The stage into Verbier was expected to shake up the standings and end Rinaldo Nocentini’s run in yellow.

Stage 15 Results
1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana - 5:03:58
2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:43
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas - 0:01:03
4 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank - 0:01:06
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto - 0:01:26
8 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana - 0:01:29
9 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana - 0:01:35
10 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia - HTC - 0:01:55

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Astana displayed it’s team dominance with a powerful win in the the Team Time Trial at the Tour de France today. Besting Garmin-Slipstream by 18 seconds, but more interestingly, beating Saxo Bank by just 40 seconds. Putting Lance Armstrong in second, right behind tour leader Fabian Cancellara by fractions of a second.

Stage 4 Results
1 Astana - 0:46:29
2 Garmin - Slipstream - 0:00:18
3 Team Saxo Bank - 0:00:40
4 Liquigas - 0:00:58
5 Team Columbia-HTC - 0:00:59
6 Team Katusha - 0:01:23
7 Caisse d’Epargne - 0:01:29
8 Cervelo Test Team - 0:01:38
9 AG2R-La Mondiale - 0:01:49
10 Euskaltel - Euskadi - 0:02:10

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Nevada City Bicycle Classic 2009 Photo Gallery by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

Yaroslav Popovych has a rich history riding for Johan Bruyneel, General Manager of the Astana Cycling Team. In Popovych’s first year at Discovery Channel, the Ukranian won the Tour de France’s white jersey, honoring the Best Young Rider, while helping Lance Armstrong win a record setting seventh Tour title. His Tour de France success continued with a stage win in 2006 and a personal best eighth place overall finish in 2007, while helping teammate Alberto Contador win the leader’s yellow jersey.

“I was with Discovery for three years,” stated Popovych, “and then went to Lotto for one year….and now I am with Astana. I do not feel there is any difference between Discovery and Astana. I stayed here for three years, three very good years, where we won the Tour. Now I’m coming back and Lance (Armstrong) is back. It’s great.”

“There was a huge change from Discovery to Lotto for me,” continued Popovych. “Lotto’s main focus was Classics and Discovery’s focus was stage races. Both were big teams with different emphasis. It was very different riding for Lance and riding for Cadel (Evans). Their approaches and style were completely different.”

Popovych secured the third overall position at the 2008 Paris-Nice. “The first two months with Lotto was very good.” Popovych signed with Lotto to provide support to Evans at the Tour de France.

“After Paris-Nice I kept getting sick. I didn’t understand why I kept feeling bad. I went to the doctor to try to figure out what was wrong. I just kept feeling bad, bad, bad. Even in the Tour….I was feeling bad. I was not at 100%. The team was feeling pressure and I was expected to give Cadel support but I could not. The team was not happy and I was not happy. I tried my best in the mountains for Cadel and my team. 2005, 2006, 2007 were very good years…..2008 was bad….and I am looking forward to a very good 2009.”

“Coming back to Astana is like coming home for me. At the training camp I felt very comfortable right away. I knew the riders and the staff. For me it has been a relief to be back. I feel like I am back to normal. I will ride the Giro and I will help Lance or Alberto in the Tour. I know that I can help Lance, Alberto, and Levi. I know my role on this team. It’s a nice fit for me. I can handle the work pressure on this team. Johan’s organization is the perfect fit for me. He is one of the few people I know who has successfully been able to manage both individual and team goals.”

Before Popovych rides the Tour, he will ride for Leipheimer and Armstrong at the Giro d’Italia in May. “The Giro is crazy, tough….plus Lance wants to ride the Giro. It will be amazing this year. I know the stages finishes well. The Giro is very important for me since I Iive in Italy. My wife and my baby will be there to see me.”

Popovych finished third in the 2003 Giro and fifth in 2004, spending three days wearing the overall leader’s pink jersey. Prior to turning professional, Popovych captured the U23 Paris-Roubaix title and the World Road Championship in 2001.

Photo courtesy of www.lynelamoureux.com

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California started today with a Prologue in Sacramento today and RoadBikeReview was there to bring you daily coverage! As we will throughout the 8 day stage race.

Tour of California Prologue roundup:

Pre-Race:

Time trial, finishing speed and aggressivity for the Bissell team at Tour of California by Lyne Lamoureux
Lyne met up with the Bissell team at their pre-season training camp to talk about the upcoming season and the Tour of California, “We’re definitely going to go all guns blazing in the prologue and then it will probably take one or two stages to shake out who’s doing what and then who’s aiming for what with every team but then after that, we definitely will be targeting a few stages. Obviously trying to save Ben and Tom a little bit for the time trial,” Read more here…

Team Bike: Astana Trek Madone 6.9
Ben Coates took time out of his busy day during Astana’s pre-season camp in Santa Rosa to show us Chris Horner’s Trek Madone 6.9. Watch the video here…

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ASTANA CYCLING TEAM AND LANCE ARMSTRONG ANNOUNCE INDEPENDENT, STATE-OF-THE-ART DRUG TESTING PROGRAM

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, – The ASTANA Professional Cycling Team and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong today announced the launch of a new, comprehensive drug testing program for Lance Armstrong. For the past four months, Dr. Don Catlin, the Chief Science Officer of Anti-Doping Sciences Institute, Inc. and one of the leading international anti-doping experts, has been developing a customized program to test Lance Armstrong throughout the 2009 cycling competition season for the use of performance enhancing substances and methods. The program calls for testing about once every three days. The new program’s testing is in addition to all the other drug testing to which Lance Armstrong is subject, including out-of-competition testing by the World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”), the Union Cycliste Internationale (“UCI”), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (“USADA”), in-competition testing at all of the events in which Lance will compete in 2009, and ASTANA’s additional testing of all members of the ASTANA team. The program has been launched, sample collection has commenced, and Dr. Catlin will issue reports on an on-going basis about the program results. Since his comeback announcement a few months ago, Armstrong has been tested 12 times in out-of-competition testing in addition to testing in the ASTANA program and the new ADSI program.

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World-Class, Accomplished Teams to Compete in February 14-22 Stage Race

‘Best Field Ever to Compete on U.S. Soil Anticipated For Nine Day Stage Race’

LOS ANGELES, CA – The 2009 Amgen Tour of California will once again bring together a world-class field of cycling teams from multiple nations, including eight of the sport’s top-rated ProTour teams. Race organizers confirmed today that entries for the fourth annual race will include Lance Armstrong and the Amgen Tour of California’s two-time defending champion Levi Leipheimer’s team, Astana, along with two of the top U.S.-based teams, Garmin-Slipstream (new to the ProTour circuit) and Columbia Highroad (formerly Team High Road). Also racing will be Team Saxo Bank, which finished in the top-three of the world rankings last season and Quick Step, which claimed 55 victories in the 2008 season.

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California roster includes the following eight ProTour professional cycling teams:

• Ag2r-La Mondiale (FRA)
• Astana (LUX)
• Garmin-Slipstream (USA)
• Liquigas (ITA)
• Quick Step (BEL)
• Rabobank (Netherlands)
• Columbia Highroad (USA)
• Team Saxo Bank (DEN)

The recently expanded 750-mile, nine-day stage race, considered to be the most important and popular race held on U.S. soil, will take the world’s top professional cycling teams from Sacramento to San Diego County from February 14-22, 2009.

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