The 2009 Tour of the Battenkill returns on April 18-19, 2009 in the Battenkill Valley of Upstate NY.   Some changes for next year:

• Course & venue change to Cambridge, NY (12 mi. south of Salem, NY - site of 2005-2008)
• 100k / 62 mile Pro/Am on Saturday, April 18
• A pending addition of a UCI 1.2 Professional Men’s Race on Sunday, April 19  - 200k
• Cyclo-Sportif on Sunday morning

Registration for the Pro/Am will open at  www.bikereg.com on December 21 at 7 PM.  Please distribute to your club members.

Sponsorship, race expo, and volunteer information & contacts can be found at www.tourofthebattenkill.com.

Thanks to girlmeetsbike on Twitter.

Lance Armstrong doing some windtunnel testing in San Diego.

via twitter.com/neilroad and http://roadmagazine.net/

Empire from Empire on Vimeo.

First off, Lance likes the innovative route of the 2009 course that starts in Monaco with a 15km hilly TT and visits Barcelona and Girona, Spain.

“The route of the 2009 Tour de France strikes me as innovative and very interesting,” Armstrong said.

“From its start in Monte Carlo with a 15k time trial, to the reinstatement of the team time trial, to stages in my old hometown of Girona all the way to another visit to my old friend the Ventoux, I could not have hoped for a different Tour.”

That is well and good, but what about the red meat? Will Lance ride in the 2009 Tour and if so will he support Contador or will he demand to be numero uno?

“As to the leadership of the Astana team in 2009, it’s illogical to pre-select a leader for any race in October of the previous year,” Armstrong said.

“I have been around long enough to know that cycling is a team sport and I am fully committed to supporting the strongest rider in any race, whether that’s me, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, or Andreas Kloden.

Hmm, he is not saying he will ride in support of Contador, but he is not saying he won’t. But this statement clearly leaves the reigns of leadership wide open. Lance Armstrong has been around in cycling log enough to know that his Tour teams basically revolved around supporting Lance Armstrong’s road to victory. The USPS/Discovery Channel team had a clear number one rider and there really was no number two option. Look at the 2006 Tour when Discovery rode like a headless chicken.

There is not much doubt that Contador is the best stage racer in the world at this moment. But, Astana could be playing coy and trying to use its strength to “protect” Contador. Team CSC looked like they were supporting Frank Schleck for overall victory until Sastre attacked in the mountains with the help of the Schleck brothers constant marking of their rivals.

So, this will be an interesting development to watch. Is Astana being coy about Contador? Will Contador wish to spread his wings and go to another team where he is a clear leader? Or will Contador end up playing super domestique to an 8th Armstrong Tour win? This will be a fun year.

The 2009 Tour de France route was unveiled today in Paris. Notibly absent was Lance Armstrong who is Twittering from Austin and developing a radical new TT position. The Tour contenders in Paris including Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans liked the course.

The first stage is a 15km hilly TT in Monaco. The Team Time Trial is back on Stage Four. Ventoux on Stage 20. If the race is tight coming into the final stage it would provide for an epic finish. However, the course looks very grueling and could be well decided by then.

Only 55km of Individual TTs with a 38km Team Time Trial. The race looks to favor someone of defending champion Carlos Sastre’s ability. Not explosive in the TT, but a good enough climber. Sastre’s new Cervelo team has some horsepower with Thor Hushovd for the Team Time Trial, but it remains to be seen how his team will match up with Alberto Contador and the powerful Astana squad.

Team Saxobank may have a chance to bring Andy Schleck into contention since the shorter TT options may be forgiving to the young rider.

Everyone is waiting to see what Lance Armstrong does in July. Johan Bruyneel said that chances of a Lance return to France are 50/50.

Here is the list of stages.

Stages for the 2009 Tour de France

Stage 1 - July 4 - Monaco - Monaco, 15km (individual time-trial)
Stage 2 - July 5 - Monaco - Brignoles, 182km
Stage 3 - July 6 - Marseille - La Grande-Motte, 196km
Stage 4 - July 7 - Montpellier, 38km (team time-trial)
Stage 5 - July 8 - Le Cap d’Agde - Perpignan, 197km
Stage 6 - July 9 - Girona (Spain) - Barcelona (Spain), 175km
Stage 7 - July 10 - Barcelona - Andorra 224km
Stage 8 - July 11 - Andorra-la-Vieille - Saint-Girons, 176km
Stage 9 - July 12 - Saint Gaudens - Tarbes, 160km

● - July 13 - Rest day at Limoges

Stage 10 - July 14 - Limoges - Issoudun, 193km
Stage 11 - July 15 - Vatan – Saint Fargeau, 192km
Stage 12 - July 16 - Tonnerre - Vittel, 200km
Stage 13 - July 17 - Vittel - Colmar, 200km
Stage 14 - July 18 - Colmar - Besanon, 199km
Stage 15 - July 19 - Pontarlier - Verbier (Suisse), 207km

● - July 20 - Rest day at Verbier

Stage 16 - July 21 - Martigny (Switzerland) - Bourg-Saint Maurice, 160km
Stage 17 - July 22 - Bourg-Saint Maurice - Le Grand Bornand, 169km
Stage 18 - July 23 - Annecy - Annecy, 40km (individual time-trial)
Stage 19 - July 24 - Bourgoin-Jallieu - Aubenas, 195km
Stage 20 - July 25 - Montélimar - Mont Ventoux, 167km
Stage 21 - July 26 - Montereau-Fault-Yonne - Paris Champs Elysées, 160km

10 flat stages.
7 mountain stages
1 medium mountain stage.
2 individual time-trial stages.
1 team time-trial stage.

http://www.letour.com/

The video does make you want to ride. Link via Carlton Reid on Twitter and Quick Release TV

The start

The first set of barriers.

The technical S section. There is a little crash near the beginning.

This is a little jump heading back to the start finish line.

More videos to come.

The problem Jan Maloff saw was that each year they would usually see the same bikes. Plus when kids would start riding their bikes, small problems such as flat tires or various adjustments could lead to the kids throwing out the bikes again. The solution was to provide free bike repair year round so that kids can keep riding without having to search out for repairs. Jan Maloff is doing this to promote a healthy lifestyle for kids who otherwise could not afford it.

Here is a recent news story:

Finish line video as Petacchi romps to the win. Unfortunately for AleJet he was not on French soil battling in Paris-Tours.

Interviews with the contenders.

Il Killer del Spoltore takes the win in the hilly late season classic in Italy. Tuttobiciweb.com has been posting video reports from their site. The commentary is in Italian, but you get a glimpse of one of the great fall classics in Italy.

The Finish

Pre-race interviews. Cadel Evans has a great command of Italian since he is married to an Italian lady.

Video from today’s Coppa Sabatini.

Ukraine’s Mikhaylo Khalilov, 33, showed his form is red-hot with victory in the 56th Coppa Sabatini. It was his third victory in recent weeks, adding to GP Prato and Memorial Cimurri. Italians Filippo Pozzato of Team Liquigas and Stefano Garzelli of Team Acqua Sapone-Caffè Mokambo finished second and third, respectively.

Organisers held the race on a circuit around Peccioli in Toscana, Italy. The final three 12.2-kilometre loops completed a course totalling 199 kilometres.

Khalilov of Team Ceramica Flaminia escaped on the final uphill run to Peccioli. He followed an attack by Acqua Sapone’s Francesco Failli on a small group led by Liquigas for Pozzato. Pozzato rapidly closed on Khalilov in the final 200 metres from the final corner, but fell slightly short of victory.

Coppa Sabatini report

Checkout the video with textbook Italian teamwork that setup Alessandro Ballan for a devastating attack to take the win. The crowd goes crazy when Ballan launches his attack since he was able to get so much distance.

(AFP/Damien Meyer)

The winning move came from a breakaway of 12 that had a decent enough gap and a selection of enough big names to last. Three Italians were featured in the break including Davide Rebellin, Damiano Cunego and Ballan. Others in the break were Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain who ever present in front and Matt Breschel who placed third. Since Italy had the numbers and the home turf advantage, the rest of the breakaway companions woul dnot help much. Riders took turns attacking and let the Italians chase. Later on the Italians took control launching progressive attacks to keep the rest of the break on their heels. Rebellin and Cunego could not get much daylight when they would attack.

ROBERTO BETTINI/AFP/Getty Images

Finally with about 2km to go Ballan launched a counter attack that the rest of the break could not respond to. Ballan was off and had enough time to cross the line with his hands in the air. Meanwhile in the main peloton Erik Zabel and Paolo Bettini rode in at a tourist pace with Bettini celebrating Ballans win and waving to the fans to finish out his last race.

DAMIEN MEYER/AFP/Getty Images

Paolo will be passing Lance on the way to the punch clock. The small Italian rider with huge thighs earned the nickname “Il Grillo” since he looks like a cricket ready to pounce from his bike. The plucky one day racer has a long list of big Classics victories from Milan San Remo to the Giro di Lombardia.

Paolo Bettini decided to call it a career after the World Championship Road Race tomorrow. The two time World Champ and Athens Olympic Champion decided to put an end to the illustrious career. Bettini started in the late 90s on MG Technogym and the heir apparent to Classics man Michele Bartoli. Bettini later moved to powerhouse squad Mapei where he has worked with Director Sportif Patrick Lefevre (Mapei/Quick Step) ever since.

Bettini winning Liege Bastonge Liege

Bettini won several classics including Liege Bastongne Liege twice in 2000 and 2002.

Bettini in Mapei colors.

THOMAS KIENZLE/AP

But recently he has been both Olympic Champion in 2004 and World Champion for the last two years. Now Bettini faces one last race that has become his domain.

“Cycling has given me a lot and I hope I’ve given something back. I’ve got no regrets,” he added, fighting back the tears. “The world championship has kind of become my race. I’m here to give it one last shot, and I have the determination to go out and fight for another win, whatever it takes.”

Paolo Bettini wins the Worlds in Stuttgart in 2007.

Bettini wins the Worlds in Austria in 2006 with some great teamwork from the Italian National Team.

Paolo Bettini’s 2006 Giro Di Lombardia win with some funky techno music.

Bettini’s Olympic win at Athens. The legs busting attack at 2:00 is phenomenal.

Did you know that Bettini was bitten by a monkey once?

Top Italian cyclist Paolo Bettini has received medical treatment after being bitten by a monkey in Malaysia.
The winner of last year’s prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege World Cup race was bitten while in training on Wednesday for the Tour of Langkawi.

The Mapei team star and a group of other riders were giving the monkey sweets when it was startled by a sudden movement.

Bettini was bitten on the left knee and, on medical advice, was given antibiotics as a precaution.

The Italian will be hoping his painful spot of monkey business is not a bad omen for 2001, after a good season in 2000.

As well as winning the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic, he also took the 181km ninth stage of the Tour de France between Agen and Dax.

BBC News

Bettini’s plans for 2009 were in dispute since Lefevre decided to sign Stefan Schumacher to Quick-Step for 2009. There were rumors that Bettini would sign on to a new team with Davide Rebellin since there was no room at Quick-Step.

With Armstrong, he never really left the limelight since he was either competing in the New York or Boston Marathon, running around with Matthew McConaughey or dating various celebrities. Lance could not escape that he was still associated with his old identity of a seven time Tour de France winner who overcame cancer. The highs reached by breaking records can’t really be matched in retired life, so a return to cycling is in order to get that feeling back for one more time.

”After all the adulation and excitement wear off and elite athletes come face to face with retirement and a more mundane life, they suffer a sense of loss, almost like a death,” said sport psychologist John F. Murray. “If you’re Lance Armstrong, you realize that what you are is a cyclist, that is your identity, and if you feel you have one or two more titles in you, why let it go? Why not tackle unresolved challenges? Competing at that level provides a high that is hard to match. How can you not be addicted to that?”

Now that Paolo Bettini and Erik Zabel are retiring, do you think they will come back in a couple of years yearning for more wins?

http://www.livescience.com/culture/080927-sports-retirement.html

Thanks to Maxpower teammate Noel for the link! Checkout the Syracuse Grand Prix of Cyclocross on October 18th and the cool banner I designed for the club site too.