Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador has been stripped of his 2010 Tour de France and Giro d'Italia titles and banned from competing in any races until August.

The Switzerland-based Court for Arbitration of Sport handed down the two-year ban against Contador for doping with clenbuterol during 2010.

The court didn't believe Contador's claim that, during the latter stages of the 2010 ...   more »

If you revel in cycling challenges and you keep a bucket list, then the Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill Climb is a perfect candidate for it.

The 7.6-mile scramble to the summit of the New Hampshire peak has an average gradient of 12% with sections of 18%. The last 50 yards, where it really counts, maxes out at 22%.

Viewing the unnatural upward tilt of some bicycles in this video makes my thighs burn, but I can understand some cyclists' desire to return here year after year. ...   more »

Ultra marathon bicyclists will be marking next year's calendars for the Redmond-based Coup de Cascades on Aug. 14-15 after the Race Across America chose it as a qualifier this week.

Since the 2012 RAAM starts in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 13, the Coup de Cascades will be one of the qualifying events for the 2013 RAAM.

The 425-mile loop around the Cascades launched in 2011 as a polio fund-raiser for the Redmond Rousers Rotary. The weekend event also featured a century and half-century ride for those ...   more »

Any argument over which is the "most epic" bicycle race should end in February 2012.

That's when about 20 cyclists will roll out of London on the 18,000-mile Global Bicycle Race.

They're aiming to beat the time of Englishman Vin Cox, left, who set the current Guinness World Record of 163 days, 6 hours and 58 minutes in 2010.

Cox is organizing this around-the-world bicycle race, set to start on Feb. 18. That date was picked so the winner and new record-holder will be showing up in London just as the 2012 Summer Olympics gets underway.

I don't use the term epic lightly, but this bicycle race certainly qualifies. ...   more »

This is probably the last thing this guy expected to happen when he zipped up his jersey and snapped on his helmet for a mountain bike race in South Africa recently.

According to Wikipedia, there are 130,000 Red Hartebeests living in southern Africa. Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa met one of them.

Travis Walker caught the collision while filming the action at the ...   more »

Cycling fans in the US will have a six-pack of UCI classified road race events in this country next year as cycling's governing body recently set its 2012 America's Tour calendar.

In all, there are 26 bicycle races on the calendar for North and South America.

It's good to see the Tour of Utah and USA Pro Cycling Challenge, both won by Levi Leipheimer, back on the calendar in 2012. ...   more »

There's an easy (well, maybe not so easy) way to decide who is the best climber among San Francisco Bay Area bicyclists -- take the Mount Diablo Challenge.

More than 600 cyclists completed the 30th anniversary of the event on Sunday, some in all seriousness and others for the pure joy of climbing 3,249 feet in 11.2 miles.

The fastest cyclist to the top of the peak that dominates the Bay Area skyline in  Danville was Nathaniel English ...   more »

The winningest pro cyclist in recent years is adding the rainbow jersey to his wardrobe of green, yellow, red and pink jerseys.

Great Britain's Mark Cavendish won the sprint finish in the world road race championship on Sunday in Rudersdahl, Denmark.

That means he'll wear the rainbow strips of the UCI world champion throughout the 2012 season. Australia's Matt Goss finished second with  Andre Greipel (Germany) in third.

This being the world championships, the 200-some cyclists represented their countries ...   more »

The Labor Day merger of RadioShack and Leopard-Trek may already be vying for a title -- longest team name in professional cycling.

Here are some details about RadioShack-Nissan-Trek Professional Cycling Team gleaned from press releases and wire services:

Personnel -- Announced so far are The Brothers Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Chris Horner ...   more »

Tacoma, Washington-native Tejay Van Garderen is heading over to BMC Racing, the team of Tour de France winner Cadel Evans and America's George Hincapie for next season.

Van Garderen had to find a new home after his HTC-Highroad cycling team announced it would disband at the end of the year because it couldn't find a sponsor.

In making the announcement, ...   more »

Say what you will about such storied climbs of the Tour de France as Alpe d'Huez and the Tourmalet.

The Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb in New Hampshire is the "Toughest Hillclimb in the World" and has a registered trademark to prove it.

On Saturday, the 7-1/2 mile bike race to the summit was won by Ned Overend, left, a legend in the world of mountain bicycling.

At 56, he continues to compete in endurance events instead of resting on the laurels ...   more »

No Lance and no Levi at the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race on Saturday, and no record for the men.

Durango's Todd Wells won the high-altitude mountain bike race on the legendary course in the Rocky Mountains with the second fastest time on record of 6 hours, 23 minutes.

That's about 7 minutes slower than the course record set by Levi Leipheimer in 2010. Leipheimer, who is racing this week at the Tour of Utah, in turn had beaten the previous record set by Lance Armstrong ....   more »

Austrian ultracyclist Christoph Strasser rolled into City Dock at Annapolis shortly after midnight on Thursday to win his first Race Across America.

The 28-year-old had just finished a 2,989-mile cross-country bicycle race across the US, covering the distance in 8 days, 8 hours, and 6 minutes. That's an average speed of 14.94 mph.

As he rolled across the finish, his 19 competitors in the RAAM solo men's division (under 50) were spread along the route all the way back to somewhere between Effingham, Illinois, and Sullivan, Indiana. Two others had dropped out.

Some 10 hours after finishing, Strasser's closest challenger, US ultracyclist Mark Pattinson .....   more »

Fresh from his hard work for Team RadioShack at the Amgen Tour of California, Matthew Busche won the national road race on Sunday in a photo finish against George Hincapie (BMC Racing).

Earlier, David Zabriskie (left) pedaled to a time trial victory on Saturday at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships held this weekend in Greenville, SC. ....   more »

Heading out for a morning bicycle ride, I paused to take a photo of this rather large peloton coming my way on Lake Washington Boulevard in Bellevue.

It wasn't until most of them passed that one of the cyclists told me it was the Phil Liggett bike ride.

I suppose if I had been listening more closely, I could have heard someone saying, "He's dancing on the pedals," or "The elastic has snapped!" ....   more »