Biking Bis - Bicycle Touring and More

Watching Milan - San Remo online and on air

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:43:31 -0700

For cycling enthusiasts, March Madness continues with Italy's Milan - San Remo bicycle race on Saturday.

Considered the opening day of the Spring Classics series, the one-day race will be streamed live on Universalsports.com beginning at 10 a.m. (ET), following by replays and highlights. The race will be broadcast on Universal Sports cable at 3 p.m. (ET), with repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday.

Americans cycling at the 185-mile slog include sprinter Tyler Farrar (Garmin) and George Hincapie, Brent Bookwalter and Jeffrey Louder (BMC Racing).

Lance Armstrong was scheduled to lead the Team RadioShack contingent...

Contador slugs it out with Valverde and Sanchez in Paris-Nice finale

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:14:18 -0700

It could have been deja vu all over again for Alberto Contador at the Paris-Nice bike race on Sunday.

The Caisse d'Epargne team was attacking Contador's precarious position as overall leader in the final stage of the week-long race, just as it had in the penultimate stage in 2009.

But instead of succumbing to the pressure and losing the yellow jersey to final champion Luis Leon Sanchez last year, Contador survived the attacks to win his second Paris-Nice championship. His first win came in 2007 .....

Is Paris-Nice a forecast of races to come?

Gene Bisbee — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:58:53 -0800

Wondering how the 2010 Tour de France might go this year? You'll want to check out the video of the uphill finish on Stage 4 of Paris-Nice bike race on Thursday.

If the Astana team kit isn't a dead giveaway for the identity of the cyclist in the blurry image at left, consider that he's in the lead on the hilltop finish in Mende and no one is in sight behind him.

Spain's Alberto Contador won Stage 4 and took the overall lead from Saxo Bank's Jens Voigt in the so-called Race to the Sun that ends Sunday.

On the final climb of the day up the steep (average 10% gradient) Montée Laurent Jalabert, Contador gained enough time ....

Universal Sports begins cycling coverage with Tirreno-Adriatico

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:16:49 -0800

Hincapie, Farrar and Cavendish on tap in Italy

Universal Sports kicks off its 2010 pro cycling coverage on Wednesday with Italy's Tirreno-Adriatico, followed up through the season with the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana along with other cycling events.

The partnership of NBC Sports and Intermedia Partners says it will offer at least 10 premiere road cycling races this year on its broadcast and online platforms.

All races will be available live online at UniversalSports.com; same-day coverage will be provided on cable at Universal Sports stations in major TV markets. ....

Leipheimer and Contador crash in Paris-Nice; still in top 10

Gene Bisbee — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:20:11 -0800

After the Paris-Nice peloton battled gusty winds for more than 100 miles, Team Sky's Greg Henderson won the Stage 1 sprint by slipping past Lampre's Grega Bole right at the finish.

Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) attacked the field with less than a mile to go in Contres, but couldn't sustain the long sprint.

Prologue winner Lars Boom of Rabobank remained in the yellow jersey as Levi Leipheimer (Team RadioShack) and Alberto Contador (Astana) dropped to 7th and 8th in the overall standings after suffering crashes. They started the day in 3rd and 4th place ....

Murcia ends with Armstrong in 7th; Paris-Nice begins with Leipheimer in 3rd

Gene Bisbee — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:02:42 -0800

Lance Armstrong finished the Vuelta de Murcia on Sunday in 7th place behind winner Frantisek Rabon of HTC-Columbia; Armstrong's plans include adding another race to his Tour de France preparations.

Meanwhile, his Team RadioShack teammate Levi Leipheimer opened the Paris-Nice bike race with a third place finish in the prologue, 6 seconds behind Lars Boom of Rabobank. The race will roll across France through Sunday.

More action unfolds this week as the Tirreno-Adriatico rolls out Wednesday for seven days across Italy. Highlights will be streamed live on the Universal Sports website.

Regarding his 7th place finish, Armstrong told reporters:

"Worried would be too strong of a word. ....

Team Columbia's Rabon leads Murcia; Armstrong climbs to 7th

Gene Bisbee — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:52:38 -0800

HTC-Columbia's Czech time-trial champion Frantisek Rabon won Stage 5 of the Murcia bike race on Saturday and took the overall lead, as Lance Armstrong climbed into 7th place.

The Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia across southern Spain ends Sunday with a 75-mile stage that's expected to end in a mass sprint.

Elsewhere, the week-long Paris-Nice bicycle race starts Sunday in France, and Tirreno-Adriatico rolls out Wednesday for seven days across Italy.

While top racers struggle for top finishes in the Murcia bike race, most eyes are on Armstrong. RadioShack manager Johan Bruyneel made headlines ...

Armstrong rides again at Murcia, Hunter wins stage

Gene Bisbee — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:34:01 -0800

Lance Armstrong returned to pro cycling at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Regiona de Murcia on Wednesday, more than a month after completing the Tour Down Under.

But it was Robbie Hunter, riding for US-based Garmin Transitions, who supplied the sparks to the first stage of the race across southern Spain that ends Sunday.

The South African won a bunch sprint at the end of stage 1, beating the likes of Graeme Brown (Rabobank) and Daryl Impey (RadioShack), among others ....

World cyclocross championships come to US in 2013

Gene Bisbee — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:06:03 -0800

Those who like to ride and/or carry their bicycles up and over muddy hills or along grassy tracks are probably rejoicing to hear that the UCI World Cyclocross Championships are coming to Louisville, Kentucky, in 2013.

Historically popular in Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, cyclocross has been gaining popularity around the world, especially in the US. The interest will probably grow here, as 2013 will be the first time that the World cyclocross championships have come to the US.

In fact, it's the first time the Worlds have been held outside Europe in 50 years.

If you want to see what World championship cyclocross is all about, check out Universal Sports Cyclocross online this weekend.

The website is offering free live coverage of the elite men's and women's races from Tabor, Czech Republic, beginning at noon (ET) on Sunday, Jan. 31. Other webcasts are on demand

Cyclist wins Male Athlete of the Decade

Gene Bisbee — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0800

It's good to see a cyclist finally named as an Athlete of the Decade.

No. It's not Lance Armstrong, who got squeezed out by a golfer in the Associated Press and USA Today polls.

We're talking about world champion track cyclist Marty Nothstein of Trexlertown, Pennsylvania. The 38-year-old got the nod from the editors at the Allentown (PA) Morning Call this week.

Nothstein grew up racing at the velodrome in Trexlertown and used that experience to earn an Olympic gold medal and win three world championships and 34 gold medals at US National Championships ....