I don't know how many ochre-colored leaders' jerseys were prepared for the Tour Down Under, but one would have been sufficient this year.
Andre Greipel donned the leader's jersey after the first stage on Tuesday and retained it through the week to win the 2010 Tour Down Under championship on Sunday.
Team Sky's Chris Sutton won the final stage, a 56-mile criterium around Adelaide. It was the only stage won by an Australian on his home soil this week.
US-based Team HTC Columbia certainly deserves a huge credit for Greipel's repeat of his 2008 Tour Down Under championship. Columbia controlled the peloton all week
Lance Armstrong, who arrived to great fanfare with the new RadioShack cycling team, finished in 25th place overall .... more»
Andre Greipel and his HTC-Columbia pro cycling team fended off an attempt to unseat him from the overall lead of the Tour Down Under on Saturday in Australia.
Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez, at left, a member of the breakaway that threatened Greipel, won Stage 5 and climbed into 2nd place overall, 11 seconds behind the German.
To repeat his 2008 Tour Down Under championship, Greipel has to survive the 20-lap, 56-mile criterium around Adelaide. There are 25 cyclists who are less than a minute behind Greipel, although they'll have to break the strangehold by Team Columbia to win the Tour .. more»
With just two stages remaining, Andre Greipel won his third sprint in four days at the Tour Down Under on Friday.
The German sprinter for US-based HTC-Columbia has dominated the bike race that ends Sunday in Australia. He and his teammates must be planning ways to help him survive his slim 20-second overall lead to repeat his championship of 2008.
Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong, who was paid an undisclosed sum to return and race this year, made an appearance at the front of the peloton that was so unusual for this race that it was reported by the Associated Press.
Armstrong and RadioShack teammate Tomas Vaitus took a flyer with about 2 miles left in the race .. more»
On a day when commentators touted a handful of favorites to win a grueling bike race, a little known 26-year-old from Portugl handily won his first ProTour victory on Stage 3 of the Tour Down Under on Thursday.
Cyclist Manuel Cardoso of Footon-Servetto charged ahead of the peloton, leaving the big names of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) and world champion Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) to finish in 2nd and 3rd.
Lance Armstrong finished in the first pack to finish 30th, 1 second behind Cardoso. Overall, he sits in 26th place, 20 seconds behind the leader, Andre Greipel.
There's not much information out there about Cardoso, who hadn't earned his own Wikipedia entry yet. ... more»
It's early yet, but Andre Greipel looks to be dominating this year's Tour Down Under as he took the mass sprint finish in Stage 2 on Wednesday in Australia -- his second win in as many days.
The 27-year-old German is the overall leader in the race and may be looking to repeat his 2008 championship at the Tour Down Under, which ends Sunday.
Greipel appeared to be followed across the line by New Zealand's Greg Henderson (Team Sky) and Australia's Robbie McEwen (Katusha), according to radio reports. RadioShack's Gert Steegmans, who finished in 2nd place in Stage 1, didn't appear to factor in the Stage 2 finish.
Meanwhile, the captain of that RadioShack Team, Lance Armstrong, finished 48th on the stage and 39th overall..... more»
Team HTC-Columbia might have had some personnel changes in the off-season, but the US-based team still packs plenty of punch as Andre Greipel won Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday in Australia.
If Columbia is suffering from the notable absence of George Hincapie, who went to BMC Racing, it wasn't evident on the 87-mile route from Clare to Tanunda.
The team took charge of the peloton to reel back a 9-minute margin to a three-man breakaway, then led their man to the front of a bunch sprint.
Gert Steegmans, on Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack, finished in second place. Armstrong finished in 46th. ... more»
Great Britain's Team Sky marked its inaugural race by taking 1st and 2nd places in the Cancer Council Helpline Classic, the precursor to Australia's Tour Down Under that starts Tuesday.
Teammates Greg Henderson and Chris Sutton took 1st and 2nd in the 31-mile criterium around Adelaide, which drew some 100,000 onlookers.
Launching the second year of his comeback, Lance Armstrong took a 20-second lead on the peloton for a couple of laps with four other ridres, including another Tour de France winner, Oscar Pereiro ... more»
Lance Armstrong returns to Australia for the Tour Down Under next week in better shape than in last year's comeback season and with his own cycling team -- Team Radio Shack.
Still, he told the Sydney Morning Herald that he doesn't expect to be in contention to win the bike race that rolls out Jan. 17-24. Team Shack instead will be looking to take stage wins at TDU with sprinter Gert Steegmans of Belgium.
Which is just as well, because the rosters for this year's race reveals a host of cyclists that can take the overall honors.
First there's 29-year-old Aussie Allan Davis, above right, who wore the QuickStep jersey last year when he won three stages on his way to the Tour Down Under championship. He's returning this year as a member of the decimated Astana team, who lost many riders to Radio Shack. Oscar Pereiro also is appearing with the Astana team. ... more»
The Tour Down Under is bringing a host of pro cycling luminaries to the roads of South Australia from Jan. 17 through 24. The Versus cable network will kick off its 2010 cycling coverage with daily tape-delayed updates from the race.
Cycling enthusiasts in the US must compute some "Back-to-the-Future"-style time zone calculations to keep track of the live action, however, as the 6-stage race takes place 15 1/2 hours ahead of East Coast time, and 18 1/2 hours ahead of West Coast time.
For instance, Stage 1 begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Clare, South Australia; that's 7:30 p.m. Monday in New York and 4:30 p.m. Monday in Seattle. Versus will televise a half-hour show from that stage at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Crazy, eh Professor? You can find the current time in Adelaide and start times for all the races in the right sidebar on the Tour Down Under pages ... more»
Lance Armstrong will have some competition as the most popular kid in the peloton for Australia's Tour Down Under next January now that favorite son Cadel Evans, right, has committed to the bike race.
Evans had earlier been quoted that he was going to skip his nation's bike race because it didn't fit into his training schedule for the 2010 Tour de France, which he is hungry to win.
But having relocated to BMC Racing after dropping his five-year tenure with Silence-Lotto last week, Evans and BMC are said to be accepting a wild card to race in the Tour Down Under from January 17-24, 2010.
There's no doubt that Armstrong's return to Adelaide with his newly minted Team RadioShack ... more»
Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack will head to Australia in January to make the Tour Down Under the first race for the new team.
The Tour Down Under rolls out Jan. 17-24, 2010, and is once again based in Adelaide. Armstrong's return to professional cycling at the bike race earlier this year boosted the attendance over previous years by about 50%.
Even a year after his announced return to cycling, Armstrong is still a big draw. His bike ride around Dublin after the close of his cancer summit there drew more than 1,000 bicyclists. Although he had hinted at a ride in Dublin's Phoenix Park earlier in the week, he gave the final details only hours before he set off. .... more»
The 2010 Tour Down Under will roll out from Jan. 17 to 24, organizers have announced.
It will be the first race on the UCI calendar.
The week-long stage race around South Australia got a boost in 2009 as Lance Armstrong decided to emerge from 3 1/2 years of retirement for the race. No word on whether Armstrong plans to do the race in 2010.
Lance Armstrong and the Amgen Tour of California are reported to be drawing huge crowds along the route, in spite of heavy rain and cold temperatures.
More than 100 people crowded around the Astana trailer in San Jose to see Armstrong preparing for Stage 3 on Tuesday. Thousands gathered along the route.
Ann Killion, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, asked former coach Jim Ochowicz what makes Armstrong ride? ... more»
As the laps clicked by in the final stage of the Tour Down Under on Sunday, Lance Armstrong demonstrated that he had plenty of gas in the tank by attacking the peloton and briefly riding at the head of a breakaway.
He then dropped back and let the sprinters take over the battle for the stage win, which was taken at the line by Italy's Francesco Chicchi of Liquigas as Graeme Brown's foot came out of the pedal.
Australia's Allan Davis, above, finished safely back in the peloton, comfortable that his 25-second lead earned in three stage victories was good enough to win the Tour Down Under ... more»
After losing touch with the race leaders on the final climb, Allan Davis fought back to the front of the peloton on Stage 5 and scored a hat trick at the Tour Down Under on Saturday in Australia.
The Aussie's time bonuses from three wins virtually assures him the championship when the 6-stage bicycle race ends Sunday.
Lance Armstrong battled to make a bid for the lead on Stage 5's second climb up daunting Willunga Hill and stayed near the front of the race. But if you want to know how things have changed since Armstrong last raced in the peloton, picture this scene:
As Armstrong leads a group of 10 riders struggling to catch the five cyclists up the hill, friend and former teammate George Hincapie and two others zoom out of the group and catch the leaders, leaving Armstrong and the others behind ... more»
Australia's Allan Davis remained in control of the Tour Down Under after Stage 4 on Friday. The cyclist for Quick Step beat Thursday's winner Graeme Brown in the final sprint and held onto the race leader's ochre jersey for a third day.
Whether his dominance will survive two trips up Willunga Hill -- the tour's toughest climb -- on Saturday remains to be seen.
Some are saying that if Lance Armstrong, who sits 39 seconds out of 1st in 38th place, has any chance at all, it will be on the two climbs up Willunga on Stage 5. But other cyclists, like Aussie Stuart O'Grady in 4th place, are in a better position to make winning time on the stage ... more»
Lance Armstrong seems to test himself with a new challenge everyday at the Tour Down Under. On Thursday's Stage 3, it was joining a fast 14-man breakaway for 50 miles that blew apart the overall race standings.
That breakaway didn't survive to the finish at Victor Harbor, however, where the Rabobank team delivered sprinter Graeme Brown across the line ahead of Wednesday's winner, Allan Davis.
Once again, Team Columbia's George Hincapie finished in 5th place for the second day in a row. Defending Tour champion Andre Greipel of Columbia, who won Stage 1, dropped out of the race after breaking his collarbone in a crash ... more»
Lance Armstrong may just have been testing his legs, but no one in the Tour Down Under peloton was going to see how far up the road he could get.
The 7-time Tour de France winner attacked with Australian Under-23 champion Jack Bobridge about 25 miles from the finish of Stage 2 in Stirling. They got away for about a minute before they were reeled back in.
What remained in the 90-mile stage was a series of attacks and attempts to control the sprint before QuickStep catapulted sprinter Allan Davis, above, across the finish line on Wednesday in Australia ... more»
Picking up where he left off last year, defending Tour Down Under champion Andre Greipel won Stage 1 of this year's edition in a hard-fought sprint.
Greipel's Columbia teammates drove the pace at the end of the 89-mile stage. Unlike Sunday's results in the Classic, however, Greipel held off his challengers at the finish line.
Comeback cyclist Lance Armstrong finished in the pack, in 120th place, but only 11 seconds down. Earlier he had said his main goal was to not get dropped on the day's two King of the Mountains climbs. He survived unscathed ... more»
Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under is an 89-mile (140km) race from Norwood to Mawson Lake, running from approximately 11 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, South Australia time. It features two King of the Mountain climbs and two intermediate sprints.
Lance Armstrong marked his return to professional cycling firmly entrenched in the peloton, safely surrounded by his Astana teammates as he completed his first pro cycling race in 3 1/2 years.
Meanwhile home-country hero Robbie McEwen won the Cancer Council Classic on Sunday, the fifth time the cyclist has won the criterium that introduces Australia's Tour Down Under, which starts Tuesday.
A record 138,000 spectators showed up at Rymill Park in Adelaide to watch the 51km criterium that lasted a little more than an hour. Armstrong's return to pro cycling has been credited with the unprecedented interest in the 11th edition of the Tour Down Under ... more»
The wait is almost over. Lance Armstrong's official return to professional cycling finally comes Sunday with the Cancer Council Classic.
The 30-lap, 51km criterium in Adelaide is a prelude to Australia's Tour Down Under that runs Tuesday through Sunday. Armstrong has admitted that he'd rather not come out of 3 1/2 years of retirement in a crit.
Schedule
The Cancer Council Classic rolls out from 7 to 8:10 p.m. Sunday in Adelaide; that's 3:30 to 4:40 a.m. Sunday on the East Coast and 12:30 to 1:40 a.m. on the West Coast.
The usual suspects, such as CyclingNews, will offer updates throughout the race, and Versus will broadcast a 1/2-hour highlight show from 4-4:30 p.m. (East Coast) and 1-1:30 p.m. (West Coast) on Sunday ... more»
That's what Lance Armstrong told Australia's Ten network after completing his first day of riding around Adelaide in 104-degree heat. “I feel like I’ve trained hard. The difference will be (in) going from training pace to actually racing."
Even at 37, though, Armstrong isn't the old man in the peloton. At least one, Jens Voigt, (right) is older. By one day.
Armstrong was born Sept. 18, 1971. Voigt was born in Germany on Sept. 17, 1971...... more»
Here's Lance Armstrong's photo of his just-delivered Trek Madone 6.9 delivered from Madison to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under.
In posting this to TwitPic (higher resolution photo), Armstrong quizzed his Twitter followers about the two special numbers appearing on the frame -- 1274 and 27.5.
The "1274" on the seat tube corresponds to the number of days Armstrong has gone without a pro cycling race. The "27.5" represents the 27.5 million people worldwide who have died from cancer in that time ... more»
"I just don't want to get clobbered too bad. ... I don't have any illusions of grandeur. ... I hope I get in the race and get re-acclimated to the tempo and the speed and what it is like to be around 200 guys in a fast-moving group."
Lance Armstrong touched down in Sydney, Australia, to a gaggle of reporters ... more»
Lance Armstrong will be easy to spot in the Tour Down Under peloton beginning next weekend, regardless of whether he's wearing the leader's jersey.
The 37-year-old comeback cyclist has said he'll be wearing his own black-and-yellow kit during the week-long race and will be riding his own distinctively decorated Trek Madone 6.9 bike.
[Update: Jan. 11 -- Armstrong said Saturday morning on Twitter that he'll wear Astana kit in races, but train in Livestrong gear. See the new Astana team jersey that features a yellow Livestrong band on the left sleeve.]
Armstrong is racing on Team Astana for no salary and no bonuses. He has said one of his main purposes in returning to cycling is to draw attention to the global epidemic of cancer. A good way to call attention is to fly the black and yellow colors of LiveStrong. ... more»
The return to pro cycling by Lance Armstrong after three years of retirement puts the 2009 Tour Down Under on the map, but he isn't the only high profile cyclist at the bike race.
Five former Tour Down Under champions will be racing. They are Andre Greipel (2008, Germany) on Team Columbia, Martin Elmiger (2007, Switzerland) on AG2R, Luis Leon Sanchez (2005, Spain) on Caisse Epargne, Michael Rogers (2002, Australia) Team Columbia, and Stuart O'Grady (1999 and 2001, Team Saxo Bank).
The 2006 Tour de France winner, Oscar Pereiro, also will compete for Caisse Epargne ... more»
If you're looking for the surging interest in cycling that Lance Armstrong's return to the peloton is sure to bring, consider these two facts:
-- Nearly double the number of recreational riders have signed up to ride Stage 4 of this year's Tour Down Under ahead of the pro peloton.
-- And South Australia has pumped another $1.5 million into the ride to handle the influx of visitors and media.
With five days remaining to register for the citizen's challenge ride, Tour Down Under reports that 6,312 are ready to ride this year, compared to 3,400 bicyclists last year ... more»
An old hand at helping Lance Armstrong win championships -- he once even gave up his bike to Armstrong -- has been named to the Team Astana roster to compete at the Tour Down Under in Australia.
Jose Luis Ruberia, 35, of Spain bicycled with Armstrong on the Postal Service and Discovery pro cycling teams, participating in some of Armstrong's Tour de France championships.
Other teammates Assan Bazayev (Kazakhstan), Steve Morabito (Switzerland) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan) all rode in the 2008 Giro d'Italia. .... more»
Cycling enthusiasts -- and Lance-o-philes -- can tune in to the Versus cable network for daily half-hour updates from the Tour Down Under, which rolls out Jan. 18-25, 2009.
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is making his comeback to pro cycling in the South Australia race, suddenly making the week-long stage race more noteworthy that usual.
The times for the Tour Down Under listed on the Versus TV schedule (all times are Eastern time zone... more»
It's early yet, but Andre Greipel looks to be dominating this year's Tour Down Under as he took the mass sprint finish in Stage 2 on Wednesday in Australia -- his second win in as many days.
Team HTC-Columbia might have had some personnel changes in the off-season, but the US-based team still packs plenty of punch as Andre Greipel won Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under on Tuesday in Australia.
Lance Armstrong returns to Australia for the Tour Down Under next week in better shape than in last year's comeback season and with his own cycling team -- Team Radio Shack.
Lance Armstrong will have some competition as the most popular kid in the peloton for Australia's Tour Down Under next January now that favorite son Cadel Evans, right, has committed to the bike race.
Lance Armstrong and the Amgen Tour of California are reported to be drawing huge crowds along the route, in spite of heavy rain and cold temperatures.
As the laps clicked by in the final stage of the Tour Down Under on Sunday, Lance Armstrong demonstrated that he had plenty of gas in the tank by attacking the peloton and briefly riding at the head of a breakaway.
Lance Armstrong marked his return to professional cycling firmly entrenched in the peloton, safely surrounded by his Astana teammates as he completed his first pro cycling race in 3 1/2 years.
"I'm doing all right for an old man." 
If you're looking for the surging interest in cycling that Lance Armstrong's return to the peloton is sure to bring, consider these two facts:
Cycling enthusiasts -- and Lance-o-philes -- can tune in to the 
