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- Team Type 1 CEO and Founder Phil Southerland issued the following statement this evening regarding last night's theft of bikes and equipment:  (original press release below the photos)

"Having to withdraw from Coppi-Bartali as a result of the devastating loss of equipment  is a tremendous disappointment for the team, especially after riding so well here with Rubens and Lazlo both in the top ten in the time trial on Stage 4 and Andrea 2nd in the sprint in the opening stage.  It’s an unfortunate situation but our immediate priority is getting our guys back on bikes.  We have extraordinary partners in sanofi-aventis, Colnago, Shimano, Limar, and Park Tools, and are working closely with all of them to ensure our guys can be ready to compete in Vitre* on April 1st." (*Ed.: Route Adélie de Vitré)

2011 Tour du Haut Var:  Team Type 1 road bike close-up
- Click for high resolution -
photo Copyright © 2011 Pete Geyer/cyclingfans.com

2011 Coppi e Bartali:  Team Type 1 time trial bikes
- Click for high resolution -
photo Copyright © 2011 Fotoreporter Sirotti/cyclingfans.com

(Team Type 1 press release)

ZOLA PREDOSA, Italy, March 26 - Thieves broke in to locked Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis vehicles overnight on Friday in a parking lot outside the race hotel, stealing more than 500,000 euros worth of bicycles, tools, spare parts and equipment, forcing the team to abandon the start at Stage 5 of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in Italy.

Team mechanics came out on Saturday morning and found the front window of a team car smashed and the vehicle pushed back from the back door of the locked panel van used to store equipment. The locks on the side and back doors of the panel van were forced open and all bicycles, tools, wheels, spare parts and equipment were stolen.

The large luggage door underneath the team bus was pried off and removed from the vehicle and all bikes mounted in the storage bin under the bus were stolen.

Police were called and arrived around 8:30 am, and began an investigation.

"This is a sad and terrible situation. We are devastated by the loss of so much equipment and the invaluable sizing and measurement information for our time trial and race bikes. It's only a matter of time before these bikes resurface for sale somewhere, and we simply ask our friends and supporters to help us find the bikes and help the police catch the thieves," said Director Sportif Vassili Davidenko.  Team Type 1 website here

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Race Radios to be permitted again in NRC competition

(USA Cycling Press Release)

(March 11, 2011) — After gathering input from U.S. teams, riders, organizers, officials and other stakeholders, USA Cycling has determined that teams will be allowed to once again use race radios in National Racing Calendar (NRC) competition and at the USA Cycling professional and elite road national championship events. 

Following international precedent in 2010, USA Cycling banned the use of race radios in national-level events with subsequent plans for evaluation on all aspects of that decision at the end of the year. After review, the U.S. Professional Racing Organization board of trustees recommended lifting the radio ban.

“As we approached the 12 month anniversary of the radio ban in domestic races, we listened to input from the various affected stakeholders including officials, race directors, team directors and riders,” said USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson.  “In the process, we considered all of the categories of the racing environment that are impacted by radios including rider and spectator safety, caravan and peloton management and team/rider communication, frankly, radios won on every count.”

“The vast majority of athletes, teams and event managers agree that safety cannot be compromised, and that progressive sports use more communications technology, not less,” stated Bob Stapleton, owner of HTC-Highroad professional cycling team and USA Cycling board of directors USPRO representative. “The goal is to make cycling both safe and exciting and to ultimately bring the audience further into the action.”

“The decision was made because we believe race radios bring a unique level of strategy that is good for cycling, provide for innovation opportunities with our broadcast partners, and gives everyone in the peloton an additional safety measure,” stated USA Cycling board of directors President and USPRO representative Bill Peterson. “We have spent considerable time discussing this issue with many experienced racers, team managers, and race organizers; we have yet to find anyone make a convincing case to eliminate race radios. Therefore we are allowing radios within the races we control, and I suspect many countries around the world will follow our lead.”

“We've based our decision on several factors including the nature of racing in the United States and the inherent safety and liability issues that we feel are extremely important,” explained professional cyclist and U.S.P.R.O. board of trustees athlete representative Nick Reistad. “In my own cycling career, I can detail examples where race radios were critical in relaying information regarding safety hazards, including emergency vehicles traveling backwards on the course, which could have put my life, and the lives of those racing with me, in imminent danger.”

The first 2011 NRC event, the Redlands Bicycle Classic will take place March 31 – April 3.

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2011 Paris-Nice Route Revealed

- Today in Versailles, race organizer Amaury Sport Organization officially revealed the route for the 2011 Paris-Nice (March 6-13).  As expected, there will be no prologue but the Stage 6 Time Trial will be the longest since 1968 according to AFP.

Sunday, March 6: Stage 1: Houdan to Houdan (154.5 km)
Monday, March 7: Stage 2: Montfort l’Amaury to Amilly (198.5 km)
Tuesday, March 8: Stage 3: Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire to Nuits-Saint-Georges (202.5 km)
Wednesday, March 9: Stage 4: Crêches-sur-Saône to Belleville (191 km)
Thursday, March 10: Stage 5: Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Vernoux-en-Vivarais (194 km)
Friday, March 11: Stage 6: Rognes to Aix-en-Provence, Individual Time Trial (27 km)
Saturday, March 12: Stage 7: Brignoles to Biot - Sophia Antipolis (215.5 km)
Sunday, March 13: Stage 8: Nice to Nice (124 km)

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- Below are the 2011 season jerseys for the Professional Continental Teams.  Click for 2011 ProTeam jerseys.

Landbouwkrediet	Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator	Veranda's Willems-Accent
(coming) Team Spidertech	(coming) Colombia es Pasion- Cafe de Colombia	(coming) Andalucia Caja Granada
Caja Rural	Geox-TMC	Bretagne-Schuller
(coming) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne	(coming) FDJ	Saur-Sojasun
Team Europcar	Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli	Team NetApp
Colnago-CSF Inox	De Rosa-Ceramica Flaminia	(coming) Acqua & Sapone
Androni Giocattoli	Skil-Shimano	(coming) CCC Polsat Polkowice
(coming) Team Type 1	(coming) Unitedhealthcare Pro Cycling

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VERSUS EXTENDS PARTNERSHIP WITH AMGEN TOUR OF CALIFORNIA

(Versus press release)

NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 19, 2011)—VERSUS and AEG today announced a multi-year agreement to continue televising AEG’s Amgen Tour of California road race, the premier U.S.-based cycling event that features the world’s top professional cyclists.  VERSUS will provide live HD coverage of the 2011 Amgen Tour of California, which takes place from May 15-22, including all the exciting finish-line sprints and the first-ever mountain top stage finish with the ascent up Mt. Baldy.  Additionally, the network will air highlights of the stages each night during the eight-day competition at 11 p.m. ET.

“VERSUS’ commitment to cycling is stronger than ever and we look forward to continuing our coverage of the largest road race in America,” said Marc Fein, Executive Vice President of Programming, Production and Business Operations for VERSUS. “We are excited to broadcast this epic event for the fifth straight year and super-serve cycling fans the same way we do with all our properties.”  

Since VERSUS started airing coverage of the Tour of California in 2007, the network has seen average viewership growth of 46 percent.  Last year’s race saw the number of viewers tuning in to the network’s daily coverage double from 2007 (3 million vs. 1.5 million).

“We are delighted to be partnering with VERSUS on the Amgen Tour of California,” said Andrew Messick, President of AEG Sports. “VERSUS’ skill, experience and passion for both cycling and the Amgen Tour of California makes them the perfect partner as we continue to make our race one of the most important in the world.”

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, the undisputed voices of cycling, will once again call all the race action in the Golden State with Bob Roll returning as field reporter.

Stages for the 2011 Amgen Tour of California:

Stage 1: Sunday, May 15 - South Lake Tahoe to North Lake Tahoe-Northstar at Tahoe Resort
Stage 2: Monday, May 16 - North Lake Tahoe-Squaw Valley  to Sacramento
Stage 3: Tuesday, May 17 - Auburn to Modesto
Stage 4: Wednesday, May 18 - Livermore to San Jose
Stage 5: Thursday, May 19 - Seaside to Paso Robles
Stage 6: Friday, May 20 - Solvang Individual Time Trial
Stage 7: Saturday, May 21 - Claremont to Mt. Baldy
Stage 8: Sunday, May 22 - Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks

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Elite men, women, U23 & junior men’s squads named for Cyclo-cross World Championships

Update:  The Elite Men team has now been named.  Note that though Todd Wells was an automatic qualifier due to his victory in the national championships, he declined his nomination to the worlds team.

2011 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships

St. Wendel, Germany

January 29-30, 2011
 

Elite Men
Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
Tim Johnson (Topsfield, Mass./Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
Ryan Trebon (Bend, Ore.)
Jamie Driscol (Winooski, Vt.)
Jonathan Page (Northfield, NH)

Elite Women
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Planet Bike-Stevens Bikes)
Susan Butler (Portland, Ore.)
Meredith Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./Team TIBCO-To the Top)
Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.)
Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12)

U23 Men
Daniel Summerhill (Centennial, Colo./Garmin-Transitions-Team Holowesko Partners)
Zach McDonald (Bainbridge Island, Wash.)
Jerome Townsend (Princeton, Mass./Mock Orange Bikes)
Cody Kaiser (El Dorado Hills, Calif./California Giant Strawberries-Specialized)
Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass./BikeReg.com-Cannondale)

Junior Men
Jeff Bahnson (Newark, Del./Van Dessel Factory Team)
Andrew Dillman (Fairdale, Ky./Prochain Cycling)
Bjorn Fox (Incline Village, Nev./Clif Bar Development Cross Team)

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- Below are the 2011 season jerseys for the 18 "ProTeams" (WorldTour).  Click for Pro Continental Team jerseys.

AG2R La Mondiale	BMC Racing Team	Euskaltel-Euskadi
HTC-Highroad	Katusha	Lampre-ISD
Liquigas-Cannondale	Movistar	Omega Pharma-Lotto
Pro Team Astana	Quickstep Cycling Team	Rabobank Cycling Team
Saxo Bank Sungard	Sky Procycling	Team Garmin-Cervelo
Team Leopard-Trek	Team RadioShack	Vacansoleil-DCM

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VERSUS TO AIR LANCE ARMSTRONG’S FINAL RACE OUTSIDE THE U.S. WITH DAILY COVERAGE
OF THE 2011 TOUR DOWN UNDER

Related news:  2011 Tour Down Under Broadcast Television Coverage around the world

Note: cyclingfans.com will have full daily coverage of the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under including race photography, LIVE coverage options and video clips.

(Versus press release)

NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 10, 2011)—VERSUS will kick off the cycling season with the 2011 Tour Down Under, the first race of the year on the UCI WorldTour calendar.  In the 2011 competition, 19 teams will cover more than 470 miles during the six-stage race through Southern Australia.  This year’s event will be the final cycling race outside the U.S. for seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.  Armstrong will once again lead the U.S.-based Team RadioShack®, which just added Australian native Robbie McEwen to the roster, to compete against the world’s best cyclists.  Additionally, two superstar sprinters, rivals Mark Cavendish with team HTC-Highroad and Tyler Farrar with the newly created Team Garmin-Cervelo, will race through the streets of Adelaide as they battle each other to the finish line.

VERSUS will air daily 30-minute stage re-caps of the race from Jan. 18-22 at 6 p.m. ET, as well as a special one-hour show at 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 23 highlighting the final stage of the race.  Additionally, the network will stream the entire final stage of the race live on VERSUS.com on Jan. 22 beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET.

VERSUS’ on-air schedule for the 2011 Tour Down Under follows (all times ET, subject to change):

Tuesday, Jan. 18                        Stage 1, Mawson Lakes to Angaston                                            6 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 19                   Stage 2, Tailem Bend to Mannum                                                6 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 20                      Stage 3, Unley to Stirling                                                             6 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 21                           Stage 4, Norwood to Strathalbyn                                                 6 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 22                       Stage 5, McLaren Vale to Willunga                                               6 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 23                         Stage 6, Adelaide City Council Street Circuit                                  5 p.m.

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photo Copyright © 2010 Fotoreporter Sirotti/cyclingfans.com

- Update:  Click for the latest Tour Down Under live coverage guides.

- Update:  Versus will stream the final stage (Stage 6) LIVE on Saturday, January 22 at 9:30pm U.S. Eastern.  cyclingfans.com will have full, daily coverage of the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under including race photography, LIVE coverage options and video clips.

- Update:  Versus TV Tour Down Under broadcast schedule

- The 2011 Tour Down Under is right around the corner and preliminary broadcast television coverage info has been released according to the following schedule: (most stages will be run during the evening U.S. time, after midnight Europe time)

Australia and New Zealand

Sunday January 16: (Cancer Council Classic)
SBS Two LIVE, 19:00-20:30 AEDT
SBS One repeat, 23:15-00:45 AEDT
Cycling Central, 16:00-17:30 AEDT

Tuesday January 18 - Friday January 21:
SBS One daily highlights, 18:00-18:30
SBS Two daily highlights, 20:30-21:00
SBS One news highlights, 22:00-22:05

Saturday January 22:
SBS One LIVE, 11:15-15:30 AEDT
SBS Two race highlights, 20:30-21:30

Sunday January 23:
SBS One LIVE, 13:30-16:30 AEDT
Cycling Central, 17:00-18:00 AEDT
SBS Two race highlights, 20:30-21:30

International Broadcasters

International broadcasters will include BSky Sports, Sport +, TV2 Sport Norway, TV2 Sport Denmark, Eurosport Asia, J-Sports, Versus, and Supersport International.  It is expected that most international broadcasts of the TdU will consist of race highlights or replays.  We will post broadcast details when available.

cyclingfans.com will have full coverage of the 2011 Santos Tour Down Under including daily race photography, LIVE coverage options and video clips.

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- LIVE via RTL here.

- Next update when the Leopard-Trek team presentation begins.

- Video:  You can watch a video replay of the Leopard-Trek press conference with management and riders here. (50 minutes)

- News:  Luxembourg team to be called Leopard-Trek.

- Next up:  Thursday, January 6 - Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project team presentation.

Live streaming video:

(20:00 CET)
(2pm U.S. Eastern)
(updates here as necessary
the day of the event)

- Though most 2011 season team presentations are in January, Rabobank is was first up with their team presentation Wednesday, December 1.  Their presentation was broadcast live online.  Below is a schedule (dates and locations) of team presentations, to be updated as more info becomes available.  For team training camp dates and locations, go here.

Rabobank:  December 1, Kaatsheuvel - This event was broadcast LIVE online here.
Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project:  January 6 (evening), Luxembourg
Liquigas:  January 10, Milan
Europcar (formerly Bbox Bouygues Telecom):  January 14, Paris
Quickstep Cycling Team: January 21
Katusha:  January 26, Moscow
BMC Racing Team:  January 26-27 (media event, no team presentation scheduled), Spain
Garmin-Cervelo:  January 28

The 2010 Acqua & Sapone pro cycling team
photo Copyright © Fotoreporter Sirotti/www.cyclingfans.com