Hilton Clarke  wins first stage of Herald Sun Tour

Victorian sprinter Hilton Clarke started the decisive breakaway move and then made his own luck before winning a thrilling opening stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Shepparton yesterday. 

After the stage McEwen told a reporter of the Herald Sun: "I've just looked at (my) heart rate and I had a maximum of 193 and an average of 176 beats a minute for that hour. So first day back on the bike after nine days off it's pretty tough, but I'm happy with how that went," he said.

27 year ols Clarke, riding for the Navigators squad told reporters: "With Robbie arriving, I think there was a bit of press with me being here and Robbie turning up, and me not wanting to sprint him one-on-one, and that's what I did today, I went straight on the offensive, got a group away, and dragging one of Robbie's teammates with him made him not work and took Robbie out of the equation."

Clarke continued:"It was really good odds for me . . . the commentators were putting pressure on me and I could feel it coming down the home straight a few times. "They knew I was the fastest (in the six-man break) because I was taking the (intermediate) sprints, but in the end I had to cover everyone and got it."

Karl Menzies wins second stage of Herald Sun Tour

Australian Healthnet rider Karl Menzies won the second stage of the Herlad Sun Tour. Menzies won the stage with a small lead on a chasing group of 15 riders. Menzies is also leading the general classification with German rider Tobias Erler on a second spot after the German talent grabbed a second place on the first stage and a third spot on stage two.

GP Beghelli: Frank Schleck Continues to Test Form

Just like in Saturday's Giro dell'Emilia, Team CSC's Fränk Schleck went on the attack and tried to take a solo victory in Sunday's Grand Prix Beghelli. But once again Schleck was caught before the finish and in stead Sergio Marinangeli (Naturino) took his second professional victory.

Not only Fränk Schleck but also Martin Pedersen and Nicki Sørensen tried their luck during the Italian race.

"Martin was in the first serious break away, but unfortunately he was dropped with about 80 kilometers to go, when the riders hit the final laps. After that especially Fränk, but also Nicki tried to escape on the climbs, but they never opened up a decisive gap. On the other hand it made the race extremely fast with an average speed of more than 43 kph, and I'm very pleased with the fact we had five riders in the group of about 50, who finished the race," said sports director Kim Andersen. "The riders who are supposed to be up front battling for victory in Giro di Lombardia got some great training, and that's exactly what we hoped for this weekend."

Coyot to Unibet.com, ten Dam renews

Laurens ten Dam (Unibet.com) has renewed his contract with the Unibet.com cycling team. The talented Dutchman signed a contract for two additional years with the new online gambling company.

The Frenchman Arnaud Coyot choose to cycle for the Unibet.com cycling team as well. Coyot has won the French classic ‘Classic Haribo’ this season and finished strongly tenth in Paris-Roubaix last year.

“Arnaud Coyot is a good French rider who can definitely be in front in the classics races. Laurens ten Dam is an absolute talent who has the opportunity to improve his level the next years”, said Unibet.com Sports Manager Jacques Hanegraaf.

Wesemann to Wiesenhof

This years number 3 of the Amstel Gold and former Tour of Flanders winner Steffen Wesemann will leave T-Mobile and join the Wiesenhof squad in the next season. Wesemann is the fifth new rider for Wiesenhof, were Wesemann's former team mate  Jens Heppner is sports director.

Basso: decision not before the end of October

According to several Italian media reports a decision about Ivan Basso won't be made before the end of October. In several media it was published that the UCI are insisting Italian anti-doping authorities to open a case against the winner of this years Giro d' Italia.

Madrid court orders Spanish cycling federation not to act

The Madrid court which is handling the Puerto affair sent an official letter to the Spanish cycling federation in which the court stated that the federation can not use the court documents to open cases against riders who are named in the court investigation. The Spanish cycling federation will not be allowed to take action untill the court determines what exactly happened.

The court wants the cycling federation to wait untill the trial against Fuentes & co is over, which is expected for the middle of next year. Carmelo Jiminez Segado, the judge who is in charge of the case, decided not to admit the UCI as a part of the trial.

Nine riders sued the Spanish authorities over Puerto and the court accepted their case, earlier Manolo Saiz also filed complains . In Spain it's speculated that the Madrid court is unhappy about how the affair was handled by several sports bodies and the leaks of court reports about the Puerto case to several media in Europe.

Gibo fifth in world cup mountainbike race

Two times Giro d' Italia winner Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) grabbed a fifth spot on Sunday's mountain bike world cup race "Roc d'Azur " in France. Swiss rider Christoph Sauser won the race.