French cyclist Stéphane Augé had a crash while training this week, and ended up with a broken finger. The 35-year-old Augé has to wear a sprint on his right hand for three weeks, and will also have to miss the first two weeks of the 2010 season. Augé turned pro in 2000 with Festina, as well as Jean Delatour and Credit Agricole. In 2005, he joined Cofitis. …
Brazilian cyclist Murilo Fischer still has not decided on a team for the 2010 season, after Italian Team Liquigas didn’t renew his contract. It has previously been reported that Fischer will sign with Italian Acqua & Sapone team, although he hasn’t yet made a decision. “There is a 50 percent chance of continuing in Europe and a 50 percent chance of returning to Brazil,” Fischer said, via cyclismag. 30-year-old Fischer has spent his entire six-year professional career with Italian teams, starting with Domina Vacanze in 2004, Naturino-Sapore di Mare in 2005-06, and the rest with Liquigas. Stay tuned to see where Murilo Fischer ends up….
Kazakh rider Alexander Vinokourov will open his 2010 season with the Tour Méditerranéen in February, in preparation to race his first Giro d’Italia. He rode the Tour Med nine years ago, finishing in 44th place, 4:46 behind winner Davide Rebellin. From the Tour Med, Vinokourov ride the Tirreno-Adriatico in March, and the Giro di Trentino in April. He will also try to repeat his 2005 win in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege. 36-year-old Vinokourov will then ride his first Giro d’Italia, from May 8th to 30th….
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong enjoyed a nice third place at this year’s Tour. However, it almost didn’t even happen, according to his team manager and friend, Johan Bruyneel. Lance suffered a broken collarbone back in March which resulted from a crash in the Vuelta Castilla y León. The injury nearly put the brakes on the star’s comeback. “If I didn’t enjoy it I wouldn’t be back. There were days that I didn’t enjoy. I had the first major crash of my career. Sitting on the side of the road in Spain, headed to an anonymous hospital, I didn’t enjoy that, and I wanted to never come back. But to be honest, it was a conversation I had with (Bruyneel), and he said, ‘You have no choice in this issue, you have to come back.’ Outside of that period, I did enjoy…
About a month ago, we reported that Floyd Landis will be leaving his current team OUCH, and possibly signing with Rock Racing for 2010. French Website cyclismag.com, citing sources close to Michael Ball, team owner, says that Landis is on the verge of signing with Rock Racing. However, the contract is dependent on whether or not the team will obtain their Professional Continental License from the UCI. The license announcement is expected on January 4th. The UCI rejected their first application for a license. “We’re obviously very disappointed but are working diligently to satisfy every requirement that is being asked of us. We are committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure we can race next year,” the team said in an earlier statement….
World champion Cadel Evans is going to be opening his 2010 season in his home country at the Tour Down Under. He will also be racing a European season, which will begin in February in Switzerland. The GP dell’Insubria-Lugano, a UCI category 1.1 race, is first on the list and begins on February 27th, and the next day will be the GP di Lugano. “I will take part in the Grand Prix Insubria and the Grand Prix of Lugano. Those will be my first races in Europe in 2010, and my first race of 2010 will be the official Tour Down Under, here in Australia,” said Evans. The Australian Tour Down Under begins on January 19th and ends on the 24th….
Tom Zirbel, runner-up for two consecutive years at the USA Cycling Professional Individual Time Trial Championships in August, confirmed yesterday that his “A” blood sample tested positive for DHEA. DHEA, or exogenous dehydroepiandrosterone, is a multi-functional steroid. “The U.S. pro TT was a major objective of mine this season, but I would never compromise my integrity for any bike race. At this point, I don’t know how this happened, but regardless of the outcome of my ‘B’ sample, I intend to find out with the help of a few accomplished scientists and doctors who have selflessly helped me since I first was notified of the ‘A’ findings,” Zirbel said. Because of this, Zirbel will not was dropped from Garmin-Transitions’ 2010 roster. “Tom has been up front with me about this process from the beginning. However, our anti-doping policy is zero tolerance. Tom alerted us…
