This Week in Road Cycling: Jan 25 - Jan 31

2009 is the year of the comeback: Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis, Ivan Basso, Michele Bartoli (?), Jose Luis Rubiera (sort of). That's all fine with me, so long as Jens Voigt never retires.

Oops, I forgot the most important comeback of them all.

The triumphant return of This Week in Road Cycling.

Shazzam!!!

Local Racing:

January 2009:
-Swiss Crit; January 31 - Peoria Sports Complex (http://www.azcycling.com/09cal/FLYERS/Swiss_Crit.pdf)

February 2009:
-Avondale Crit; February 1 - Avondale, AZ (http://proconcyclingaz.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=105)
-McDowell Circuit Race; February 8 - McDowell Mt Park (http://www.azcycling.com/09cal/FLYERS/McDMCR.pdf)
-VOS; February 13-15 - Various Locations (http://wmrc.org/vos/index.htm)
-Sun Devil Crit; February 22 - Tempe (http://asuctc.com/criterium.html)

Pro Racing:

Tour Down Under: The Pro Tour started early this year, with the TDU enjoying its status as an event in the highest tier of bike racing. It was a pretty sweet event, that enjoyed a lot more publicity this year than in years past, thanks to some guy.

Allan Davis (Quickstep) handily won the race this year, with three stage wins. A couple things: why would a race make the leaders jersey ochre? Also, why do Columbia's kits look so ridiculous?

Tour de San Luis: This small Argentinian stage race enjoyed a little bit more attention than it has in year past, due to the presence of a confused looking Ivan Basso (Liguigas). Honestly though, Basso rode pretty well (ninth in the TT, and sixth in the stage 5 mountaintop finish). Alfredo Lucero of Team Argentina won the overall.

Cyclocross: All you really need to know is that Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) won another world cup title. He also retained his national title and is still leading the superprestige standings. He hasn't been as dominant in years past, thanks to a batch of young riders that are challenging his dominance, but he still wins when it counts. Finally, thanks to the presence of Lars Boom, Niels Albert, Zdenek Stybar, and the ever present Bart Wellens, Erwin Vervecken and Jonathan Page, the World Championships next week in Hoogerheide should be interesting.


There you go, now you're all caught up.

Until next time,

Anthony


*all images courtesy of cyclingnews