Claudia Häusler took over the lead in the National Racing Calendar standings with her Nature Valley Grand Prix performance. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

USA Pro Challenge expands to amateur events

USA Pro Challenge organizers announced Wednesday that the Colorado stage race would expand in 2013 to include two ancillary amateur events. A mass-participation ride, the Pro Challenge Experience will take place in stage 7 host city Fort Collins on Sunday, August 11. A running race, the 9K Sprint Challenge will take place in Downtown Denver on Sunday, August 25.

“By growing the Pro Challenge to include these amateur events the whole family can get involved,” CEO Shawn Hunter said in a release. “The 9K Sprint Challenge and the Pro Challenge Experience give fans the opportunity to get in on the action and race on part of the course the professional athletes will utilize just days or hours later during the Pro Challenge.”

With 30-, 52-, and 108-mile options, the Pro Challenge Experience will take in a number of northern Colorado climbs and dirt roads, including a run into the remote Cache la Poudre Canyon. Registration for the ride is available at the Pro Challenge Experience website.

The 9k Spring Challenge will precede the final-stage circuit race in Denver and will award not only prizes for fastest times, but also for best costumes. The route will start at Civic Center Park and take in Capitol Hill and a lap of City Park, near the Museum of Nature and Science. Registration is available at the 9K Spring Challenge website.

“We’re investing in the future of the sport and we want people to not only have the opportunity to witness the action of the USA Pro Challenge, but also experience it for themselves,” said Hunter. “We’re looking forward to bringing these and other events, in association with the Pro Challenge, to our fans for years to come.”

Mancebo, Hausler lead NRC standings

Claudia Häusler (Tibco-To the Top) took over the lead in the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar standings this week on the strength of her fourth-place finish at the Nature Valley Grand Prix on Sunday. Häusler displaced Alison Powers (NOW-Novartis for MS), who trails by 52 points and was not present in Minnesota.

Francisco Mancebo (5-hour Energy-Kenda) lost Canada’s Tour de Beauce over the weekend, but continues to lead the men’s NRC standings, 254 points ahead of Chad Haga (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies).

Tibco leads Optum by 352 points in the women’s team standings. Optum leads 5-hour Energy by 538 points in the men’s team standings with three events remaining in the series.

Men’s Individual Standings
1. Francisco Mancebo, 5-Hour Energy-Kenda), 674 points
2. Chad Haga, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 420
3. J.J. Haedo, Jamis-Hagens Berman, 336
4. Joseph Rosskopf, Hincapie Sportswear Development, 328
4. Tom Zirbel, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 328

Women’s Individual Standings
1. Claudia Häusler, Tibco-To the Top, 822 points
2. Alison Powers, NOW-Novartis for MS, 730
3. Shelley Olds, Tibco-To the Top, 688
4. Joelle Numainville, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 648
5. Mara Abbott, Exergy Twenty16, 490

Men’s Team Standings
1. Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 1,506 points
2. 5-Hour Energy-Kenda, 968
3. Jamis-Hagens Berman, 966
4. UnitedHealthcare, 628
5. Hincapie Sportswear Development, 598

Women’s Team Standings
1. Tibco-To the Top, 1,918 points
2. Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, 1,566
2. NOW-Novartis for MS, 1,182
4. Exergy Twenty16, 778
5. Specialized-lululemon, 738

Strasser’s record ride bested the 15.4-mph speed mark set by Pete Penseyes in 1986 and Rob Kish’s record time of 8 days, 3 hours (set on a different course).

Dani Wyss was second on the road on Wednesday, trailed closely by Swiss countryman Reto Schoch.

The American Allied Forces team was setting a record pace in the eight-person team category on Wednesday, ahead of CEO Challenges and Team O’Side.

Elmiger finished 59 seconds off the pace for silver. Reto Hollenstein (IAM Cycling) was third, at 1:57.

Also on Wednesday, Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Ellen Van Dijk (Specialized-lululemon) won the Dutch TT titles for men and women, respectively.

Westra bested defending champion Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) by four seconds. Tom Domoulin (Argos-Shimano) was third, at 40 seconds.

Loes Gunnewijk (GreenEdge-AIS) was second in the women’s tilt, trailing Van Dijk by 40 seconds. Annemiek Van Vleuten (Rabobank) was third, at 1:01.

Emma Johansson (GreenEdge-AIS) won her fifth Swedish women’s TT title.

“It doesn’t matter if the whole world is here or just the Swedish world,” Johansson said in a team press release. “Every race is important to me, and wearing the champion’s jersey is a big thing. I had to dig deep to pull off the win. I couldn’t show up and be totally relaxed about it.”

The European road national championships continue throughout the week, with the major road races taking place Sunday, June 23.

Alberto Contador will attempt to win his third Tour de France title this year. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

PARIS (AFP) — Two-time champion Alberto Contador of Spain will headline Saxo-Tinkoff at the Tour de France, which starts on June 29, the squad announced on Wednesday.

The Spaniard won the three-week grand tour in 2007 and 2009, but was stripped of a third victory (2010) for doping.

Sky’s Chris Froome, the runner-up behind teammate Bradley Wiggins last year and one of the favorites this time around, said on Tuesday that he viewed Contador as his biggest threat.

“We enter this year’s Tour de France with the objective to win the race with Alberto,” Saxo’s sports director Philippe Mauduit said.

“So obviously we’ve tried to pick the riders that fit the best to our overall goal, and we’ve tried to identify and bring together the competencies needed in the team to give Alberto the best possible support and protection over the three weeks on both flat roads and hectic finals, the hilly terrain, the mountains and the time trials.”

Mauduit added: “We believe we have come up with a really strong lineup, a great all-round team with a lot of valuable grand tour experience.”

Saxo-Tinkoff for the 2013 Tour de France

Michael Rogers (AUS)
Roman Kreuziger (CZE)
Nicolas Roche (IRL)
Matteo Tosatto (ITA)
Daniele Bennati (ITA)
Sergio Paulinho (POR)
Alberto Contador (ESP)
Jesus Hernandez (ESP)
Benjamin Noval (ESP)

Cannondale's Ted King will make his Tour de France debut next week and will ride in support of Peter Sagan. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Ted King’s Tour de France debut comes thanks to putting in the miles for Cannondale’s star, Peter Sagan. After a successful run in the classics and years of domestique duties, the 30-year-old American will line up for cycling’s biggest event on June 29.

“I wouldn’t register it as giddy, but it’s something I’ve been striving for for a long time,” King told VeloNews in a telephone interview Wednesday morning. “The crux of my 2013 season has been to make the Tour team — I’m absolutely thrilled. And it’s still almost two weeks before the race starts, still plenty of time to absorb this and get ready for the race.”

King trains at altitude this week in La Molina, a ski resort high up in the Pyrenees and a one- or two-hour drive from his base in Girona, Spain. It is a just setting for him to reflect on his accomplishments this season and what is in store at the Tour de France.

Sagan, a 23-year-old from Slovakia, was strong from start of the year through the classics. Though he failed to win any of the Monuments, he was near the bull’s eye throughout. King assisted Sagan each time, helping him place second in Milano-Sanremo, second in E3 Harelbeke, first in Ghent-Wevelgem, second in Ronde van Vlaanderen, and first in Brabantse Pijl.

The Italian team wants that same support for its star in the Tour de France, where Sagan won three stages and the green jersey in his debut last year.

“You look at the roster we’re sending and it’s heavy on supporting Peter, almost exclusively. He’s calling it the perfect team for him,” King said. “He has huge aspirations to go for a second green jersey and, absolutely, the goal is to be working for him. That’s most likely where I punch my ticket.”

King said that with Sagan, the pressure is minimized.

“Peter is such a trust-worthy captain. He knows his job, handles the pressure exceptionally well for someone in his position and for someone as talented and proven as he is,” King said.

“The short answer is no, we don’t feel any undo pressure, we know the job at hand, to be racing for Peter. If you look at the season he’s having, the career he’s having, at a young age, I’m not concerned at tackling any bullet points: whether it’s one win, three wins or five wins, whatever.”

First timers

Garmin-Sharp has yet to announce its team, but Andrew Talansky is expected to help lead it. Out of the Americans due to start, he and King will be Tour first-timers.

King, who raced the Giro d’Italia, says the Tour checks another box on his list.

“It’s been a goal. I got a late start in the sport, I started in college when I was 18-19 years old, it wasn’t the aspiration when I was eight to nine years old like a lot of typical cyclists,” he said. “To find myself at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Giro or Paris-Roubaix, they have all been phenomenal and exciting, but you race them for what they are. The Tour is a similar one. It’s definitely sort of the last big check mark on the races I’ve wanted to do.”

Besides Sagan, King will race with Maciej Bodnar, Alessandro De Marchi, Kristjan Koren, Alan Marangoni, Moreno Moser, Fabio Sabatini, and Brian Vandborg.

Andy Schleck will return to the 2013 Tour de France as RadioShack-Leopard's main GC hope. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

RadioShack-Leopard will ride for Andy Schleck at the upcoming Tour de France, the team announced in a press release on Wednesday.

Schleck, who has struggled since a hard crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné last summer left him with a fractured pelvis, said in April that he would not be the team’s No. 1 rider at the Tour. But an improved performance at the recent Tour de Suisse, in which he placed 40th, showed team bosses that he was in good enough form for the three-week race.

Schleck finished second in the 2010 Tour but was declared the victor after Alberto Contador was stripped of his victory because of a doping positive. He missed the 2012 Tour because of his injury.

“We are happy to see that Andy is back,” general manager Luca Guercilena said. “Nobody in the team ever had doubts about the talent of Andy. Little by little he has come back to the level where we expect him. The Tour de Suisse encouraged and convinced us to give him the role he deserves and to give him the opportunity to have dedicated riders surrounding and supporting him.”

The squad has two other GC contenders in Andreas Klöden and Spaniard Haimar Zubeldia. Klöden has finished second two times, while Zubeldia has four top-10 results.

“You can consider Haimar as our second weapon,” Guercilena said. “Haimar, sixth last year, is always consistent and delivers his best.”

RadioShack for the 2013 Tour de France

Jan Bakelants
Laurent Didier
Tony Gallopin
Markel Irizar
Andreas Klöden
Maxime Monfort
Andy Schleck
Jens Voigt
Haimar Zubeldia

Andrew Talansky is expected to make his Tour de France debut in Corsica next week. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) won’t be on many bookies’ favorites lists for this year’s Tour de France, but the odds are sure to rise in the coming years.

Talansky’s first Tour is now on the horizon, and it’s the Tour that he hopes will be playing the central focus of his career over the next decade.

Just getting to the start line in Corsica later this month is a major accomplishment for the third-year pro. Though Garmin’s official Tour lineup has yet to be released, Talansky has every expectation to be there.

“The morning after the Dauphiné, I was reflecting on that. Just four years ago, I was racing some U23 races, no one knew who I was. Now I am about to start my first Tour,” Talansky told VeloNews via telephone. “It’s easy to get caught up, but when you step back, it’s big. It’s the culmination of a childhood dream. First I dreamed of becoming a professional cyclist, then going to the Tour. Now it’s coming true. It’s pretty special.”

Talansky has quietly been working his way up the ladder. After capturing the attention of Garmin boss Jonathan Vaughters at the Tour of the Gila in 2010, Talansky joined the team as a neo-pro the following year.

Some encouraging results and strong rides over the past few seasons in the pro ranks confirmed his talent, including the overall at the 2012 Tour de l’Ain, seventh overall in last year’s Vuelta a España, and a stage win, the leader’s jersey and second overall at Paris-Nice in March.

After battling through illness at the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month, Talansky finished off the race with a promising third in the mountaintop stage at Risoul, matching pedal strokes with the Sky duo of Chris Froome and Richie Porte.

After cooling his jets at altitude in Spain’s Sierra Nevada, Talansky will travel to Corsica next week to start the Tour with realistic goals and ambitions.

“The Tour is the Tour. You have to be respectful of that. Being my first one, even more so. You have to learn a race before you can win a race,” he said. “I want to be as consistent as I can over three weeks. We have to see how Ryder [Hesjedal] is feeling, but we have guys who can climb.

“I will take whatever I get when it ends up in Paris. In the future, I will lay out more specific goals. First, I want to ride the race, learn about the madness of the first week, help the team, and make it to Paris.”

Talansky and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) represent the future of grand tour racing for American fans. Van Garderen has already proven his ability, riding to a superb fifth overall last year and the best young rider’s jersey.

Van Garderen will be riding as a protected rider, lining up with BMC teammate Cadel Evans with co-captain status.

Talansky, meanwhile, will be part of Garmin’s multi-pronged attack that will include 2012 Giro d’Italia winner Hesjedal, along with other likely starters, such as Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner Daniel Martin.

For Talansky, it’s about learning the Tour, arriving to Paris, and soaking up cycling’s most important stage race.

“I feel excited. Even lining up in the Vuelta last year, there wasn’t that huge sense of excitement. With the Tour, as it gets closer, I will be actually excited,” he said. “The goal has always been to show up as physically fit as I can be. That looks to be on track. It’s my first Tour. I want to get to the finish line in Paris. I am very excited to be lining up.”

‘No one close to Froome’

After witnessing many of the top Tour contenders face off during the Dauphiné, Talansky has no doubt about who the man to beat is in July.

“To be honest, I don’t see anybody who can touch Chris Froome,” he said. “At the Dauphiné, we saw what will probably be Sky’s Tour team. Every single rider looked incredible. And Richie is a podium contender. I respect what they’ve done as a team.”

Talansky also watched as Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) could do little to rattle Froome and Team Sky. Although Contador said he was suffering from allergies and later rode to support teammate’s Michael Rogers’ failed bid for the podium, Contador seemed a step off Froome’s form.

“[Contador] rode a smart race. He knows he cannot beat Froome in a straight up drag race. He cannot just ride harder and harder and drop those guys. He has to attack. That’s what he tried to do at the Dauphiné,” Talansky said. “I would say that Contador is Froome’s most dangerous rival. We saw him in last year’s Vuelta. He can make intelligent tactical decisions on the fly that can win an entire race. Physically, Froome has nothing to worry about from Contador.”

Other top challengers were there as well, including Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), and Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol).

Talansky walked away with one clear impression.

“Froome’s just better,” he said. “Everyone looked similar; Contador, Valverde, [Dani] Moreno, Purito, Rogers, they were all there. When Froome goes, Richie is there. They are just one notch above the others.”

The bookmakers seem to agree. Froome is the heavy favorite, with 8-to-11 odds, meaning you have to bet 11 to win eight.

Talansky’s odds? 100-to-1.

Ted King has trimmed down and done a load of work for Peter Sagan in 2013. It paid off on Tuesday with his first Tour nod. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

PARIS (AFP) — Peter Sagan was chosen Tuesday as the man to lead the Cannondale team at this year’s Tour de France as he seeks
to retain the green points jersey he won in last year’s edition of the race. American Ted King will make his debut Tour start in support of the Slovakian champion.

The Italian outfit will build its team around Sagan, 23, who won three stages in his Tour debut a year ago en route to the green jersey.

“This team is the ideal one to target our goals at the Tour,” said the team’s sporting director Stefano Zanatta. “A talented rider such as Sagan deserves to be supported in the best way. He prepared for this event with great commitment and accuracy. His wish to win the green jersey is our wish.”

Italian youngster Moreno Moser, 22, who’s making his first appearance in the Grand Boucle, along with Tour rookie teammates Alessandro De Marchi, Alan Marangoni, and King, is likely to get a shot at a stage win in the mountains.

Cannondale for the 2013 Tour de France
Maciej Bodnar (POL)
Alessandro De Marchi (ITA)
Kristijan Koren (SLO)
Alan Marangoni (ITA)
Moreno Moser (ITA)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Peter Sagan (SVK)
Ted King (USA)
Brian Vandborg (DEN)
jm/jr/mw/pi

Chris Froome believes his friend and top domestique, Richie Porte, is capable of winning the Tour — maybe even this year. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

NICE, France (VN) — Chris Froome, one year on from helping Bradley Wiggins take Great Britain’s first Tour de France victory, heads the Sky squad in France. Over the next month, he will have a clear and out-right leadership role without the defending champion at his side.

“Unfortunately, we lose out on another big engine for the team time trial and also someone who can be there in the mountains, and also, he would’ve been a great support for me,” Froome said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“But the one thing that I don’t think either of us would miss is, from the media perspective, all the questions that are being asked about the leadership of the team. Obviously that’s a lot more clear-cut now.”

Wiggins dominated last year’s race. The Brit took massive gains in the two time trials and added to it in the mountains. Standing on the podium on the Champs-Élysées, he had just over three minutes on Froome and some six minutes on Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).

After a dominant year, including the gold medal in the Olympic time trial, Wiggins changed tracks and headed for the 2013 Giro d’Italia. Instead of winning, he has struggled. A chest infection saw him abandon the Italian race midway in and a knee problem is keeping him from starting the Tour de France.

With Wiggins set to roll into Italy, Sky management had already given Froome the green light to lead the team.

Froome has won all but one stage race, Tirreno-Adriatico, that he participated in this year. He starts the Tour with victories in the Tour of Oman, Critérium International, Tour de Romandie, and Critérium du Dauphiné.

He also has Sky’s faith. During the Giro, the British super team silenced questions over leadership by naming Froome as captain. Wiggins would continue to try for the Giro win and go on to help Froome in the Tour, according to the plan at the time.

Wiggins preferred not to even discuss the matter. He said, “My mind’s just here at the Giro.”

The British duo appeared at odds at times during last year’s Tour. Froome briefly rode away from his captain on the La Toussuire climb and appeared to be waiting for him again on the Peyragudes stage in the Pyrénées. With Wiggins at home, Froome’s leadership is clear.

Porte Plan B

Australian Richie Porte will likely be Froome’s main mountain helper as he was in races like the Critérium du Dauphiné. The two get along well and train together anytime they are both at their base in Monaco.

“He’s my best friend in the peloton,” Froome said. “We both have similar backgrounds, in the way that we enjoy outdoor lifestyles, him in Tasmania and me back in Kenya and South Africa.”

He explained that he might even help Porte win the Tour in the coming years, or this year.

“Definitely, I think we can bounce off each other a lot. He knows that he’s definitely has my support if he’s there to target a race and the other way around also, as is the case this year,” Froome said. “Richie’s definitely capable of winning the Tour [this year]; he’s our likely plan B.”

Even with the team yet announced, the 28-year-old should have Porte and other top domestiques backing him for an eventual overall win. With their support and Wiggins at home, Froome has his golden opportunity to claim a Tour title.

Joaquim Rodriguez said in order for him to win the Tour de France, he needs to be "perfect." Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Joaquim Rodríguez says he is not taking anything off the table when it comes to talking possibilities in this year’s Tour de France.

Speaking to the Spanish sports daily AS, Katusha’s “Purito” said he’s not discounting his own chances to win, but tipped Chris Froome (Sky) and Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) as the pre-race favorites.

“My intention is to do the best possible result in GC and win a stage. I want to leave having the peace of mind knowing it was the result I deserved, be it eighth or first,” he told AS. “Last year, I was second in the Giro, and third in the Vuelta, and I could have won both. I am more mature. I know it’s complicated, but if I am going to discount my chances to win, it will be on the road, not at the start.”

For a rider as prolific as Rodríguez, it’s somewhat surprising he’s only raced one Tour. That was in 2010, when he won a stage and finished seventh overall.

Since 2008, Rodríguez has finished in the top 7 of the past seven of eight grand tours he’s started, a run that included two Vuelta podiums and last year’s 16-second loss to Ryder Hesjedal in the Giro.

Bolstered by his results last year and this year’s hilly course, Rodríguez skipped the Giro to put everything into the Tour.

Rodríguez is especially hopeful by two shorter, technically challenging time trials that will bolster his chances. The Critérium du Dauphiné proved a disaster for Rodríguez, who lost three minutes to Froome on a flat, power course.

So much so, that he’s ditched a new, wind-tunnel tested time trial position to return to his older, at least more familiar position ahead of the Tour.

“I was terrible. There is no excuse. It was back to the terrible Purito in the time trials,” said Rodríguez, referring to the Dauphiné. “My only consolation is that it won’t be so flat in the Tour. … I couldn’t adapt to the new position. My body was too far forward. For the Tour, I will return to my old position with a few tweaks.”

Beyond the TTs, which have always been a hurdle for him, Rodríguez likes what he sees in this year’s Tour.

“Hard, very hard. Maybe the Pyrénées are not so much this year, but the last week in the Alps is spectacular. The opening days are dangerous. Something will happen before we get to the Alps, but it’s there the winner will be decided,” he said. “For me to win? Everything goes perfect for me, and that the others have some troubles.”

Ag2r La Mondiale

Astana

Blanco
Lars Boom (NED)
Laurens ten Dam (NED)
Robert Gesink (NED)
Tom Leezer (NED)
Bauke Mollema (NED)
Lars Petter Nordhaug (NOR)
Bram Tankink (NED)
Sep Vanmarcke (BEL)
Maarten Wynants (BEL)

BMC Racing

Cannondale
Maciej Bodnar (POL)
Alessandro De Marchi (ITA)
Kristijan Koren (SLO)
Alan Marangoni (ITA)
Moreno Moser (ITA)
Fabio Sabatini (ITA)
Peter Sagan (SVK)
Ted King (USA)
Brian Vandborg (DEN)

Cofidis

Euskaltel-Euskadi

FDJ

Garmin-Sharp

Katusha

Lampre-Merida

Lotto-Belisol

Movistar

Omega Pharma-Quick Step
Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Michal Kwiatkowski (POL)
Tony Martin (GER)
Jerome Pineau (FRA)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Niki Terpstra (NED)
Matteo Trentin (ITA)
Peter Velits (SVK)

Orica-GreenEdge
Michael Albasini (SUI)
Simon Clarke (AUS)
Simon Gerrans (AUS)
Matt Goss (AUS)
Daryl Impey (RSA)
Brett Lancaster (AUS)
Cameron Meyer (AUS)
Stuart O’Grady (AUS)
Svein Tuft (CAN)

RadioShack-Leopard
Jan Bakelants (BEL)
Laurent Didier (LUX)
Tony Gallopin (FRA)
Markel Irizar (ESP)
Andreas Kloeden (GER)
Maxime Monfort (BEL)
Andy Schleck (LUX)
Jens Voigt (GER)
Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)

Sky

Sojasun

Argos-Shimano
Roy Curvers (NED)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)

Europcar

Saxo-Tinkoff
Daniele Bennati (ITA)
Alberto Contador (ESP)
Jesus Hernandez (ESP)
Roman Kreuziger (CZE)
Benjamin Noval (ESP)
Sergio Paulinho (POR)
Nicolas Roche (IRL)
Michael Rogers (AUS)
Matteo Tosatto (ITA)

Vacansoleil-DCM

Argos said he is having “mobility problems of the left arm” as a result of the incident.

“What happened to Matthew is a shock to the whole team,” Argos manager Iwan Spekenbrink said. “It is currently difficult to establish a prognosis concerning his health.”

Argos announced on May 23 that Sprick had been hospitalized in the south of France because of a “small stroke.”

The 31-year-old “is conscious, talking, but has some symptoms of paralysis,” said the team.

Sprick had resumed training prior to the stroke after recovering from a broken foot.

Lauren Stephens soloed to victory in the Menomonie Road Race at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

STILLWATER, Minn. (VN) — As the sun set on the Nature Valley Grand Prix Sunday and the professional peloton got ready for races like Cascade, the USA Pro Challenge, and the Giro Rosa, some of the participants woke up early Monday morning and headed to work.

One such working stiff is Eric Marcotte (Elbowz Racing-Boneshaker Project). Marcotte won the Best Amateur jersey and placed third in the general classification at Nature Valley. During the week, the 33-year-old is a full-time chiropractor in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“I’ve got patients in the afternoon starting at noon or 1,” said Marcotte as he enthusiastically described his job and clientele. “I fly out a little later [Sunday night]. I’ll sleep in, recover, and see them tomorrow. You know what? They probably had an awesome week or two since I’ve seen them. I’ll get to hear really cool stories, like this, and try to keep them on track so they can keep doing it.”

At 42, Scott Giles (Nature Valley Pro Chase) was one of the oldest riders to compete in this year’s race. Giles is a 20-year Navy veteran and spent most of his career as an S-3 Viking jet pilot landing planes on aircraft carriers. The skills he learned in the military have helped him excel as a cyclist at a relatively late stage of his athletic career.

“The dynamic and fast-paced environment of flying around aircraft carriers translates very well to the relative motion, and sometimes the combative nature, that goes on in the peloton out there,” Giles said. “It’s very dynamic, very intense, you need to be very focused, you need to have your wits about you, and have good situational awareness. That’s a skill.”

Last Tuesday, math teacher Lauren Stephens (Tibco-To The Top) flew into Minneapolis from Dallas immediately after her last day of teaching for the year. Stephens only recently joined Tibco after big results at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and Joe Martin Stage Race. She won the Nature Valley Grand Prix Menomonie Road Race on Saturday, and will be going to the Giro Rosa with Team Tibco at the end of June.

Stephens benefits from the coaching and support that her husband, Mat Stephens of Speedy Ace Training, provides throughout the year. Her ability to multitask, combined with strong family support, has helped her break into one of the best cycling programs for women in the U.S.

“I manage my time very well. I ride my bike to work in the mornings, so I get some workouts done on the way to work, and then the rest of my training is done in the evenings,” Stephens said. “It’s a family affair.”

Even for the most talented working athletes, there are a multitude of sacrifices required to climb the ranks of the peloton. Giles wasn’t able to focus on riding until he took a desk job, and Mat and Lauren Stephens, who use up their vacation time for training camps, and have put off having a family to pursue their passion.

Even Marcotte, who makes racing against the pro peloton look effortless, needs to drag himself out of bed at 4 a.m. each morning to avoid training in the 110-degree Arizona heat.

“This is not something I think is completely sustainable socially,” Marcotte said. “You are training 20 plus hours a week, you are trying to run a business 30-40 hours, so there is not much downtime. You have to be really on point.”

In the current sponsorship environment, the working cyclist might be the new paradigm for the professional peloton.

Simon Gerrans (left) and Matt Goss hope to find themselves near the front of the peloton as they seek out stage wins at the Tour. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

There was only one jewel missing in the crown of last year’s phenomenal debut season at Orica-GreenEdge, and that was a stage victory at the Tour de France.

The first-year, Aussie-backed team won plenty of races (32 to be exact), including a monument with Simon Gerrans at Milano-San Remo, and stage victories in both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, with Matt Goss and Simon Clarke, respectively.

Throw in a few national titles, wins at UCI WorldTour events such as the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour de Suisse, the Vuelta al País Vasco, and the GP de Québec, and Orica couldn’t have hoped for a better debut season.

The Tour, however, proved a harder nut to crack. The squad came loaded with sprinters and stage-hunters, yet fell short of taking home a victory. Goss was the main man, knocking on the door with two second places and three third places in bunch sprints.

This year, the Aussies hope to break through to a Tour stage win.

Orica captain Simon Gerrans said the team will enter his year’s Tour intent on challenging in breakaways and sprint finishes.

“That’s the big goal,” Gerrans told VeloNews via telephone. “That’s the one thing missing out on our season last year.”

Although Orica’s official Tour lineup has yet to be announced, the team’s hope will be pinned Goss in the bunch sprints, with riders such as Gerrans, Daryl Impey, and Michael Albasini having freedom to attack for stage victories.

Goss is hoping to hit the Tour firing on all cylinders. He snagged his lone win on the 2013 season at Tirreno-Adriatico, and since then, he struggled with illness through the spring classics, and notched a handful of promising results, but no more victories

A second place in stage 4 at the Tour de Suisse last week seems to indicate things are moving in the right direction.

“He was right up there at Tour de Suisse,” Gerrans said of Goss. “The team is pretty happy with that result. To be right there shows he’s on good nick right before the Tour.”

Gerrans said while Orica will bring a strong train to support Goss, it’s likely the team will not try to dominate the sprint finishes unless it’s a finale ideal for Goss’s qualities.

“There are a lot of big sprint trains out there right now,” he said. “The most important thing is protecting Gossie and putting him on a good wheel for the sprint. He can get around most people on a good day.”

The sprints should be especially competitive this year, so Goss could find choppy waters in the mass gallops. Not only will Goss and Orica be searching for its first Tour win, so will Marcel Kittel, the big German engine on Argos-Shimano who pulled out sick of last year’s Tour.

Ahead of them are André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol), Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), and Peter Sagan (Cannondale), all of whom won three stages each in last year’s Tour.

This year’s lumpy course should see more opportunities for stage hunters, which is just fine for Gerrans.

The punchy, two-time national Australian champion can win sprints out of small groups and can make it up and over heavy climbs yet still pack a punch up short, steep finales.

Gerrans will be looking for his chances in the transition stages that fit neither the sprinters, the time trial specialists nor the climbers.

“You know there are a limited number of possibilities for a guy of my characteristics, but that sort of takes the pressure off on other stages,” he said. “The Tour breakaways are harder and harder to get into. There are more guys trying to do that. You have to pick and chose your day, and give those days 100 percent.”

Gerrans knows what it feels like to win a Tour stage. His win came in 2008 out of a four-man breakaway across the Alps into Italy at Prato Nevoso while riding on Crédit Agricole.

Spaniards José Luis Arrieta and Egoi Martínez were dropping Gerrans, but he hung on, countered, and won ahead of Martínez, with American Danny Pate crossing the line third.

“It was the biggest win at that time of my career. It still ranks right up there of the biggest wins that I hold close to my heart,” Gerrans said. “To win a stage at the Tour, especially the way that I did it, it’s a real achievement to get that win.”

Gerrans, of course, went on to win the 2012 Milano-San Remo and came close to winning the Clásica San Sebastián last year, riding to second in the popular post-Tour Spanish classic.

So far in 2013, he’s been quietly picking up victories throughout the season, including a win at the Santos Tour Down Under, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Basque tour.

“My season’s been solid so far. I’ve been pretty consistently right up there around the mark,” he said. “I am missing that big win. I’ve been up there, I’ve been competitive, but I didn’t get that classic I was gunning for this year.”

At this point of Gerrans’ career, it’s hard to top what he’s already accomplished. After winning stages in all three grand tours as well as a monument, there’s not much he hasn’t done. The only thing bigger would be another spring classic, ideally in the Ardennes, or the world title.

Another Tour stage win would come nicely as well.

“I’d love to win another Tour stage. It’s a question of just keep plugging away at it,” he said. “That’s what we’re all working toward.”

“We have a strong team at the Tour de France,” sport and development manager Rolf Aldag said in a team release. “Together with the sport directors, we talked this morning with all the guys and they are really committed to the team goals. The team will be built mainly around Mark Cavendish. Cav is there to try and win stages, and of course one of the big goals of Mark is to go for the yellow jersey on the first day. This is something he missed for the moment — he has worn yellow before, but never after the first stage of the Tour.”

The final pieces of Cavendish’s once-tenuous leadout, which supported him to five stage wins and the points jersey in May’s Giro d’Italia, will be back for the Tour.

“They are already tested in race situations and will be ready again,” said Aldag. “Steegmans will be the last man, and Matteo Trentin will be the second to last man. But, all the team will be committed with Mark when the stage will fit his characteristics. Tony Martin will be there to ride to the ‘Flamme Rouge’ on the flat stages. He will bring Matteo, Gert, and Cav into the best position possible in the final kilometer.”

For his part, Martin will target the race’s first time trial, on July 10. The 33km eleventh stage from Avranches to Mont Saint-Michel features a hilly opening 15km with the second half trending downhill.

“Tony will also be there to get his chances at the time trials,” Aldag said. “The first ITT will be a little more appropriate for his skills. The second will be difficult, but for sure he will still try his best. He will also be an important piece to our [stage 4] TTT as he is the world champion of this discipline, so we will rely on his strength to lead us during this stage.”

Kwiatkowski’s young star shone brightly in the Ardennes classics, where he registered top-five results at the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne.

“Kwiatkowski is the youngest guy of the team,” Aldag said. “We decided to bring him because it’s time to get this kind of experience, to try and wear the white jersey even for a limited time. It will be a kind of dream for him and of course a great achievement for the team. We will try to make it real, but without stress or pressure. He has to learn a lot and Le Tour will be another important step of his learning process.

Omega Pharma-Quick Step
Mark Cavendish (GBR)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Michal Kwiatkowski (POL)
Tony Martin (GER)
Jerome Pineau (FRA)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Niki Terpstra (NED)
Matteo Trentin (ITA)
Peter Velits (SVK)

Jelly Belly-Kenda seems to find itself at the front of the peloton more and more these days. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Jelly Belly-Kenda team has struggled in recent years to attract invites to races like the Amgen Tour of California and the USA Pro Challenge. The pressure on domestic teams to attend the new UCI stage races has weighed heavily on smaller professional programs like Jelly Belly.

At the beginning of the year, Jelly Belly director Danny Van Haute knew he would need to make changes to his lineup in order to improve the team’s performance. Van Haute made two major acquisitions this spring, and so far they have paid off in the form of a national road race championship and two stage wins at the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

Van Haute’s first move was bringing on Serghei Tvetcov in April. Tvetcov was left without a contract after Team Exergy folded at the end of 2012. A former Moldovian time trial champion, Tvetcov immediately energized the team with a top-10 finish in the fifth stage at Silver City’s Tour of the Gila.

“We’ve been close to getting big results all year,” six-year Jelly Belly veteran Brad Huff said. “Just having them get some great results for us has shown the other riders it’s definitely possible.“

Shortly before the U.S. professional road race championships at the end of May, Van Haute made his second big move, which was bringing on veteran Freddie Rodriguez. Rodriguez rode smartly in Chattanooga, and immediately rewarded his new team by winning the national road race title.

“In May we picked up Freddie and the momentum has just continued since nationals,” Van Haute said of his team’s change in fortune. “It’s because we bring experienced guys on that want to race. It makes these guys want to race now too. I don’t know how that happens or why that happens. They should know, they are professionals, and that they should be racing every god damn day, and if they don’t, I’m going to bring on new guys.”

The changes electrified the squad and the results were apparent at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. Tvetcov surprised many by winning the St. Paul Riverfront Time Trial, and Sean Mazich won his first major race one day later at the Cannon Falls Road Race.

A major victory had eluded Mazich since he turned professional with Jelly Belly in 2010. Mazich credited Rodriguez for setting up his victory on the closing circuits of the 90-mile road race, and was eager to call his parents and mentor, Chris Horner, to tell them the news.

“I don’t know what to say, everyone is just riding phenomenal,” Mazich said after his win last Thursday. “To finally be rewarded, after you’ve gotten beaten down your entire career, it’s emotional.”

The additions have helped other veterans like Huff and Ricardo Van der Velde, who won the points title at Nature Valley, focus their talent and energy. “We are riding the way we should have been earlier on in the year,” Van der Velde said. “Seeing Freddie win the nationals two weeks ago was really big. I was back home in Holland, and I was watching the live feed in the middle of the night, and it gave me quite a rush. I was like, ‘When I get back to the states I’m just going to smash it.‘ We have the national champion so we have to.”

Riders like Rodriguez bring a level of leadership and professionalism that only comes with experience. After the Cannon Falls Road Race, Rodriguez wanted to cool down, so he took a bag of Jelly Belly handouts and started giving them away. As a crowd of children collected around Rodriguez, he had his new fans promise to exercise in return for a sample package of Jelly Belly beans. It was a small gesture, but one that is appreciated by fans, team staff, and sponsors.

Most importantly for Van Haute, Rodriguez’s leadership has extended to his duty as road captain for the team. “Freddie is so good with the guys,” Van Haute said. “He’s an experienced guy at 39 years old. He’s not afraid to tell the guys in the peloton ‘Hey, you’re messing up.’”

Before the start of the Nature Valley Grand Prix, Jelly Belly received news of its invite to the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado. The team still has a long way to go in order to accomplish its goals, but with new leadership and motivation, it gets closer every day.

• 1. Diego MILAN JIMENEZ, in 2:35:29
• 2. Luis ROMERO AMARAN, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at :00
• 3. Lucas EUSER, UnitedHealthcare, at :00
• 4. Michael WOODS, Garneau-Quebecor, at :00
• 5. Jason MCCARTNEY, Bissell, at :00
• 6. Philip DEIGNAN, UnitedHealthcare, at :00
• 7. Christian MEIER, Cannondale, at :00
• 8. Nathan BROWN, Bontrager, at :00
• 9. Kirk CARLSEN, at :00
• 10. Joseph LEWIS, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 11. Tyler MAGNER, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 12. Joey ROSSKOPF, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 13. Ryan EASTMAN, Bontrager, at 1:26
• 14. Benjamin DAY, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 15. Jonathan CLARKE, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 16. Jasper STUYVEN, Bontrager, at 1:26
• 17. Francisco MANCEBO PEREZ, 5HR, at 1:26
• 18. Oscar CLARK, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 1:26
• 19. Chris BUTLER, Champion System, at 1:26
• 20. Ignacio SARABIA DIAZ, at 1:26
• 21. Matt COOKE, at 1:26
• 22. Jaroslaw DABROWSKI, Amore & Vita, at 1:26
• 23. Christopher BALDWIN, Bissell, at 1:26
• 24. Philip LAVERY, at 1:26
• 25. Ben JACQUES-MAYNES, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 1:26
• 26. Davide FRATTINI, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:26
• 27. Nic HAMLTON, Cannondale, at 1:26
• 28. Javier MEGIAS LEAL, Novo Nordisk, at 1:35
• 29. Marc DE MAAR, UnitedHealthcare, at 1:35
• 30. Julian KYER, Bissell, at 1:35
• 31. Bruno LANGLOIS, Garneau-Quebecor, at 1:35
• 32. Craig LEWIS, Champion System, at 1:35
• 33. Marsh COOPER, Cannondale, at 1:39
• 34. James DRISCOLL, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 1:42
• 35. Jonathan Patrick MCCARTY, Bissell, at 1:44
• 36. David LOZANO RIBA, Novo Nordisk, at 2:49
• 37. Nathaniel ENGLISH, 5HR, at 4:22
• 38. Robin CARPENTER, Hincapie Sportswear Development, at 4:22
• 39. Fabio CALABRIA, Novo Nordisk, at 4:22
• 40. Matthias FRIEDEMANN, Champion System, at 4:22
• 41. Coulton HARTRICH, at 4:22
• 42. Gregor GAZVODA, Champion System, at 4:22
• 43. Pierrick NAUD, Garneau-Quebecor, at 4:22
• 44. Garrett MCLEOD, at 4:22
• 45. Rob BRITTON, Cannondale, at 4:22
• 46. Tyler WREN, Jamis-Hagens Berman, at 4:22
• 47. Jean-Michel LACHANCE, at 5:37
• 48. Chad BEYER, Champion System, at 5:39
• 49. Viesturs LUKSEVICS, Amore & Vita, at 5:39
• 50. Conor MULLERVY, at 5:39
• 51. Max JENKINS, 5HR, at 12:48
• 52. James STEMPER, 5HR, at 12:48
• 53. James PICCOLI, at 13:29
• DNF Guillaume BOIVIN, Cannondale
• DNF Dominique ROLLIN, Cannondale
• DNF Ryan ROTH, Champion System
• DNF Clinton Robert AVERY, Champion System
• DNF Andrea PERON, Novo Nordisk
• DNF Kiel REIJNEN, UnitedHealthcare
• DNF Shawn MILNE, 5HR
• DNF Christian PARRETT, 5HR
• DNF Jeremy VENNELL, Bissell
• DNF David BOILY, Amore & Vita
• DNF Daniel HOLLOWAY, Amore & Vita
• DNF Volodymyr STARCHYK, Amore & Vita
• DNF Anton MIKAILOV, Amore & Vita
• DNF Antoine DUCHESNE, Bontrager
• DNF Mike MIDLARSKY, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF Juan Miguel PEREZ GARCIA, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF François CHABOT, Cycliste Ekoi-Devinci
• DNF Rémi PELLETIER-ROY, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Adam Matthew FARABAUGH, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Alexander CATAFORD, Garneau-Quebecor
• DNF Benjamin ZAWACKI, Hincapie Sportswear Development
• DNF Carson MILLER, Jamis-Hagens Berman
• DNF Federico MARCHIORI
• DNF Kyle BUCKOSKY
• DNF Cortlan BROWN
• DNF Max KORUS
• DNF Chris GRUBER
• DNF Daniel CHABANOV
• DNF Jorge PEREZ
• DNF Etienne SAMSON
• DNF Guillaume FISET
• DNF William BLACKBURN
• DNF Robert RALPH
• DNF Olivier DELANEY

The Nature Valley Grand Prix and other top stage races attract top domestic teams, but at one-off criteriums, the fields are not as elite. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

STILLWATER, Minn. — When USA Cycling announced the formation of the National Criterium Calendar in 2011, many riders and directors thought it would be a good way to help promote cycling.

An overall decrease in team budgets for 2013, however, has meant that domestic squads, which used to send teams to criteriums when they were on the National Racing Calendar, now only race them as one-off events, or if they are part of an NRC stage race like the Nature Valley Grand Prix.

“The idea of splitting the NCC from the NRC sounded like a great idea to begin with, but a lot of teams aren’t going to the crits anymore,” former professional criterium champion and Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies director Jonas Carney said. “Some teams don’t even have sprinters.”

Carney and Iona Wynter-Parks, director of the Colavita-Fine Cooking women’s team, both cited budgetary and logistical issues as challenges the new national calendars present.

“The NCC seems to be scattered all across the country. Sometimes the conflicts are unmanageable unless you have a bigger team,” Parks said. “If I had to guess, looking at my budget, it’s going to work out to be more expensive for us to have done the NCC than if we choose to do the NRC.”

Parks evaluates her calendar on a regular basis with her sponsors who have been in cycling a long time. Understanding that her squad is in a rebuilding phase, Colavita has signed off on a schedule, which may have fewer short-term sponsor benefits, but it will aid the program further down the road. As a result, Park has picked a list of races for her team, which is similar to the old NRC schedule, since she believes it creates a better mix of races for a rider’s development.

Shelley Olds (Tibco-To The Top) and Brad Huff (Jelly Belly-Kenda) were the only former criterium champions in their respective fields at the Nature Valley Grand Prix over the weekend. For riders and teams looking to race at the international level, the lack of UCI points at criteriums presents a serious challenge.

Olds has spent the previous two years in Europe, and though she’s a fan of the U.S. criterium scene, it no longer has a place in her program. Because the NRC overall title is one of her team’s primary objectives, Olds now only attends a criterium when it is part of an NRC stage race.

“When your ambitions are to race in world championships and the Olympic Games, that’s where you need to race, the UCI races,” Olds said. “That’s where you get your points, that’s where you get the nation’s ranking, that’s where you get your individual ranking.”

The men’s domestic pro teams are in a similar situation.

“Unless you have enough money to truly run a double program, it’s really hard for us to stay focused on the Tour of California, and say we want to have an impact on the race,” Carney said. “In order to do that we have to do all the other stage races, and international races, to prepare for it. We just don’t have the bodies or the budget to hit all the great criteriums across the U.S.”

With only a few professional programs, like UnitedHealthcare and Team Smart Stop-Mountain Khakis, spending any resources on the NCC schedule, the criterium is in danger of becoming a lost art in American professional cycling.

“I think that we need to figure out a way to get all the U.S pro teams to start attending the criteriums again,” Carney said. “We are as at fault as anyone else for that. We haven’t been spending very much time hitting up the NCC races ourselves because we are so busy with UCI and NRC stage races.”

Rui Costa (left) and Alejandro Valverde, along with Nairo Quintana, give Movistar plenty of depth at this year's Tour de France. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Rui Costa’s second consecutive victory at the Tour de Suisse confirms what everyone within the Movistar organization already knows.

The 26-year-old Portuguese rider is nowhere close to reaching his potential, and Movistar brass is poised to give him more freedom in this year’s Tour de France.

“Now it’s time to think about the Tour. My only goal for the moment is getting through the first week, always so dangerous — we’ll see how we do when it’s over,” Costa said Sunday. “We’ll be one of the strongest teams in the race and we’re really excited.”

Officially, the Spanish-backed team is lining up behind Alejandro Valverde and his all-out push for the Tour podium. The 33-year-old “green bullet” believes this will be his best shot — and perhaps his last one — at reaching the Tour podium.

On paper, however, Costa’s impressive win at the nine-day Swiss tour proves the team is much deeper. While most teams rally around one or perhaps two GC options for the Tour, Movistar will bring a three-pronged attack that could prove the most explosive in the race.

Riding alongside Valverde as super-domestiques will be Costa and Nairo Quintana, winner of the Tour of the Basque Country. Though Valverde is ostensibly the captain, all three have potential to turn the race upside down.

Both Costa and Quintana say they are dedicated to helping Valverde, but each will bring strong personal ambitions that could prove complicated to control for pre-race favorites Team Sky.

Movistar could well be the Tour’s dark horse, with three riders capable of going on the attack in the mountains. The opening days in particular favor Movistar’s frenetic racing style. Hilly, classics-style courses on Corsica and the stage-4 team time trial back on the French mainland, in Nice, could well see a Movistar rider in the yellow jersey.

Movistar has improved dramatically in team time trials, proven by their win to open last year’s Vuelta a España and its second place in the Giro’s TTT in May, just nine seconds behind favored Sky.

With the Pyrénées first on tap in this year’s Tour, tens of thousands of Spanish fans will pour over the border to cheer on the team for the Tour’s first climbing stages. Froome and the other favorites will have to be vigilant to not let the race slip through their hands in the opening two weekends of racing.

No one will want to give either Costa or Quintana too much rope in the mountains, especially with Valverde shadowing the chase only to pounce in their wake.

That’s easier said than done, of course, and it all comes down to the legs on the day, but it would be a major mistake for anyone to overlook Movistar come July.

Behind Valverde, Quintana and Costa provide interesting options.

Quintana, who returned to South America after a highly successful European spring, will be making his highly anticipated Tour debut, so the team is trying to tap down his natural ambition.

The 23-year-old Colombian will have strong personal goals, including a possible stage win and a run at the young rider’s jersey. But above all, he promises to be dedicated to helping Valverde and learning the race.

The pint-sized “escarabajo” says he believes he could some day challenge for the yellow jersey, but he knows this year’s Tour is for Valverde.

“I want to be there to help Alejandro,” Quintana told VeloNews earlier this season. “I am excited about racing the Tour. Maybe some day I could hope to win, but this year, maybe we can make some attacks in the mountains.”

Costa, too, promises to dedicate himself to ride for Valverde. Already a proven stage winner at the Tour, having won out of a breakaway in 2011 ahead of Tejay van Garderen (now BMC Racing), Costa will also be looking to improve his career-best 18th at last year’s Tour.

Costa also likes to believe he could some day challenge for a grand tour. Speaking to VeloNews earlier this season, Costa said he hopes to continue to develop as a stage racer.

“I think the future for me in grand tours is promising,” he said. “Right now, it would be more realistic to aim for the Vuelta (a España) or the Giro (d’Italia), but why not the Tour, too, someday? Right now, we want to help Alejandro.”

The question now is where these three stand on form. Quintana hasn’t raced since Liège-Bastogne-Liège, so there’s no practical way to measure his current strength.

Valverde, meanwhile, was largely discreet at the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month. Besides a few tepid attacks in the mountains, he was steady yet unimpressive in the French race, riding to an abysmal 53rd in the time trial stage, yet still managing to scrape his way into seventh overall.

Of the three, Costa is clearly the strongest right now.

He rode a near-perfect, controlled race to claim two stages and the overall, winning the calendar’s “fourth grand tour” in impressive fashion.

Costa proved yet again he can climb and time trial well, skills that hint at his stage-race potential.

Sunday’s win, which came on a split time trial course, with the first part of the course held over mostly flat roads, demonstrated as much. Impressively enough, Costa punched in with a sixth-fastest split time on the flat sector, giving him a moment to switch from a TT setup to a traditional road bike. The tactic paid huge dividends and Costa snagged the stage win to finish off the double.

He took significant gains on some top Tour-bound riders, including 42 seconds on Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and 1:19 on podium contender van Garderen.

Costa already boasts solid racing acumen, with wins at the GP Montréal in 2011, the Four Days of Dunkirk in 2009, and the hilly Spanish semi-class Klasika Primavera in April on his palmares.

He was second in the 2008 Tour de l’Avenir (behind Jan Bakelants), but his promising career almost became unglued in 2010, when he tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine following his victory in the national time trial championship.

Costa was notified of his infraction that August following his participation in the Tour, during which he made headlines for a post-stage punch-up with now-retired, wheel-wielding Spaniard Carlos Barredo.

He was initially handed a one-year doping ban, but that was reduced to five months on appeal after he demonstrated the product came from what he claimed was a contaminated nutritional supplement. The ban ended on January 12, 2011.

Since then, Costa has been on a steady upward trajectory, telling VeloNews earlier this year, “I don’t know how far I can go.”

Being strong in the second week of June doesn’t count for much in late July, something that Valverde is certainly banking on.

It will be interesting to see whether Costa cedes to Valverde if he feels like he has the legs to go. While Quintana and Valverde have become fast friends, Costa might have a harder time hitting the brakes.

Movistar insists they’re starting with Valverde as their man in Corsica. It will be worth noting who will be their top-ranked rider by the time the Tour ends under the lights on the Champs-Élysées on July 21.

The winnah! Photo courtesy Tour de Beauce

ST-GEORGES, Québec (VN) — Nathan Brown (Bontrager Cycling Team) won the 28th edition of the Tour de Beauce on Sunday as Diego Jimenez (Inteja) took the sixth and final stage, out-kicking Luis Romero Amaran (Jamis-Hagens Berman) and Lucas Euser (UnitedHealthcare).

Brown made his move in the sixth lap of the 107km Ville St-Georges circuit race. He joined Christian Meier (Canadian National) and Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) in chasing the break of the day, leaving race leader Francisco Mancebo (5-hour Energy-Kenda) behind.

The winner of the stage-4 time trial, Brown started the day just five seconds down on Mancebo. At the finish, he had the yellow jersey by 36 seconds over Deignan and 44 seconds ahead of Meier, who moved onto the podium from fifth and sixth overall, respectively. Mancebo finished in 17th on the day, 1:26 down, and slid right off the podium to fourth at 1:23.

“Meier attacked, I followed and Mancebo had no teammates left. When I crossed, Mancebo had no reaction. I told myself, Wow, this can’t be true!’” said Brown.

“In the break, the guys were working really well together. Near the end, I knew this could happen. I gave it everything I had and it paid off.”

Brown played it safe in the finale, saying “all I was thinking about was to stay safe.”

“The guys hit it at 500 meters to go, and I just rode it in as I had enough time,” he said.

“It’s so amazing to win. The team rode great all week, and to finish it off for them, it’s a great feeling.”

Meier said the team was originally focused on the stage win.

“It turned out that the race proved more aggressive than anticipated through mostly the UnitedHealthcare guys,” said Meier. “I had Nic Hamilton in the break and rode all out. The guys going for the GC were fully committed to the breakaway.

“It was fantastic – another hard day.”