Is Cavendish's move to Sky a good choice?

Cycling’s worst kept secret has finally been revealed, with Mark Cavendish confirming he is heading to Team Sky; but is the Manx missile making the right choice?

There have long been rumours that Cav was heading to the British-based team, but his hand was forced when HTC decided to pull out of cycling. The newly crowned World Road Champion will be joining some of the men who helped him take the title in Copenhagen. Including this year’s Vuelta successes, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, and Welshman Geraint Thomas. Other Grand Tour are Edvald Boasson-Hagen and, for the first time, another Manxman Peter Kennaugh. So, do Sky have the mother of all teams or the mother of all nightmares?

Tour of Beijing: Good for Cycling or Bad for Cyclists

The inaugural Tour of Beijing is nearing its end and there has been mixed reviews from the cycling community. So is the Tour of Beijing good for cycling or bad for cyclists?

To be honest I think it is a bit of both; cycling needs to broaden its horizons, but not at the expense of the riders’ health. Cycling in Asia, when you compare it to Europe and even America, is almost non-existent. With some big sponsors dropping out of the sport (not mentioning any names HTC) and places like China are full of big business companies, who would be very willing to invest.

VaE: Albasini wins in Ponferrada, as Nibali moves closer to red

Michael Albasini took, probably, the Vuelta’s slowest sprint finish and the biggest stage victory, of his career on stage 13.

Albasini finished in a group of 18 riders and had the legs on all of them, bringing the bike home around two lengths over Eros Capecchi. The big Swiss rider, who won last year’s Tour of Britain, sprung out of the group with about 500 to go and was uncatchable. Daniel Moreno gave Katusha a boost, with yet another stage victory for the Russian outfit. Nicolas Roche couldn’t manage the sprint, but still rode over in 5^th place. He now sits just outside the top 10 and with the times so close at the moment, he could find himself in there very soon.

A few tight bends towards the end cause some trouble, but nobody was injured. Jan Bakelandts came unstuck at a roundabout, after he misjudged the bend and lost control of his back wheel. The Belgian was still clipped in to his pedals, as he tried to get off the ground. Saved by the padding over the road furniture, he was able to finish 15 seconds down on Albasini.

Video: Gretsch talks about his prologue victory

VaE: Lastras Rides solo in to the Red Jersey on Stage 3

Pablo Lastras pulled off a stunning solo ride, to win stage 3 of La Vuelta and take control of the red jersey.

Lastras attacked, with 11 kilometres to go, as the leaders reached the final summit and his breakaway companions struggled to catch him. The Spaniard time-trialled to the end and gained a well earned 15 seconds, on the chasing group. He dedicated his victory to, last year’s 6^th place rider, Xavi Tondo, who was killed in a freak accident earlier this year.

Sylvain Chavanel claimed second place, but it could have been more if he and the other chasers hadn’t argued over tactics. Lastras has a 20 second lead in the general classiment, with Chavanel sitting in second.

The breakaway began with Ruslan Pydgornyy, Nicolas Edet and Chavanel launching an attack, after 14km of riding. They were soon joined by Lastras and Markel Irizar, who finished third, and built up a gap of over seven minutes. Edet was the first to go, with 70 of racing left, when he dropped back to see the medical car and never regained the gap.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Mark Cavendish takes the green

TdF: Cavendish gets his own back on Greipel and get his green

Mark Cavendish got his own back on Andre Griepel, as he beat the German in stunning fashion on stage 11, to put himself in green.

Cavendish clearly had the surprise defeat to Greipel, in stage 10, on his mind, as he beat the pack by almost two bike lengths. The Manxman enjoyed a perfect lead-out from his teammate Mark Renshaw, who made sure he was on the front at the right time. It nearly didn’t happen, when Cavendish’s foot unclipped from his pedal with 500 metres to go.

2011 Tour de France Teams Named, Part One

The 22 Tour de France teams have been revealed with a few big names left out of the race so here is a little background on the ones that made it in and the big favourites from the team.

Astana
The Kazak team dominated the tour with Alberto Contador taking the overall GC for the third time in his career. Alexander Vinokorov also took a stage of his own to give the team its only stage win over the three weeks. This year should be much more difficult after losing so many good riders over the winter break and Vino will be their best bet for success.