Fabian Cancellara discusses Alberto Contador's ban

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?

World Champs: Mark Cavendish takes the Rainbow Jersey Ahead of Matt Goss

Mark Cavendish becomes the first male British Road Cycling World Champion, since Tom Simpson did it in 1965, after a tense sprint to the line.

Cavendish already has two Madison World Championship titles and came in to this year’s event as one of the clear favourites. There were some tense moments as his lead out men Geraint Thomas and Ian Stannard looked frantically around for the Manxman. Thomas has to drop down the field, as they were heading around the final corner, to find him, but the Welshman delivered him to the front on time.

The Manx express then had to do the work for himself, with none of his teammates around; he clung to the back wheels of his rivals. He finally launched his attack with around 200 metres to go and beat his, soon to be former, trade team teammate Matt Goss, by half a bike length. With the demise of HTC Goss will be moving to Green Edge and is looking to make his mark on the sprinting world. The Aussie got a good lead out from, his German-born, teammate Heinrich Haussler, but he couldn’t quite manage to stay ahead of Cav.

World Champs: Fabian Cancellara Pre-Race Interview

World Champs: Elite Men's Road Race 2011 Start List

1 Thor Hushovd NORWAY
2 Kurt Asle Arvesen
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen
4 Gabriel Rasch

5 Carlos Barredo Llamazeles SPAIN
6 Imanol Erviti Ollo
7 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni
8 Oscar Freire Gomez
9 Juan Manuel Garate Cepa
10 Pablo Lastras Garcia
11 Vicente Raynes Mimo
12 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil
13 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil

World Champs: Top-Three Elite Men Interviews

World Champs: Tony Martin Destroys the Field to make it two for Germany

Tony Martin destroyed the field, to take his first World Time-Trial championship, by over a minute to Bradley Wiggins in Copenhagen.

Martin went out of the blocks full steam ahead and passed two riders on the way to the finish line, including, the man who beat him to silver in 2010, David Millar. He has had a good run in to the world championships, taking the ITT in the Vuelta in a similar fashion, which many people saw as a sign of what was to come. Nothing seemed to faze the German and defied expectations, by keeping up his high pace on the second lap of the city. Many riders had made the mistake of going out to hard, before fading quickly, but Martin just went faster.

World Champs: Elite Men Time-Trial Start list 2011

12:30:00 LAGAB Azzedine Lagab
12:31:30 Tyron Giorgieri
12:33:00 Ivan Mauricio Casas Buitrago
12:34:30  Ioannis Tamouridis
12:36:00 Pavol Polievka
12:37:30 Michael Morkov
12:39:00 Vitaliy Popkov
12:40:30 Semere Mengis
12:42:00 Carlos Oyarzun
12:43:30 Martin Kohler
12:45:00 Jesse Sergent
12:46:30 Thomas de Gendt
12:48:00 Matias Medici
12:49:30 Eugen Wacker
12:51:00 Maciej Bodnar
12:52:30 Gediminas Bagdonas
12:54:00 Dimitri Champion

Video: Tony Martin interview - winner of the ITT on Stage 10

VaE: Tony Martin wins as Chris Froome surprises everyone

Tony Martin did what he came to the Vuelta to do and won the Stage 10’s individual time-trial, while Chris Froome surprised everyone and moves in to red.

Martin rolled off the ramp over an hour down on the day’s leader, Bauke Mollema, and blasted the rest of the pack away. Fabian Cancellara was the stage’s leader, at the time, but Martin stopped the watch at 1 minute 27 seconds up on the Swiss rider. The German’s time only looked threatened when Bradley Wiggins was one seconds ahead of him, at the first intermediate checkpoint. Wiggins then faded towards the end and Martin’s time remained.

Froome was really the surprise of the day, when he came home 57 seconds down on Martin and moved in to the lead of the race. The Kenyan born rider has been on Wiggins’ side for the first week of the tour, but moves 20 seconds ahead of his team leader. Team Sky now has two riders in the top two, with Jakob Fuglsang splitting the pair. Fuglsang may believe he could have taken the red jersey though; he suffered a slipped chain, just metres after the starting ramp.

Gilbert dominates post tour races, with four victories

Philippe Gilbert has dominated the post tour races, with four victories in the opening week.

The Belgian champion had to settle for third, in the Tour’s green jersey classification, but is now back in his own back yard. Gilbert opened up his account at the Natour Criterium Aalst, ahead of Samuel Sanchez and Ivan Basso. The Criterium Aalst is one of the oldest post tour crits, it was founded in 1934, and takes an 11 corner tour around the town.

Sanchez got his own back, the following day, with victory in Natourcriterium Roeselare and Thor Hushovd taking third. The new King of the Mountains had plenty of room to breathe, as the two sprinters fought it out behind him. Plenty of fans packed the streets to see the 55 laps, despite the bad weather.

King of the Hill: Samuel Sanchez

Samuel Sanchez added another spoke to his wheel, by becoming the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France mountains classification since 1974.

Born in Oviedo, Sanchez joined a local junior team Club Ciclista Colloto, under the watchful eye of Jose Manuel Fuente. Fuente, who was also a Oviedo local, won the 1972 and 1974 Vuelta a Espana, as well as the mountains classification in 1972 and in the 173 Giro d’Italia.

Garmin-Cervelo victory put Hushovd in yellow

Thor Hushovd claimed the yellow jersey, after his Garmin-Cervelo team edged out Cadel Evan’s BMC.

The American team completed the route in 24 minutes and 38 seconds, only 4 seconds ahead of BMC. Team Sky rounded off the top three on the same time as BMC and Leopard Trek, in fourth. Hushovd’s teammate David Millar is equal on time with the Norwegian, but as Hushovd crossed the line in front of Millar in stage one, he is the one to don the jersey.

Andy Schleck is in a better position than most of his rivals, with he and his brother, Frank, only four seconds down on Hushovd. Leopard Trek owe much of their performance to, the two time Olympic time-trial champion, Fabian Cancellara, who took several turns on the front. Team Sky’s performance means Geraint Thomas keeps the young rider’s jersey, also on the same time as his teammate Edvald Boasson Hagen. The British team had the edge on the American team at the first split, but slid back over the second half of the course.

Wouter Weylandt: A career cut short

For Wouter Weylandt cycling was in the blood, hailing from Ghent in Belgium it was little surprise that he turned professional.

Weylandt showed early promise and at the age of 20, only his second year as an U23, by winning three world cups. Probably his toughest challenge that year was the Paris-Roubaix Espoir where he finished third, despite suffering two punctures. He was signed up in the same year as a stagiaire, by the Quick-Step Davitamon team.

Schleck's team is beginning to shape up

It became apparent in August that Saxo Bank directeur sportif Bjarne Riis had lost his battle to keep Frank and Andy Schleck at the team when he announced the signing of Alberto Contador.

The Schleck’s new team is now beginning to take shape in preparation for the 2011 team, but who will be donning the jerseys in the currently named The Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project?

Riders Flee Saxo Bank
First to follow the Luxemburgish pair was the Australian Stuart O’Grady who worked hard for Andy during the 2010 Tour de France. It became obvious that there was no love lost between the two and their Danish director when they were thrown out of the Vuelta a Espana for drinking alcohol. The Australian won gold in the Madison in the 2004 Olympic Games his is also twice world team pursuit champion.

Thor Hushovd Wins Norway's First Senior Gold in Men's Elite World Championship Road Race

Thor Hushovd edged out Matti Breschel in a thrilling sprint finish in Sunday’s Elite Men’s Road Race in Geelong, Australia.

The Norwegian had too much power as he shot towards the finish line and it was left to the others to figure out the minor placings. He had shown during the Tour de France that he could survive the hills better than any other sprinter and he hung on to the peloton. He stuck himself behind the wheel of Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet before flying around the entire group and winning by over a bikes length.

Breschel had initially led the sprint from the 100 metre mark, but he wasn’t able to hang on to the front. The Dan was visibly angry with himself as he crossed the line; he had been inches away from claiming the rainbow jersey when he was passed by the Norwegian. Allan Davis of Australia rounded off the podium position pipping Filippo Pozzato in to third who left it just a bit too late to attack.

Elite Men's Road Race Results

1 HUSHOVD Thor NOR 6:21:49 40.417
2 BRESCHEL Matti DEN " "
3 DAVIS Allan AUS " "
4 POZZATO Filippo ITA " "
5 VAN AVERMAET Greg BEL " "
6 FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar ESP " "
7 KOLOBNEV Alexandr RUS " "
8 BAZAYEV Assan KAZ " "
9 ARASHIRO Yukiya JPN " "
10 FEILLU Romain FRA " "
11 BOLE Grega SLO " "
12 FOFONOV Dmitriy KAZ " "
13 MOERENHOUT Koos NED " "
14 WEGMANN Fabian GER " "
15 CARDOSO Andre Fernando S. Martins POR " "
16 SCHLECK Frank LUX " "
17 EVANS Cadel AUS " "
18 GILBERT Philippe BEL " "
19 TERPSTRA Niki NED 6:21:56 +0:07
20 LEUKEMANS Björn BEL " "

Elite Men's Road Race - Preview

Cadel Evans will take to the roads on Sunday in an attempt to defend his World Championship on home soil.

Evans will not want to give up the rainbow jersey easily and certainly not in front of his own people. He has had an up and down year, but the home crowd could be just what he needs to give him a boost.

Fabian Cancellara is also looking to put on a good show after winning a record fourth time. The Swiss rider announced his intentions before the championship to go for the road race. His compatriot Michael Albasini has also been on good form recently winning the Tour of Britain despite having dysentery during the race.

Elite Men's Road Race Start list

1 EVANS Cadel  AUSTRALIA
2 COOKE Baden  AUSTRALIA
3 DAVIS Allan  AUSTRALIA
4 GERRANS Simon  AUSTRALIA
5 GOSS Matthew Harley  AUSTRALIA
6 HAYMAN Mathew  AUSTRALIA
7 O'GRADY Stuart  AUSTRALIA
8 ROGERS Michael  AUSTRALIA
9 SULZBERGER Wesley  AUSTRALIA
10 BARREDO LLAMAZALES Carlos  SPAIN
11 ERVITI OLLO Imanol  SPAIN
12 FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar  SPAIN
13 GARATE Juan Manuel  SPAIN
14 PLAZA MOLINA Ruben  SPAIN
15 SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon  SPAIN
16 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel  SPAIN
17 VENTOSO ALBERDI Francisco José  SPAIN
18 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE Haimar  SPAIN
19 BRUSEGHIN Marzio  ITALY
20 GAVAZZI Francesco  ITALY

Fabian Cancellara claims his fourth World Championship time-trial title

Fabian Cancellara claimed a record breaking fourth World Championship Time-Trial title in Geelong.

The Swiss rider, who has been almost unbeatable this year, crossed the line over a minute ahead of second place man David Millar with a time of 58 minutes 09 seconds. He had a wobble that nearly sent him off his bike at the bridge that had caught so many people out, but in his smooth style he corrected it was went on to win. Cancellara left it late to make his decision to go to the World Championships after he suffered a shock loss to Peter Velits during the Vuelta a Espana. It could have been his fifth title but he decided to skip the 2008 championships after winning the Olympic time-trial.