Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) will make his debut in the rainbow jersey of World Champion on Saturday in the Tour of Lombardy instead of today's Tour of Piedmont.
"It's hard to realise what it means now," Gilbert said on Sunday after winning in Valkenburg, the Netherlands. "I'll know for sure when I am in Piedmont next Thursday, then it will feel great for me."
Gilbert won Piedmont twice before, in 2009 and 2010. BMC Racing's sports director Rik Verbrugghe told Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad that Gilbert is ready for Lombardy and "has not partied too much".
Contador wins first one-day race in Milan-Turin
Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), known for 2010's doping scandal and Grand Tour wins, captured his first one-day win yesterday in Milan-Turin. It establishes him as a favourite for Saturday's Tour of Lombardy, up against new world champion, Gilbert.
"Relax for a minute, I still need time to gather myself," Contador told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "Besides, I don't even know the course well."
He also became the first Spaniard to win the Milan-Turin classic in nearly 50 years yesterday, since Valentin Uriona in 1964.
Contador will race Lombardy for the first time, making up lost time after serving a six-month doping ban. He tested positive for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France and was later stripped of that win and others, including last year's Giro d'Italia. He returned to racing in August at the Eneco Tour and won the Vuelta a España earlier this month.
Sky confirms Cataldo
Sky has confirmed the arrival of Italian Dario Cataldo. He will join the team on a two-year contract after racing the last four years with Omega Pharma-QuickStep.
"This last season has been my best and I've been able to achieve all my goals," Cataldo said in a press release. "I put in a good ride at the Giro, I was able to win the Italian time trial championship, a stage at the Vuelta, and then competed at the World Championships. I want to build on those performances now and set new goals with Team Sky."
The 27-year-old from Chieti won the Baby Giro in 2008 before turning professional. This month, he won one of the toughtest Vuelta's stages to Cueto Negro.
Spain's David López García (Movistar) and this year's Baby Giro winner Joe Dombrowski will also make the move to Sky, according to various media reports.
Tour 2013 to included Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez twice?
Next year's Tour will feature Mont Ventoux and Alpe d'Huez twice, according to French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré. It wrote that the "Giant of Provence" will feature at the beginning of the third week.
Alpe d'Huez will feature twice, it said, on July 18. Riders will start in Gap, climb the Alpe, continue over and down the Col de Sarenne. They will then loop around to climb the famous road again.
ASO presents the official route in Paris on 24 October.
Millar documentary
Spain's Informe Robinson documented David Millar's career running this month in a thirty-minute segment on Canal+.
Narration is in Spanish, but the interviews are in English. You can watch it here: http://goo.gl/qF5kS or http://www.canalplus.es/informe-robinson/
France's fast bike change
Watch Team France perform a very quick bike change for Quentin Jauregui in the junior World Championship road race on Sunday.
Blink and you will miss it:
Jauregui from Jacky Durand on Vimeo.
USA Cycling unveils 2025 National Championship schedule with 17 chances to claim the Stars and Stripes jersey
Tech of the week: A shockingly expensive steel bike from Colnago, a surprisingly affordable carbon bike from Pinarello, DT Swiss energises our cycling lives and Pog's bars are now yours to buy
