Mark Cavendish to skip Milan-San Remo

Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) will skip Milan-San Remo next year due to the course change. The 2009 winner may never race the Italian Monument again.

"I won't take part," Cavendish told La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "And if the route remains the way it is, maybe I'll never race it again. My 2009 win is destined to remain the only one."

Organiser RCS Sport designed a difficult finish for the sprinters next year. It sandwiched in the five-kilometre to Pompeiana between the usual Cipressa and Poggio climbs. To compensate, it skips La Mànie earlier in the race.

Porte to leave Sky

Richie Porte said that will leave team Sky at the end of his contract, in 2016, in search of personal glory.

"As much as I love being there and being the wing-man, it's not what I always want to do," Porte told Australia's Herald Sun.

"I've shown by winning Paris-Nice and coming second in the Dauphiné and Basque, they're pretty big races in the sport. I think the next move for me is two more years at Sky, but then I really think I need to get out and ride in a team where I'll be the leader."

Porte added that staying in Sky is not an option because of Chris Froome's potential to win more Tours and his British passport. "It's unrealistic of me [to assume control]."

Tour to circle Arc de Triomphe for second year

Tour de France organiser, ASO announced its race will end with a laps around the Arc de Triomphe again next year. To celebrate 100 editions this year, the race circled the famous monument and finished at dusk on the Champs-Élysées.

"The police commissioner has given his agreement for a route identical to that of 2013," the Tour's assistant director, Pierre-Yves Hinault told AFP. "The success of the 2013 Tour convinced us to include the same route which allows us to best promote the race as much as the monuments."

It programmed the stage, Sunday, July 27, to finish earlier at 19:30.

Armstrong making 'manipulative' PR moves, says Andreu

Lance Armstrong is making "calculating and manipulative" moves to cover himself, according to Betsy Andreu.

"He has no desire to make amends," she told the Daily Mail. "He only has desire to try to repair the damage he has done to himself."

The wife of former team-mate, Frankie Andreu, exposed Armstrong as a doper in a hearing in 2006.

Andreu said Armstrong recently turned down a meeting with her. However, he gave several interviews and met with Emma O'Reilly, the former US Postal Service team soigneur who turned over evidence of doping. Meanwhile, Armstrong refused to meet with the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and avoided giving testimony in recent cases by settling out of court.

"He doesn't want to go under oath because when he lied before he wasn't held accountable. Now if he lies under oath he will be held accountable and he can't keep his lies straight," added Andreu

"He's also trying to protect the people who supported him before the Grand Jury. It's a web that involves so many people."

Lotto-Belisol jersey turns red

Belgian team Lotto-Belisol will race in red next year.

It unveiled its 2014 jersey yesterday, switching from the white/blue/red to a simple 'retro' look. The team said it wanted to celebrate Lotto's 30 years as cycling sponsor.