Michael Rasmussen about the Alberto Contador Suspension

Alberto Contador has been given a one-year suspension for his positive doping control for Clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France,Michael Rasmussen has said he is not surprised adding that he also wouldn't be surprised if the suspension was increased by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to two years.

“There has already been a case with the Italian rider Alessandro Colo' in 2010. He got a one-year suspension because he, like Contador, claimed to have eaten contaminated meat,” Rasmussen told sporten.dk. “It is good if the rules leave room for common sense.”

The Dane, who himself served a two-year doping related ban, added that he expected the World Anti-Doping Agency would appeal the suspension to the CAS.

"Although they did not react when Alessandro Colo' got his one year suspension in a similar case, I think it's going to happen here. There is a difference between small and large fish. “

New sponsor, director for team
Rasmussen is returning to racing this year with the newly-formed Christina Watches team. This week the Continental team announced a new sponsor, Danske Hoteller A/S. The Danish hotel chain has signed up for two years.

In addition, Allan Bo Andresen has signed on as the team's executive director. The 38-year-old rode professionally from 1999 until 2006. He was most recently sport director for Team Designa Kokken, which is also said to be providing enough of a sponsorship to cover his employment.

Tour of Denmark?
Rasmussen has made no secret of the fact that he wants to ride the Tour of Denmark (August 4-8), and it is equally clear that the Danish Cycling Union doesn't want him there, or in the national team.

“We do not believe in him. We do not trust Michael Rasmussen,” said DCU president Tom Lund to Ekstra Bladet.   "I said that as early as 2009 and nothing has changed since then. He lied to the world on camera, and he broke the agreement he had with the Danish Cycling Union. Therefore we are not interested in co-operating with Michael Rasmussen.

“Whether this means he won't the Tour of Denmark 2011, I don't. The DCU's board will decide, and it tells us at a news conference in March.”

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Cycling Leg Warmers

Cycling Leg Warmers, a type of leg wear all too easily overlooked in the quest for warmth and comfort but one that admirably fulfils the brief in all but the coldest of circumstances.
Advantages over full-on tights are several: they can be worn more days in succession without needing a wash, dry more quickly after being worn in the rain, do not impose that unpleasant sensation of having two lots of shoulder straps, ease access during comfort stops, are quick to pull on and off and, not least, are much more affordable.

With a suitable fabric they are amazingly effective in conditions only a little above freezing and compared to tights do not compromise much in this area. There is, after all, the same double layer of fabric over much of the upper thigh. Althogh the hips, buttocks and groin only get protection from the shorts, the reduced insulation is only really felt around the hips, where air flows freely. Around the glutes and groin, where airflow is static, little insulation is needed.

Leg warmers are best worn under shorts, which help keep them in place, but should not be pulled too high to avoid risk of chafing. Leaving a gap of at least 10mm between the top of the warmers and the tip of the saddle is advisable.

Worn by the Horizon/Prendas/Dolan team, these leg warmers by Santini are made in Super Roubaix fabric and feature the manufacturer's new branded gripper along the upper edge and a zipper above the ankle for ease or removal or fitting. They are a cinch to don or doff, fit snugly without bagginess around the knees and ankles and have a pleasing appearance thanks to the sheen of the fabric, which is impressively warm. They should prove suitable leg wear right through to mid-spring.

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Stan Rim ZTR

This doesn’t sound like much but Stan Rim ZTR were already among the lightest available. Even tiny differences are more noticeable on the rims than anywhere else on your bike.

Outside edge width stays the same at 24.4mm but the Crest has 2mm extra across the bead lock and is 1mm shallower than the 355 in cross-section. This saves 15g on the 26in rim (340g total), while the 29er is 50g lighter than the ZTR Arch at 370g.


Our 26in set came as part of a value Hope Hoops package, on Pro II SP hubs with straight-pull spokes (£325). Moonglu custom built our 29ers on Hope Pro II hubs with ultra expensive but super-strong Sapim CX-Ray bladed spokes.

While the hubs aren’t the lightest or fastest-reacting, performance is still outstanding – particularly on the 29er wheels. We’ve whored them around several bikes now and every time we’ve fitted them the difference has been dramatic.

They’ve felt a lot stiffer than aftermarket wheels of an equivalent weight, meaning much more accurate tracking when carving or sliding and better acceleration and agility than heavier – often pricier – wheels. The only wheels that we think have matched them overall are the DT Swiss Tricons we’ve been testing at the same time, but they’re a whopping £900.

What’s really surprising is how tough the Crests have proved so far. The rear 29er wheel picked up a tiny wobble when we took out three spokes after knocking the rear mech on arock, but otherwise we’ve hammered them as hard as any all-mountain wheel for more than six months and not found any damage to the rim edge.

They seal really easily with a Stan’s rim strip too – this saves even more weight and increases both their responsiveness and resistance to pinch punctures. The profile does mean you need to take your time and settle the tyre beads right into the centre when you’re fitting fresh rubber though. If you don’t you’ll have an absolute nightmare levering them on.

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The Pro 2 hub/DT Swiss’s 27mm-wide EX 500

The Pro 2 hub features the ubiquitous Hope racket; it can’t be quietened and if you’re planning on seeing local wildlife you’d better not coast.

It doesn’t die down with age either. This is a positive because the clicking noise is the sound of the pawls tapping around the ratchet ring. Were this to dull it would be a sign that a part was wearing out.

Pickup remained as sharp throughout the test as it did on several sets of long-term Hoops. It’s also reassuring that spares are readily available and servicing is a cinch.

DT Swiss’s 27mm-wide EX 500 rims fared well throughout our tests. They also made usage of mid- to high-volume tyres possible, giving the bead edge added protection as well as boosting grip and cushioning.

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Record breaking figures at the Santos Tour Down Under

Record breaking figures in terms of spectators for this year's eight-day event has being announced by the organiser of the Santos Tour Down Under, Mike Turtur.Preliminary crowd figures have revealed that the race attracted 772,000 spectators, compared with 770,500 in 2010.

"I want to thank the thousands of spectators who embraced the event, many of them travelling from interstate and around the world to attend the Santos Tour Down Under," said Turtur, who is already planning next year's Tour to take place from January 15-22, 2012.

"It was an honour to welcome such a high calibre of cyclists to South Australia and to see the next generation of Australian superstars, including this year's winner, Cameron Meyer, in action," he added, moreover honouring the presence of Lance Armstrong who certainly drew international attention to the event.

"It was also wonderful Lance Armstrong chose the Santos Tour Down Under to be his last race on international soil. While we are sorry that it was his last ride we are looking forward to welcoming him and his family back to South Australia in a different capacity."

The race was also a huge success for regional South Australia, with councils organising a host of activities in the start and finish towns as part of the Santos Festival of Cycling. Events South Australia General Manager Hitaf Rasheed says a record 20 councils have expressed interest in hosting a stage of next year's Tour.

"This year's Tour has again been a huge success and work has already begun on the 2012 event and the exciting challenge of making it bigger and better again next year," she said.


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The redesigned Rocky Mountain Slayer

The redesigned Slayer is made from Rocky Mountain’s own FORM tubing, which provides strength in high load areas and helps keep weight down. The custom-valved Fox RP23 air shock gives 165mm (6.5in) of travel. There’s also a tapered head tube and a granny ring guard to stop you dropping your chain.

The kink in the down tube makes it possible to run a bottle cage and a shock with a reservoir – rare on such a long-limbed machine. If enduro downhill racing is your thing, there are ISCG tabs to accommodate a chain device. Our 70 comes with a matt-black ?nish and sublimated graphics.

The Slayer platform is available in two lesser guises, but the 70 is the bells-and-whistles all-mountain buffet of parts. You get a Fox 36 TALAS R fork attached to an Easton Haven 55mm stem and carbon ?bre bar. The wheels comprise DT Swiss EX 500 rims and Rocky Mountain’s own hubs, rolling on chunky yet quick-rolling Maxxis Ardent tyres.

The real jewel of the spec sheet is the carbon ?bre RaceFace SIXC crankset, which is just about as bling as you can get. SRAM X9 shifting on a bike of this price may seem stingy, but shifting is crisp and those cranks more than make up for it.

Our 19in test model has a 46in wheelbase that, combined with the 66.5-degree head angle, orientates the Slayer towards descending. It always feels planted, and there’s a nice progression to the suspension – you know exactly where you are in the stroke at all times.

Thanks to the Slayer’s rich heritage we always sort of knew this bike would do well on the downhills. The big question was, would it climb? The 13.6kg (30lb) weight is a big advantage – although the short stem and long-travel fork aren’t overly geared to cross-country, you never feel as though you’re lugging that much uphill.

Rocky’s geometry employs a 76-degree seat tube to improve your climbing position once the bike is into its sag. As a result you get a slightly more upright feel than you do with other all-mountain rigs. It’s comfortable though, and shifting your weight forward is immediate. The rear end behaves too – it doesn’t wallow or bob, and grips well over more technical inclines.

Our only gripe is that we managed to bend the lever of the powerful yet ?imsy Formula The One brakes during a crash. Downhill is still the Slayer’s core strength though. It’s insane that a bike of this weight can descend as well as it does, and the adrenaline makes the climb back up even easier.

Bike specification:
Frame: FORM hydroformed 7005 aluminium Fork: Fox 36 TALAS R Shock: Fox RP23 custom valve Drivetrain: SRAM X9 shifters and mech, RaceFace SIXC carbon ?bre double crankset Wheelset: DT Swiss EX 500 tubeless compatible, RMB hubs Brakes: Formula The One Bar/stem: Easton Haven Seatpost/saddle: Easton EA70/Fi’zi:k Gobi XLM

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The 22 teams that will ride this year’s Tour de France

ASO announced the 22 teams that will ride this year’s Tour de France on Wednesday afternoon. They stuck to an agreement with the UCI to invite all 18 ProTeam squads, and awarded the four wild card places to Cofidis, Saur - Sojasun, FDJ and Team Europcar.

The Geox-TMC team missed out on a place despite having 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre and Russia’s Denis Menchov in the squad. Menchov won the 2009 Giro d’Italia and was third in the 2010 Tour de France.

"This is a consequence of our decision to helping French cycling,” Prudhomme told the AFP news agency.
“Now it’s time for the French riders to show that we were right to trust them. We have the best 18 teams in the world and with the other teams we have emblematic riders: Voeckler at Europcar, Moncoutié at Cofidis, and Fédrigo and Casar at FDJ. And Saur-Sojasun has (Jérôme) Coppel, who is without a doubt one of the best hopes in French cycling for stage races.”

Prudhomme denied that ASO announced the teams so early in the year to avoid having to judge the teams on early-season sporting merit.

“Not at all. There are new rules with the 18 teams having already been selected. There were just four invitations remaining and only one French team (AG2R-La Mondiale) was among the 18, so we clearly preferred national (French) teams. Four of the five French second division teams have been selected and the fifth was selected for Paris-Nice. Why wait until the beginning of the season? It didn’t give much guidance in last few years.”

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