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Cervélo TestTeam’s final selection for the Vuelta a España. The decision has been made and the nine riders have been chosen for the last of the three 2009 grand tours. With a strong and balanced team that includes three home favorites, Cervélo TestTeam is primed to tackle the challenges of the 21-stage Vuelta a España. The tour begins in the Netherlands in Assen, on August 29 and finishes September 20 in Madrid, Spain.

Simon Gerrans (AUS), Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU), Xavier Florencio (ESP), Roger Hammond (GBR) and Philipp Deignan (IRL) will be looking for stage victories, while José Angel Gomez Marchante, racing on home turf, is focused on a strong result in the general classification. Alex Sans Vega (ESP) and Marcello Albasini (SUI) are the two sports directors with the Vuelta team and, along with their crew, will provide the riders with the best possible support to help them achieve their goals.

“The team has done a great job in its inaugural year on all aspects of the team’s mandate: equipment testing, fan access, and of course race performance,” said Thomas Campana, Team Manager. “But I am sure that we are not finished yet. The guys are still hungry, and they’re prepared to work hard to achieve top results in the next couple of months until the end of the season.”
Selection Cervélo TestTeam - Vuelta a España 2009

1.     Iñigo Cuesta (ESP)
2.     Philip Deignan (IRL)
3.     Xavier Florencio (ESP)
4.     Simon Gerrans (AUS)
5.     Roger Hammond (GBR)
6.     Ignatas Konovalovas (LTU)
7.     Jose Angel Gómez Marchante (ESP)
8.     Gabriel Rasch (NOR)
9.     Dominique Rollin (CAN)

Join the Cervélo TestTeam for a new episode of the hi-resolution documentary of ‘Beyond the Peloton’. This time, the filmmakers will take you behind the scenes of Italy’s Grand Tour.

Take me to Cervelo’s video gallery >

Saturday the 15th saw the coming together of the Big Dog’s of Cycling. Magnus Backstead,  Yanto Barker and the Big Dog Himself….Me! For the Brighton Big Dog Mountain bike race.

Pairing up with the local Caravan expert of the Cycling world, Paul Hopkins of BMV Leisure….plug… We competed in the 6hr Pair. The course was excellent, great climbing, amazing single track and dry! With an MTB Jumble from Retro bike, cakes and propercoffee the event was a true mountain bike festival with a great atmosphere.

The Race! Paul started and came through in 2ndplace not far down off 1st. We pushed on with one lap on, one lap off for the duration, taking the lead on lap two and building on it. We finished 1st and just missed out on clocking up another lap come the finish….a great day out. We cleaned up, packed up and got some chicken from the Barbecue before the prize presentation. A great effort for the ceremony, podium girls, goodie bags and sparkly stuff, you had to make the most of it! Also over the course of the day, I picked up the prize for thr fastest lap and received a very nice model sterling engine which has kept the office amused this week and the kettle on permanent tea duty!

So, rosette in hand, I am now the official “Big Dog” of Brighton….. Life’s complete.

Will deffinatly return next year: http://www.brightonbigdog.com/

Official site of Felt Racing: http://feltracing.co.uk/

Posted by Fatty (PBK) Hi we are very fortunate here to get a few products in to try to use and abuse and to generally evaluate long before they come to market, as well as a few items that are new but not unique,

First off is the excellent Castelli Body Paint bibshort, I was fortunately invited to the Castelli 24h race in Italy way back in June to race for there world team and Castelli kindly provided pre production samples of there latest designs for us to try (and keep).

So what can they do with a short you ask?? Well quite alot as it happens this short is as different as a short can be, to start with it is made of a single piece of engineered power stretch lyrca yes a single piece, it also includes integrated leg grippers, integrated so nothing bonded sewn injected or stuck on just a subtle increase in the amount of lycra content, But the real star is the pad, (ProgettoX2) this is a double skinned pad with a free floating pad next to the saddle and a fixed body hugging micro fleece next to the skin, There is a lot of science behind it , but you only need to know one thing, they work, they work very well in fact, they are by far the most comfortable short i have ever worn.

The nice people at Ritchey sent me one of there super logic seatpost to try. Now a seatpost is a pretty static thing so there is nothing to report (but that’s the highest praise going) it is light (approx 160g) hasn’t slipped , doesn’t creek there are optional heads available for oval rails (its supplied with ones for a round rail) and it is well finished, Its expensive but if you are after a premium seatpost you wont go wrong with it.

Ok a new product just in and yet to go on a bike is the New Look quartz pedal these appear to be a ideal compromise between Times simplicity , support and ruggedness and Crank bros weight, more news after the weekend.

Body Paint Bibshort:  http://bit.ly/1Tv9cS

Progetto X2 seat pad:  http://bit.ly/tah1l

PBK-blog: http://www.pbkblog.com

On 9 November 1979, Castelli won the prestigious Corriere dello Sport Discobolo award. The presentation letter says, “Castelli… has, in a truly futuristic way, revolutionized clothing for cyclists.”

In 30 years, nothing has changed. Each and every day we set out to create tomorrow’s revolutionary futuristic clothing.

Castelli has been at the forefront of essentially every breakthrough in cycling clothing since we made wool shorts obsolete. Were not just creating this seasons fad; were setting tomorrows standards for an entire industry.

1977 First aerodynamic Lycra® short.
1983 First sublimation printing of jerseys.
1984 First functional thermal winter clothing.
1996 First fully aerodynamic skinsuit.
1998 First modern bib short (Progetto Y).
1998 First wicking fabric treatment (Prosecco).
2008 First radiating insulation (Radiation).
2010 Body Paint futuristic short.

The Body Paint bibshort is designed to synchronize with your body’s movement on the bike. It is anatomically tailored and made out of only four pieces of material:

- The short portion is made with a single piece of engineered Power Stretch Lycra®
fabric with integrated Giro++ leg grippers designed not to constrict blood flow.
- Straps made in seamless Giro++ elastic fabric.
- Light mesh fabric on back for breathability.
- Progetto X2 seat pad.

The combination of a single piece of fabric to eliminate seams and cover the bottom of the riders body as if it was painted on, will help harness the riders muscle’s output potential and facilitate blood flow in the capillaries, getting oxygen to the muscles.

The shoulder straps fit differently to those on other bibs. We have removed as much material as possible from the front of the stomach and upper torso area, so that instead of rising vertically from the waist to the middle of the shoulder, the straps curve from the outside of the hips and around your chest to leave more of the chest uncovered makes the shorts feel less restrictive and cooler in warm conditions.

It has been taking us over three years of development to create this one single piece of fabric bibshort. The Castelli Body Paint Bibshort will be introduced to the public at the Eurobike trade-fair in September.

The Body Paint Bibshort comes with the our new patented Progetto X2 seat pad, guaranteeing comfort never before seen before: Click here >>

We’ve applied everything we know to make cyclists cut faster through the wind.
The speed suit is made using Body Paint technology: a single piece of fabric to eliminate seams and cover the riders body as if it was painted on.

The cut is very short in the front so that when the rider is in the riding position the suit lays perfectly flat on the front. Velocity® fabric featuring a very smooth surface for maximum aerodynamics. Giro++ flat elastic on leg opening and collar means that everything lays very flat and air flow transitions smoothly from skin to fabric. Longer legs for a smoother air flow around the legs. An aerodynamic flap to cover the riders race number, while letting the air flow more smoothly over the back.

Notice carefully in the photo of Carlos Sastre, you’ll see that the lower half of Carlos’ speed suit is made with Body Paint shorts attached to the upper part of the speed suit that also uses Body Paint technology.

For more information on Body Paint Bibshorts:  Click here >>

Simon Richardson (CyclingWeekly) at the Castelli 24 hour crit race.
I’m at the Castelli 24 hour criterium in Feltre, northern Italy, and can’t remember the last time I had this much fun on two wheels.

Between 10pm and 1.30am last night I was racing around a 1.8km circuit in front of huge crowds against the likes of Marzio Bruseghin, Andrea Noe, Michele Bartoli, Francisco Ballerini and various amateur riders, Italian industry insiders and local weekend warriors.

And I do mean racing. It’s flat out, people are attacking, others are getting dropped and as I write this we’re only just about to hit the halfway mark.

The peloton is made up of 100 teams, each team has 12 riders, only one of which is out on the course at any one time.

Each team member typically rides for 20-30 minutes before swinging off and letting their team mate jump in to the race - like a Madison but with not hand slings.

It actually takes a fair bit of concentration to get the change over right. When waiting in the numbered pits before going out, you have to watch out for your team mate coming by. Most teams use the system of holding fingers up to signal how many more laps they intend to do.

The real skill is riding out of the pits and jumping in to the group your team mate was just in. I got this wrong last night and chased the group all the way up the climb, only to blow and have to sit up and wait for the next one.

The course itself is great fun with a deceptively hard climb up through the start finish area, a, fast twisty descent and a long, fast flat section round the back of the circuit that finishes on a wide, sweeping cobbled left hander that brings you back to the start finish.

Get yourself in a good group and you’re lapping in just under three minutes.

The Castelli crit gets underway. Bright orange Lamborghini pace car was opening the race!

More images from the crit race: http://tinyurl.com/ntz4r5

CyclingWeekly, click here!