Video of the new Trek Madone 6.0, Bontrager wheels and climbing the Col du Madone posted in the "Latest Video" section. Enjoy!

Armstrong will be racing several custom painted Madone 6.0's during various stages of the TdF. The first road stage will be a custom painted bike and a different scheme for the the Ventoux and for the final stage into Paris. After the Tour the bikes will be put on display in Paris and then auctioned off to charity. Break out those checkbooks!

The internet gods have smiled upon me at least temporarily! I was able to post some photos of the new Madone 6.0 in the Gallery section. Keep your fingers crossed as I will continue to attempt to post video as well.

After three separate plane transfers and one helicopter ride I have arrive in Nice, France for the 2010 Trek Launch. Trek has unveiled just in time for the upcoming Tour de France their new 6 Series Madone. Structurally it looks the same, however the Trek engineers shaved off 150 grams from the complete bike. Additionally they have stiffened the frame considerably over their Madone 5.0 series. Aesthetically the Madone 6.0 has a cleaner look with the housing for both the brakes and derailleur internally routed. Depending on the sketchy Euro hotel wifi connection (which is at dial-up speeds) I'll post pictures and more details later today.

Every once in a while a cycling documentary comes along that captures the essence of an event or person just perfectly. "Hell on Wheels" is the most recent, and now "A Ride with Georgie Hincapie." From the first second, I could tell this one was going to be good. The look, feel, texture and music of it is pure documentary. Take any printed interview or lame race report about Hincapie and throw them in the can and get this DVD. You might think George is some quiet, reserved guy but he has a belly full of fire when it comes to racing. Listen and watch his family talk about him as a kid growing up New York. Armstrong's there too, as is Zabriskie, Vande Velde, Sherwen and of course Liggett. Part 1 is about his life in general. Part 2 is about training and racing and his role(s). The final part is about his future, his legacy. It's a side of George that could never be captured in print or through some five-minute ass-kissing interview.

The cool element is when he's out on training rides with the camera next to him in a car and he's answering random questions about racing, life, training, etc. Another cool feature is him in what appears to be his home theater watching footage of himself from various races including Roubaix and the Tour de France. It's interesting to know that he uses a Life Coach in order to set goals and figure out ways to reach them. The film also touches on his marriage which is something we never see in any of these cycling films. People fail to recognize that the support system (the partners) are pivotal in the success of pro riders. Consider the schedule they have and the discipline and the constant movement.

The production value is awesome. It's gritty and raw and edited perfectly. The music is good too and chosen because it fits the film and not because the film maker decided he wanted to put in a song that he, the film maker likes (see any mountain bike video ever made).

You get the idea. Buy it, watch it, dig it.

LENGTH: 81 minutes
PRICE: $30
MORE: hincapiesports.com

Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer, Yaroslav Popovych, Sergio Paulinho,Dmitriy Muravyev, Gregory Rast, and Haimar Zubeldia are all headed to France for the start of the Tour. One surprise is the absence of Chris Horner who has proven to be a valuable rider in the Grand Tours.
When ROAD spoke to Leipheimer yesterday he wouldn't disclose the final Tour team selections but he did say, "I don't really agree with it, but I understand it." Sounds like Horner will be missed.

Team Garmin-Slipstream today announced its much-anticipated Tour de France roster. The riders that will represent the American team in tackling the world’s toughest sporting event are:

Julian Dean, Tyler Farrar,Ryder Hesjedal, Dan Martin, David Millar, Danny Pate, Christian Vande Velde, Bradley Wiggins, David Zabriskie

“We are bringing a diverse and versatile squad to the 2009 Tour de France,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Slipstream Sports, LLC and Director Sportif, Team Garmin-Slipstream. “We had an incredible first Tour as a team last year and this year we hope for GC contention, possible stage wins and even the yellow jersey at some point.”

Photo: Al Crawford

ROAD: You were behind both Levi and Lance, what's your perspective on how they look just prior to the Tour de France?

Ben Jacques-Maynes: They were looking really good. They are able to step their pace up at will. Whenever they needed to go hard they could. You could tell they were deciding they wanted to ride hard or really damn hard. They definitely weren't showing all their cards to me. They were there for a good hard workout, but they weren't riding at their maximum.It was a two-man time trial. There was a lot left in the tank from them and I was pretty impressed to see them ride that hard for that long. I think they're going to have a really good Tour. I think Lance was either trying a little harder or inherently had a little bit more than Levi. You can see by looking at some pictures that he was suffering a little bit more, but he was really putting it out. He was definitely motivated to work hard and get a lot out of the race.

Photographer Carson Blume shot some video from the back of the moto at the Nevada City Classic. Great shots of Ben Jacques-Maynes, Levi and Lance off the front.

The Astana Cycling Team announced today the list of 13 riders from where the 9 final riders will be selected to contest the 2009 Tour de France, beginning July 4th in Monaco. “The complete 2009 Tour roster will be chosen based on the strongest team from both a sportive and team-spirit criteria,” said Astana’s General Manager, Johan Bruyneel.

Culver City, Calif. – Sprinter Ivan Dominguez has signed with Rock Racing after a five-month ProTour stint with Fuji-Servetto.

Dominguez initially signed with Rock Racing before the 2009 season, but left the team in early January to accept a spot with the new ProTour squad. His return to domestic racing was a personal decision, he said, based on a desire to be closer to his family and the races he loves.

“Racing in Europe was a great opportunity, but this is where I want to be,” Dominguez said. “(Rock Racing Team Owner) Michael Ball left the door open for me and I’m grateful for the chance to be a part of this team again.”

“We knew it was a dream of Ivan’s to race in Europe and completely supported his decision to pursue that dream,” Ball said. “I told Ivan he would always have a place on this team and I meant it. We are glad he’s back and look forward to his contributions throughout the rest of the season.”
 
Dominguez, who was often referred to as “The Cuban Missile" due to his Cuban heritage, was granted U.S. citizenship Feb. 26. Since turning professional in 2000, the 33-year-old has won stages at the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour of Missouri and the now-defunct Tour de Georgia, in addition to victories at a number of major one-day races in the U.S.

He defected from his home country while competing with the Cuban national cycling team at the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York City.

The Kelly Benefit team started the season with the Gary Fisher aluminum/carbon fiber frames. However, back at Trek HQ the Gary Fisher road brand was getting an overhaul. And just in time for the Philadelphia International race the Kelly Benefit team received their first batch of full carbon fiber Fisher road frames. On my recent visit to the Kelly Benefit service course in Minneapolis I was able to get a sneak peek of the new team frame, the Cronus.

This one was forwarded to me by Tom Hodge over at Recovox.

Devin Walton of Shimano takes me through some of the real cool features and tuning tips for the Dura-Ace 7900 Di2 groupset. While this system is complex in design, it's real easy to use and adjust.

Devin Walton of Shimano walks me through the Di2 electronic shifting groupset. Pretty advanced stuff that has been going through the rigors of the ProTour with Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia High Road. It's top level gear indeed. This video explains it all.