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The wife of Tour de France champion Cadel Evans says the couple are adopting a 12-month-old Ethiopian boy.

Chiara Passerini told Australia's Fairfax Media on Tuesday that the couple hope to take the boy to their home in Switzerland next month. She said the couple went to Ethiopia from Australia "to bring home our little 12-month-old boy after months of paperwork."

She added that "we always felt the strong wish to adopt, so we decided to start our family through adoption."

Evans, who this year became the first Australian to win the cycling classic, said on Twitter page Tuesday: "Being quieter on Twitter...busy baby sitting!"

Passerini posted a picture on Twitter on Sunday that appears to show her holding the boy's hand, with the caption: "We had the most special Christmas of our lives..."

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PARIS — Tour de France organisers inadvertently published next year's route on their official website according to several specialist cycling websites on Monday.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) refused to comment when contacted by AFP about the embarrassing slip-up over the race which gets underway in the Belgian town of Liege on June 30.

The page is no longer accessible but Dutch journalist Stephan van der Zwan has some images he took of it on www.Wielerland.nl, the website that revealed the error.

The 2012 Tour will feature nine flat stages, five mountain stages including two finishing at altitude, two individual time-trials and a prologue. There will also be two rest days.

The race will comprise a total of 25 climbs of 2nd, 1st or Hors categorie: one in the Vosges, three in the Jura, four in the Swiss Jura, six in the Alps and 11 in the Pyrenees.

The official unveiling of the route is due to take place in Paris on October 18.

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 RESULTS

1. Leopard Trek (16min 30secs)

2. Liquigas              (+4)

3. HTC-Highroad    (+9)

20. Team Sky          (+42)

 

Leopard Trek took victory in the opening team time trial at the Vuelta a Espana to place Jakob Fuglsang into the race lead. The Luxembourg squad finished with five riders but clocked a time of 16 minutes and 30 seconds to edge out Liquigas and ensure the Dane became the first recipient of the red leader’s jersey. Team Sky endured a difficult start to the race and dropped time following a crash in the opening stages.

 

Chris Sutton, Team Sky Rider:

 

“That wasn’t the best of starts to be honest. We’d gone over everything a lot in the past few days and thought we had it down to a tee. We’d changed the order a few times and got it perfect, and we started out great.

 

“Kurt led us out because he’s so experienced at these things. We began by taking things easy, but not too easy, set a good tempo, and it was all going well until there was a touch of wheels or something which meant Zandio had to unclip. Kurt also crashed at that point which was hard because it meant everyone behind him had to chase a couple of bike-lengths to get back on.

 

“We regrouped as best we could and gave it everything, and although we lost 42 seconds, over a three-week race that’s going to be insignificant. It would’ve been nice if we could have got a result for Bradley, but we all gave it 100% and that’s all you can ask for at the end of the day.

 

“Zandio deserves special praise because he did brilliantly to get back on after unclipping. He gave a huge effort to chase up that hill and having him there with us was a big bonus.

 

“Tomorrow’s stage is one that I’ll be looking to do well in as a sprinter. I’m feeling strong so I’ll try and get in the mix and test out the legs and see how I go. I’ve done a few sprints in training over the past few days and have been hitting some good numbers, but obviously in a race situation after 174km anything can happen. I’d love to get a stage win but there’s so many good sprinters here so we’ll have to see. I’m just grateful to get the opportunity to get the chance to go toe-to-toe with those guys in a Grand Tour.”

 

Steven de Jongh, Team Sky Sports Director:

 

“It was a really tough start.

 

“We lost Kurt after a kilometre. He came down and Zandio was also held up. Xabier had to chase down the group after that and then in the final we were down with four guys.

“Some positive things are that Kurt is looking really fit and Bradley is looking super strong. If you look at the overall picture with some of the main contenders Bradley lost some time but to most of them he lost around 20-25 seconds. It is a loss of course and we aren’t happy with it but it could be worse. Everyone is okay so we will carry on and try to make up for it.”

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Spanish champion prolongues contract with Unzué's squad for another season; young Cantabrian stays for two more years after a breakthrough 2011

 

Movistar Team keep strenghtening their roster with the next seasons in mind, and has closed an agreement to extend the contract of current Spanish road champion José Joaquín Rojas. The rider from Cieza, concluding his term at the end of the next season, has prolongued his link to the telephone squad and will stay until the end of 2013 in the ranks of the team directed by Eusebio Unzué, currently through his fifth season. Winner of the Spanish RR championships by outsprinting Alberto Contador in Castellón, Rojas is completing his most brilliant season, with victories in the Trofeo Deià and the Volta a Catalunya, plus a remarkable Tour de France, where he contested for the green jersey until the last stage after wearing it for four days.   Beside Rojas, Movistar Team also guaranteed the continuity by one of their greatest hopefuls, Ángel Madrazo, closing his term at the end of the year. The 23-year-old Spaniard will stay for two more years with the Blue squad, where he will try to confirm the impression left in his third season as pro, where, despite two serious crashes which cut his progression in the crucial part of his schedule, he could notch some important places that prove the quality he showed in lower ranks before taking the leap towards pros in 2009.

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Eneco Tour, Stage 2: Phinney Keeps The Lead

BMC Racing Team's Taylor Phinney finished sixth Wednesday to retain his lead at the Eneco Tour of Benelux, but his advantage over second place was cut from seven to three seconds. 

Tougher Stage Awaits
André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) won his second straight stage but Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Pro Cycling) finished third in the 173.7 kilometer race to take a four-second time bonus. "It was a really nervous day, but the team took really good care of me," Phinney said. "I was hoping to pay them back at the finish with a top five or top three placing. Unfortunately, I conceded some time, which was not part of the plan, but the team is really strong. I'm confident in my legs and looking forward to tomorrow." BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Fabio Baldato said Thursday's 191.2 km undulating stage will be Phinney's greatest test since he took the lead with a win in the prologue. "Tomorrow will be much more difficult," Baldato said. "We hope Taylor keeps riding well and receiving good teamwork to keep the lead."

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Sint Willebrord, The Netherlands

Phinney Keeps Lead At Eneco Tour

Taylor Phinney stayed safe Tuesday on a crash-filled Stage 1 at the Eneco Tour of Benelux to keep his overall lead for the BMC Racing Team.

Thankful For Teamwork

Phinney avoided several pile-ups, including a large one in the middle of the field with one kilometer to go in the 192.1 km stage. The former U.S. national time trial champion even led out the sprint, finishing seventh to stage winner André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto). "I was feeling good at the end," Phinney said. "Rabobank made a big push to try and split the field and I was right up there with great help from Greg Van Avermaet and Karsten Kroon in the final. We had (Michael) Schär, (Johann) Tschopp and (Simon) Zahner on the front all day. And Steve Morabito and Yannick Eijssen also did great work. I'm really thankful to them for all their help today." Assistant Director Rik Verbrugghe said the BMC Racing Team was strong in helping pull back a breakaway that gained a more than four minutes' lead. "The guys did a good job to close the gap, along with Garmin-Cervélo and Sky," Verbrugghe said. "It was really dangerous with the roads today but we kept Taylor safe and that was 
most important."

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Reigning Italian champion Giovanni Visconti will ride with Movistar Team for the next two seasons. The Sicilian rider has come to an agreement with the squad directed by Eusebio Unzué to wear the telephone colours during 2012 and 2013. Pro cyclist since 2005, Visconti, aged 28, has already notched up three Italian road race titles, apart from 15 other victories where he profited from his top speed and excellent conditions for the mid mountains. Visconti has won the UCI Europe Tour ranking for the last two years.

 

GIOVANNI VISCONTI – DATA

28 years old (13/01/1983). Torino (ITA)
Pro since 2005
* Pro Career:
2011: Farnese; 2010-09: ISD-Neri; 2008-07: Quick Step; 2006: Team Milram; 2005: Domina Vacanze.
* Victories: 18
Italian RR Championship 2011, 2010, 2007; GC Tour of Turkey ’10; G.P. Fourmies ’08; 1st Coppa Agostoni ’09; Trofeo Melinda ’09; 1st G.P. Città di Prato ’09; 1st Classica Sarda ’10; G.P. dell’Insubria ’11; 1st Coppa Sabatini ’07, ‘06; st. Settimana Coppi Bartali ’11; 2 st. Tour of Turkey ’10; st. Vuelta a Andalucía ’08; st. Tour of Slovenia ’09; st. Tour of Luxembourg ’10, st. Brixia Tour ’07.
* Other results: 
1st Europe Tour Ranking ’10, ‘09; 1st U23 European Championships

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8 August, 2011 – They’re called “Super Kittel” and “The Incredible Sagan”; they are the superheroes that thrilled the crowds at the 2011 Tour de Pologne. In the attached photos you can see Marcel Kittel while he flies flat over the finish line in the third stage in  Katowice and the Slovak on the final podium in  Krakow  while he literally “rips” his jersey to show off the Slovak colours on his chest with unmitigated pride. For the two riders this was a Tour de Pologne they’ll always remember: the German sprinter played a great hand of poker, winning 4 stages in the final sprint. On the other hand, the Slovakian won two stages and took home the yellow jersey for the general classification and the white and green jersey for the points rankings.

These are two young men destined for greatness in the future! Ride on, guys!

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The end of Vuelta a Burgos is a triumph for Team Katusha: in the last stage of the competition, which arrived in Lagunas de Nelia, Joaquim Rodriguez and Dani Moreno reached respectively the third and fourth position, behind today winner Mikel Landa (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Juan Josè Cobo (Geox), which was second. Thanks to this performance, 'Purito' is the Vuelta a Burgos 2011 winner, while Moreno is just behind the Catalan rider, having reached the second position in general classification. 38'' far: these results are a confirmation of the huge work done by the Russian team, which dominated the race, keeping the leader jersey since the second day on. 

"The today stage was particularly hard - says Rodriguez - Euskaltel imposed an incredible pace, reaching a well-deserved win. Mikel Landa, at his first year as a pro, today proved to be a very talented rider. Luckily, once again I could take advantage on my teammates incredible work: we're an extraordinary group, in which everybody is happy to sacrifice himself for his teammate. So, this success has to be equally shared with all the team members: without them it would have been impossible to reach such a result. Now we're ready to face the next days before Vuelta with a huge enthusiasm".

In the Sport Director Mario Chiesa's opinion too, the team work is the main reason of this success: "Joaquim made a difference because he's a huge champion, but if we caught this result is thanks to the whole team. From the first stage until the last one, all of our riders worked at their best in order to allow 'Purito' to win the general classification. Also because of this, I think that this result is compelling. Now, though, we have to keep on training and improving for Vuelta a Espana, a competition which many champions will take part to: so, it's important that we keep on being focused and we work at our best during the next days".

BMC Racing Team's Louder Hometown Favorite In Utah

Jeff Louder, champion of the 2008 edition of the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and a Salt Lake City resident, will lead the BMC Racing Team at this year's revamped edition of the event billed "America's Toughest Stage Race."

Queen Stage To Snowbird Resort
With new courses and a UCI designation, Louder said he has done his homework to be ready for the six-day race that begins Tuesday with an uphill prologue in Park City's Utah Olympic Park. "The race will be a lot different this year with a higher caliber field," Louder said. "Everything can be won or lost on the last climb up Little Cottonwood Canyon (on the final stage). There is also the big question as to who rides well at altitude." BMC Racing Team Assistant Director Michael Sayers said Louder will receive good support, particularly from Brent Bookwalter and George Hincapie. The pair helped Cadel Evans win last month's Tour de France.