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New Zealand road cycling champion Hayden Roulston has withdrawn from the track squad to focus his attentions on his road racing career.

Roulston, who recently signed a contract with the powerful pro tour team, Radioshack Nissan Trek, had also harboured hopes of making a successful return to track cycling in a bid to make the team for the London Olympics.

After an intense week of training with the BikeNZ track squad in Invercargill, the double Beijing Olympic medallist decided to withdraw ahead of the UCI Oceania Track Championships starting today at the ILT Velodrome.

BikeNZ men's endurance coach Tim Carswell said Roulston had been a valuable addition back into the track cycling ranks but he fully understood and supported the decision to concentrate on his road career.

"The requirements to be a successful rider for a Pro Tour road team as well as prepare for an Olympic Games on the track are formidable," Carswell said.

hard this week and has shown signs of the sort of training numbers needed at this level on the track.

"At the same time he has realised what it will take in terms of time, both for key competitions and specific training, for him to be considered for selection on the track for London.

"The Olympic selection policy requires riders to prove their capabilities in the major World Cup and World Championship meets.

"However Hayden's new road contract involves him for the early part of the season in particular, and after weighing up all of these factors he has come to the conclusion that he can't fulfil the requirements demanded for both road and track."

Carswell said Roulston had decided that it was better to withdraw now and take a break before focusing on his preparations for the spring classics road racing season in Europe.

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Andenne, Belgium

Eneco Tour, Stage 3: Phinney Slips To Eighth

Taylor Phinney of the BMC Racing Team conceded the lead Thursday at the Eneco Tour of Benelux while teammate Greg Van Avermaet finished 10th on the stage to move into 11th place overall.

Van Avermaet Boxed In

Phillipe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) attacked on the penultimate climb of the 191.2 kilometer race and soloed to the stage win and into the overall lead. Van Avermaet was part of a small group that rolled in nine seconds later, while Phinney conceded 35 seconds, finished 21st and slid to eighth overall. "I was a bit boxed in when Gilbert went," Van Avermaet said. "My legs felt OK, but I think there was one man stronger than all the rest today." Van Avermaet is 36 seconds behind Gilbert heading into Friday's 14.7 km individual time trial.

Opportunity For Phinney

Phinney said hasn't lost confidence after slipping out of the leader's jersey for the first time since winning Monday's prologue. "I'm definitely confident in my time trial ability," the reigning Under 23 world time trial champion said. "It was disappointing to lose my lead, but the team did a good job looking after me. When it came down to crunch time, I just didn't have it. But I definitely feel like I can take time back. I'm really motivated to win the stage tomorrow

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Perwez, Belgium

Tour de Wallonie, Stage 3: Kristoff Third

Alexander Kristoff finished third for the BMC Racing Team Monday at the Tour de Wallonie, but teammate Greg Van Avermaet lost the overall lead by one second after being edged out in an intermediate sprint.

Team On The Front All Day

The entirety of the BMC Racing Team rode the front to chase down a three-man breakaway that led by five minutes at one point during the 224-kilometer stage. After making the catch with 17 km to go, less than a kilometer later, Van Avermaet was pipped at the final intermediate sprint of the day by Joost Van Leijen (Vacansoleil), who became the new race leader. "It was really close," Van Avermaet said. "We'll try to get the lead back in the next couple of days. The team is riding really well." Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek) won the stage ahead of Danilo Napolitano (Acqua e Sapone) and Kristoff. "I was alone at the end," Kristoff said, "so I had to take a little bit too much wind to get the victory. But my legs are there and I was able to get in position at the end, so I'm happy to be back on track."

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SAINT-FLOUR, France — Spanish rider Luis Leon Sanchez has won Sunday's ninth stage of the Tour de France after a long breakaway in the mountains.

 

Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, the French national champion, finished second and took the yellow jersey from Thor Hushovd of Norway. Voeckler is no stranger to yellow, after wearing it for 10 days in 2004.

 

Veteran Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov withdrew from the race after crashing near the halfway point of the 129.2-mile trek from Issoire to Saint-Flour in the Massif Central. It was Vino’s final tour and marks a sad way to end his controversial but illustrious and entertaining career.

 

Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha was hit by a car late in the stage and took down Dutch rider Johnny Hoogerland with him as he flew sideways off his saddle. Both got up and continued to race.

 

Defending champion Alberto Contador fell early on, but the Spaniard was unharmed and rode on.

 

Team Sky rider Juan Antonio Flecha was struck by a car late in Sunday's ninth stage of the Tour de France, sending the Spaniard flying into Dutch cyclist Johnny Hoogerland and bringing them both down.

 

Flecha had cuts to his legs and arms but got back on his bike. Hoogerland also remounted his bike and continued racing.

 

The Tour car was parallel to Flecha before, the driver seemingly misjudging how close it was to the Spaniard and turning into him. He was knocked from his saddle and collided with Hoogerland, who flew into a ditch.

 

The 33-year-old Flecha's jersey was shredded on the back and blood dripped from his knee and elbow. Despite the heavy fall, he rode at a decent pace upon resuming racing.

 

By sheer luck, Hoogerland escaped a potentially horrific injury as he was sent flying narrowly over a barbed wire fence.

 

The pair had been in the breakaway group when the incident happened, but they were soon caught by the peloton.  The extent of their injuries is still unknown. 

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The BMC Racing Team successfully protected Cadel Evans and his place on the overall classification Monday during a Tour de France stage that was not without a few tense moments.

'Nervous, Dangerous Stage'
"It was a nervous, dangerous stage with a fair bit of wind in the final," Evans said. "It seems they use more and more narrow roads in the Tour. It's great for excitement but puts the risk rating up a bit high. Fortunately, George (Hincapie) and Marcus (Burghardt) kept me in front most of the time." Hincapie and teammate Manuel Quinziato were caught up in a crash inside the final 25 kilometers of the 198 km race. "But it was nothing bad," BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue said. "(Amaël Moinard and (Ivan) Santaromita did a nice job to bring those guys back so they could protect Cadel in the final."

Uphill Finish Tuesday
Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervélo) won the sprint finish as the overall standings remain unchanged. Evans sits third overall, one second behind Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo). "Aside from George and Manuel going down, the day went as planned," Brent Bookwalter said. "It was relatively nice the first two hours, then got itchy for the intermediate sprint and possible cross winds. I think we did well to take care of Cadel – switching on and off amongst each other throughout the race, while always trying to stay as grouped as possible." Evans said positioning and staying out of trouble will be important on Tuesday's stage. It finishes with a two-kilometer ascent of the Mûr de Bretange. "Getting into a good position in the final is always the best way to make time, which is a similar sort of tactic we used on the first stage," Evans said.

Best regards,
BMC Racing Team    

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Firstly, I would like to tell you a bit about my self. My name is Brittany. I live on the Gold Coast and have done all my life. I began cycling about one and a half years ago. After watching my brother, Bryce Lindores, win a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing I decided, if these disabled people can have the drive and dedication to do amazing things, so can I. I started club racing a couple of months after getting on the bike and the rest is history. I am currently also studying a bachelor of Nursing, which keeps me on my toes. After winning the QLD state road race championships in August, 2010 I began riding for the new Virgin Blue RBS Morgan women’s cycling team but unfortunately began this year with rough start. On the 1^st of January I was ready to start the year with a bang and headed down to Geelong to ride Bay Crits.

 

I was all warmed up and ready to go, on the first day, when my team mates and I decided to do 1 lap of the course to get a good feel for it. Next thing I know I woke up in Emergency in the Geelong Hospital with grazes all over my face, knees, should, hip and hands. My first question to Emma Rickards, our DS, was ‘did I race?’ To my disgust she said ‘No’. As I don’t remember anything the story goes something like this. We hit one of the corners pretty quickly to get a good feel for it. Supposedly, the race car was behind us and tooted us to move over so they could get through. Laura Luxford, my team mate who I was sitting behind, braked and my reaction time was just too slow. After locking my front wheel with her back one I went head over the handle bars and was concussed for about 5 minutes.

 

Unfortunately, this meant I missed out on Bay Crits, Nationals and the Tour Down Under Women’s Series because my recovery took about 5 weeks as I was still getting dizzy and fatigued quite easily. Luckily, I am back to normal, or as normal as I was before I hit my head, and back in training. I decided yesterday, at the last minute, that I am going to do the Oceania Road Championships in 2 weeks and then focus on the Mersey Valley Tour in April. This year I am going to focus on the National Road Series and… staying up right.

 

Until next time.

Britt