Alberto Contador may be the man to beat when the European cycling season gets under way Sunday with the Paris-Nice race.
With his new teammate Lance Armstrong sitting out, the 26-year-old Spaniard, one of only five men to win the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Spanish Vuelta, returns to the weeklong event after his Astana team was barred last year in the wake of doping scandals.
“It’s a race I’ve always loved, and has already been lucky for me,†Contador said in Saturday’s edition of the French sports daily L’Equipe. “I was frustrated not to be at the start last year and returning with an ambition means a lot to me.  Details
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Formula One still retains some of its image as a glamour sport, favoured by playboys and daredevils with little regard for training schedules and nutritionists. Juan Manuel Fangio, who dominated the sport in the 1950s, developed a physique that could best be described as portly, while James Hunt, the 1976 world champion, was a notorious party animal and occasional marijuana smoker.
In the modern age, F1’s increasing demands mean drivers have to be extremely fit and focused at all times. Go out on the town the night before a big race and your dulled reactions will show up all too easily the following morning on the electronic telemetry readouts… Details
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We first reported on the high performance bicycle being created and built by F1 engineering specialists, BERU f1systems in December. Now we can disclose the bike will be fully revealed next week at the launch of the U.K. Science Museum’s free exhibition “Fast Forward: 20 ways F1 is changing our world†The UKP20,000 Factor 001 is much more than a bicycle, and is actually a ground-breaking training tool combining innovative design and advanced electronics. The company claims the Factor 001 will change the way athletes and serious enthusiasts undertake fitness training.
Factor 001 is the result of a creative project to explore the transfer of design approaches, technology and materials from Formula One … Details
The first race of the Spring Gravity Series is Saturday, March 7th. at famous Sand Hill Ranch.
Get ready for Sea Otter and enjoy excellent competitive racing in all classes. The Pro class is particularly fun with quality racers and an enjoyable environment.
March 7, 2009 Mtn-X (aka 4-X)
sign ups and practice: 8 -10 am
Racing starts at 11 am
Note: Races are always run in youngest to oldest order, so we start with 15 and under, and end with Pro.Â
… Details