IAM Cycling sprinter Oliver Naesen says he cannot believe that LottoNL-Jumbo's Dylan Groenewegen was not disqualified for angling him into the barriers in the fast finale of Sunday's Tour de l'Eurométropole.

The Belgian rider was unable to pass the Dutch champion on the inside due to being pushed too close to the side of the road, having to bunny-hop an obstacle on the road and eventually finished second.

But Naesen was unhappy that the race jury didn't penalise Groenewegen for deviating from his line in the sprint, which has seen plenty of fast men relegated in years gone by.

"What a ridiculous decision of the UCI jury," said Naesen, quoted in Het Laatste Nieuws. "Has everyone seen the sprint yet? The pictures speak for themselves. Groenewegen drive me into the fences, that's super clear? I think it's just ridiculous that he wins."

Naesen said he was "the rightful winner" of the race, claiming that Groenewegen should be downgraded in the results.

UCI rules state that 'riders shall be strictly forbidden to deviate from the lane they selected when launching the sprint and, in doing so, endangering others.'

CyclingHub tweeted a side-by-side comparison video of the Groenewegen/Naesen sprint and the disqualification of Nacer Bouhanni at the Cyclassics Hamburg for narrowly veering into Caleb Ewan's line.

CHEVRIER CRASHES INTO A YOUNG SPECTATOR!#LV2016 pic.twitter.com/xRgkFnFJus

— CyclingHub (@CyclingHubTV) September 10, 2016

A roadside fan stepped in front of Clement Chevrier (IAM Cycling) on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España on Saturday, causing him to crash to the ground.

Chevrier was leading the chase group on the Puerto de Tudons climb with around 43km to go as a young spectator stepped out from the roadside, apparently to wave a flag at the camera and with his back to the riders.

The 24-year-old Frenchman had no option but to hit the fan, and crashed heavily to the ground – the spectator was also sent tumbling.

The riders behind Chevrier managed to ride around him, and there were no other riders involved.

Stage 20 is the final chance for the general classification riders to try and gain time overall before the race concludes in Madrid on Sunday. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) started stage 20 with a one minute 21 second lead over Chris Froome (Sky).

The first stage of the Tour des Fjords descended into shambles on Wednesday, when a wrong turn by a motorbike sent several riders the wrong way and later they had to deal with traffic on the route.

Having passed through a tunnel at the 129km mark of the 146km race, a race motorbike proceeded straight forward, before stopping having realised his mistake. The majority of the peloton stopped and turned round with the moto, but three riders, including stage winner Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) carried on.

According to Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) the three riders "took a short cut to the right and immediately had 30 seconds on us."

“To be honest, I expected the commissaire to neutralise the race,” said Howard. “But he didn’t, and you don’t stop just to stop. We had an advantage and we took it, but it’s strange.”

He added: “It is understandable there would be some angry riders. I’m happy, but it takes away some of the feeling as it’s not the same to win like that.”

Kristoff explained the situation: "I won the intermediate sprint and there was no breakaway in front of us. We came to a tunnel and the motorbike in front of us went straight, then he stopped because he had gone the wrong way.

“We turned around and I thought there would be a re-start, because we had been taken the wrong way through the tunnel and we were all together so it would be easy to do. But some went through the tunnel and took a short cut to the right and immediately had 30-seconds on us.

"To me this is a disappointing situation. I cannot believe we did not re-start all together, because that’s how we were when the mistake was made. There were no signs, no cars, noone showing us which way to go.”

Race director Roy Hegreberg admitted that 200 people had been promised to the race to control traffic, but only 175 people were provided, leading to the cars on the route inside the final three kilometres.

Bergen is set to host the 2017 World Championships, but these incidents will do little to instil confidence in the organisation.

Oliver Naesen (IAM Cycling) won the Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France on Sunday from a two-man escape, evading the chasing peloton by just seconds.

Belgian Naesen and Italian Alberto Bettiol (Cannondale-Drapac) were in a late move in the final 10 kilometres of the gruelling 247-kilometre WorldTour race in Brittany, north-west France.

The two riders worked together into the finish, as Naesen took the victory ahead of Bettiol and defending champion Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) brought the chasing bunch home for third.

>>> Peter Sagan abandons first road race after Olympics with illness

The victory is the biggest of 25-year-old Naesen's career so far. He will be heading to French WorldTour squad Ag2r for 2017 as the IAM team folds at the end of the 2016 season.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) made his return to road racing in Plouay after contesting the mountain bike discipline at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. However, the world champion's appearance was short lived as he withdrew due to illness.

On Saturday, Eugenia Bujak (BTC-City Ljubljana) took a surprise win in the women's race.

Result

Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France: Plouay to Plouay 247km

1. Oliver Naesen (Bel) IAM Cycling in 5-58-46

2. Alberto Bettiol (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac

3. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha

4. Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-BikeExchange

5. John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin

6. Maciej Paterski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice

7. Daniel Hoelgaard (Nor) FDJ

8. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

9. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx-QuickStep

10. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Dimension Data all same time

Jonas van Genechten (IAM Cycling) was first over the line in a scrappy, reduced bunch sprint on stage seven of the 2016 Vuelta a España.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) came over the line in third to collect four bonus seconds as he continues to push for the red leader's jersey.

The final 600 metres of the parcours was a winding, uphill sprint and a late crash on one of the turns took down a number of riders.

Among those to go down was Alberto Contador (Tinkoff). He was able to ride over the finish line but was clearly scuffed and appeared to indicate an injury to his hand or wrist.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac), who had been part of a five-man secondary breakaway, looked like they might have held on to contest the stage between the two of them but the front group came past them with under 200 metres to go.

The obligatory early day breakaway contained six riders, who were allowed to carve out an advantage of around 3-20 before the chase began to pay attention.

The riders who went up the road were Victor Campenaerts (LottoNL-Jumbo), Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Sander Armée (Lotto-Soudal), Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), Vegard Stake Laengen (IAM Cycling) and Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis).

After dangling away and working reasonably well together, the break could not hold off the inevitable catch and despite some later efforts, the remainder of the group was passed with 43km to go.

Astana took up the pace making at the front of the peloton, with Movistar following close behind. The whole bunch got strung out following the fast pace set by the Kazakh squad on the lower slopes of the Alto de Padornelo as the team looked to shell any rivals before the long descent and short uphill sprint finish.

With 29km to go to the finish, and around 11km out from the summit of the third category climb, a secondary breakaway went off the front of the peloton.

Clarke and Sanchez, the final two to be caught, were original accompanied by Dario Cataldo (Astana), Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step), and Maté - who'd been in the original break- as they rode away and soon gained an advantage of 30 second, which grew towards a minute.

As the lead group went under the 10km to go banner arguments about who was working kicked off and the peloton bore down behind them. Sanchez and Clarke kept the move going and held a gap of around 10 seconds for several kilometres, even extending it to 18 seconds for a little while.

With three kilometres between the peloton and the finish line, Bora-Argon 18 came to the front and tried to finally close out the gap to the two leaders. Grand Tour record attendee Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal) came forward to try and drag the pack over the gap.

Sanchez and Clarke were still away as they went under the flamme rouge but were finally caught with under 200 metres to go as the group came up the sharp closing incline.

Stage eight is the first of three consecutive summit finishes before the first rest day. The 177km from Villalpando to La Camperona goes gradually uphill until the proper climbs kicks up with four kilometres left to race.

Result

Vuelta a España 2016, stage seven Maceda to Puebla de Sanabria (158.5km)

1.    Jonas van Genechten (Bel) IAM Cycling 3:55.44

2.    Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff

3.    Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar

4.    Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC

5.    Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ

6.    Gedimas Bagdonas (Lit) AG2R

7.    Gianni Meersman (Bel) Etixx-QuickStep

8.    Kristan Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data

9.    Romain Hardy (Fra) Confidis

10.    Tosh van der Sande (Bel) Lotto-Soudal all st

General classification after stage seven

1. Darwin Atapuma (Col) BMC, 25-41-21

2. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 8s

3. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, at 42s

4. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, at 48s

5. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-BikeExchange, st

6. Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky, at 1-09

7. Simon Yates (GBr) Orica – BikeExchange, at 1-32

8. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step, at 1-38

9. Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar, st

10. David de la Cruz (Spa) Etixx Quick Step, at 2-11

Give him some music and IAM Cycling's Sondre Hols Enger will just keep on dancing.

The man who became a hit on the internet after his antics on the podium after winning stage six of the Tour of Croatia in April bust a groove on the team bus and showed off more of his impressive moves.

To be fair, if someone's going to play Kool and the Gang's Celebrate on the bus it's to be expected that Enger will cut a few shapes.

As CyclingHub says, there must be a way to manufacture and appearance for Enger on the podium this Tour. He's been up there in the sprint stages, notching up four top-10 finishes, but maybe getting in a mountain breakaway will be what it takes to get a bit more airtime for his impressive moves.

After all, the panel who judge the combativity award have made some questionable decisions so far in this race, so it could be Enger's best way to the podium.

Either that or win on the Champs-Élysées. That would be good as well.

#TeamIAM #TourDeSuisse

Yes.... this we confirm.

We did that this morning.

There are days like this. 😰😎 pic.twitter.com/haYtpC2drR

— ✚ Team IAM Cycling (@IAM_Cycling) June 15, 2016

Being the bus driver for a professional cycling team could be a great job, but you only ever make the headlines when something goes awry.

Remember when the Orica-GreenEdge bus got stuck under the finish banner on stage one of the 2013 Tour de France? Then there was a Roompot-Oranje Peloton bus that reversed into a building at Ghent-Wevelgem in 2015.

And at the Tour de France in 2015 the team buses didn't make it to the end in time when they were sent on an incredibly long and winding detour through some gorges on stage 14.

En route to the start of stage five at the Tour de Suisse the IAM Cycling bus driver beached his vehicle on a dip in the road, prompting team manager Rik Verbrugghe to question whether they'd make it to the start line on time.

The Swiss team did make it, thankfully, meaning they didn't have to abandon their home race. The driver probably won't be enjoying his 15 minutes of fame, though.

The IAM team later published a video of the bus being hauled out of its predicament by a 4x4.

Roger Kluge (IAM Cycling) caused an upset on a rare day for the sprinters in the back-end of the 2016 Giro d'Italia, after he made a solo attack within the final 500m of stage 17 to take the victory.

Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) retained his lead in the overall standings after finishing safely within the main bunch that followed in behind.

Kluge's win comes in a week which saw his IAM team announce they wouldn't continue after the end of the 2016 season and is their first WorldTour victory this year and a first ever Grand Tour stage win.

As the peloton entered the final kilometre together, it looked as though veteran Italian Filippo Pozzato (Wilier-South East) would be the one to claim the solo victory after he attacked shortly after the flamme rouge and gained 100m or so advantage.

But as he began to be dragged back closer to the peloton by the sprinter's teams, German Kluge made his move and quickly caught and passed Pozzato with a powerful ride.

As the sprint trains desperately tried to pull him back and the fast men launched their attacks, it was all too late as Kluge was able to sit-up and roll across the line in celebration.

Watch: Team Sky aim for stage wins in Giro final week

It's the first WorldTour victory for the 30-year-old, who has experienced most of his success on the track in his career.

Barely the only flat stage for the riders before the finale of the Giro in Turin on Sunday, most of the 17th stage was a straight forward instance of an early break gradually being pulled back.

Daniel Oss (BMC), Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff) and Eugert Zhupa (Wilier-Southeast) got away after just 2km and gained almost six minutes on the peloton, but that gap closed in to under a minute by the time they were within the final 30km.

>>> Does anyone actually want to win the Giro d’Italia sprinter’s jersey?

They were joined by Maxim Belkov (Katusha), Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal) and Ignatas Konovalovas (FDJ) shortly before the 20km to go mark and the six then managed to hold out a circa 20-second gap right until the final kilometre when Kluge launched his effort.

Red jersey leader Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) continues to look for his first win at the Giro win after winning the sprint for second place, but will have to suffer through Thursday's 244km hilly finale and two further mountain stage to get to a final opportunity in Turin.

There were no significant changes in the overall classification after stage 17, with Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) still 3-00 in deficit to pink jersey Kruijswijk.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2016 stage 17, Molveno - Cassano d’Adda (196km)

1. Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling, in 4-31-29

2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo

3. Nikias Ardnt (Ger) Giant-Alpecin

4. Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida

5. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Etixx-Quick Step

6. Alexander Porsev (Rus) Katusha

7. Pim Ligthart (Ned) Lotto-Soudal

8. Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale

9. Manuel Bellitti (Ita) Wilier-Southeast

10. Paolo Simion (Ita) Bardiani-CSF, all same time

Overall classification after stage 17

1. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, 68-11-39

2. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, at 3-00

3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 3-23

4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana, at 4-43

5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha, at 4-50

6. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff, at 5-34

7. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, at 7-57

8. Andrey Amador (Crc) Movistar, at 8-53

9. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 10-05

10. Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr) Dimension Data, at 11-03

IAM Cycling have announced that they will cease to exist when the 2016 season ends after the Swiss WorldTour team's management failed to secure a co-sponsor.

The team's owner Michel Thétaz issued a brief statement on Monday morning announcing that the squad would end and apologised for his 'failure' in not being able to continue the team's 'beautiful adventure'.

The squad started racing in 2013 as a Professional Continental-level team, and moved up to the WorldTour for the 2015 season having racing in the 2014 Tour de France on a wildcard entry. The team had previously said that it was seeking a co-sponsor in order to continue in the WorldTour.

>>> IAM Cycling could drop one-year contract policy to attract big name riders

"IAM Cycling will cease operations at the end of the 2016 season," said Thétaz. "This is a failure for which I take full responsibility."

"In these four years of intense activity, which have been marked by unforgettable memories, IAM has enhanced its credibility and received enviable visibility."

"We have arrived at a key moment in the team's evolution with the prospect of entering a new three-year cycle; however, that proved to be an impossible undertaking for IAM Cycling since we have failed to find a co-sponsor."

Having reached the top-flight WorldTour, Thétaz is reluctant to move the team back down to Professional Continental level, saying: "It was unthinkable to consider returning to the lower levels or even play a subordinate role to the greatest teams with budgets of [€]12 million."

"Of course, I regret this situation, but I prefer to rejoice in what we have accomplished over the past four years."

The statement says that the riders and team staff were notified of the team's imminent closure on Monday morning prior to the release of the statement.

IAM - Independent Asset Management - deals with a range of investments and asset management based in Geneva. Thétaz is the company's CEO.

Watch: Men's WorldTour contenders 2016

IAM Cycling are currently ranked 14th out of 18 teams in the UCI's WorldTour ranking. The team is currently taking part in the Giro d'Italia, where Marcel Wyss is their highest-placed rider overall in 50th place. Former UCI Hour Record holder Matthias Brandle was second in the stage nine individual time trial.

The team has taken five victories so far in the season, none at WorldTour level.

The squad is currently home to 28 riders, including Leigh Howard, Jerome Coppel, Heinrich Haussler, Matthias Brandle and Jarlinson Pantano.

The end of IAM means that their WorldTour place will be available to another team for the 2017 season.

IAM Cycling may re-evaluate its single season contract policy to secure a marquee signing.

The Swiss outfit is actively seeking a co-sponsor to afford the hefty price tag that commonly comes with the calibre of rider it is seeking to breakthrough in the WorldTour.

The move is similar to what Dimension Data underwent with Mark Cavendish this season, arriving at an independent agreement with Deloitte that effectively enabled the transfer.

IAM currently only issues one-year contracts to its riders, which is contrary to the two to three-year deals typically brokered at rival WorldTour squads.

“Everything will depend on the duration of the contract that could be determined with the potential co-sponsor,” IAM sports director Rik Verbrugghe said.

“Based on that agreement then we could either remain on the one-year contract policy or, alternatively, offer longer commitments to our riders.”

IAM management wants to make a great impression in the WorldTour from 2017 and sees the procurement of a big name as the best way of doing so.

Watch: 2016 Paris-Roubaix highlights

“If you want to move on in the WorldTour you need to have top riders in the team and for this reason we need a co-sponsor,” Verbrugghe said.

“We have a really solid team and we have good potential but we are missing one or two top riders to finish the races. You know, [Peter] Sagan is not one of the cheapest riders and you need to have an extra budget for this.”

Sagan, provided as an example, is popularly considered one of the highest paid men in the peloton with an existing multi-year deal at Tinkoff rumoured to be worth around €4 million.

“We are now in a crucial moment where the sponsor, he wants to continue on a higher level and for this he needs to have some extra money and for extra money you need a co-sponsor. We are looking for a co-sponsor and then we can really go a step higher,” he said.

Verbrugghe admitted the transition from Professional Continental to WorldTour, which the team joined last season, hasn’t been easy.

“Two years ago the UCI asked us to go in the WorldTour as there were not enough teams. So we made that step but we were not prepared,” he observed.

However, the squad, established as Pro Continental in 2013, is on a good way with consistent results albeit at less renowned races.

“I saw the same thing with BMC when they started in the WorldTour and look where they are now. I think the most difficult part of the WorldTour for the team has passed and we need to get over this. We are still working on a good way for 2017,” Verbrugghe said.

“If you put all of this together, you go to the Tour de France, you will have an extra good rider or two riders, so that can hopefully help a sponsor to sign a contract with us for the future.”

Jérôme Coppel (IAM Cycling) won the final stage time trial of the 2016 Etoile de Bessèges in France on Sunday to claim the overall victory in the early-season French stage race.

Coppel was comfortably the quickest rider over the 12-kilometre course around Alés, beating Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) by 14 seconds. Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) placed third at 15 seconds.

Coppel unseated Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) from the race lead, as Chanavel finished fifth in the TT and gave away 30 seconds.

Earlier in the race, Direct Energie - formerly known as Europcar - had won the opening three stages, with sprinter Bryan Coquard claiming two stages and Chavanel one.

It's the second time that Coppel has won the race overall, having previously won it in 2012 while riding for Saur-Sojasun.

The only British rider taking part in the race was Jacob Scott (An Post-Chain Reaction), who placed 31st overall, four minutes and nine seconds behind Coppel.

Etoile de Bessèges in southern France has been a firm fixture in the early-season European race calendar since 1971 and previous winners include Thomas Voeckler, Robbie McEwen and Nick Nuyens.

>>> Etixx-Quick Step not invited to Tour of Qatar due to ‘lack of respect’

Results

Etoile de Bessèges 2016 final general classification

1. Jérôme Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling in 14-49-26

2. Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal at 13 secs

3. Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 14 secs

4. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie at 16 secs

5. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ at 28 secs

6. Dries Devenyns (Bel) IAM Cycling at 33 secs

7. Pierre-Roger Latour (Fra) Ag2r la Mondiale at 40 secs

8. Maxime Montfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal at 49 secs

9. Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Fortuneo Vital Concept at 53 secs

10. Julien Antomarchi (Fra) Roubaix Mét. Aurop. de Lille at 1-00

Stage winners

Stage one: Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie

Stage two: Bryan Coquard (Fra) Direct Energie

Stage three: Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Direct Energie

Stage four: Angel Madrazo (Spa) Caja Rural

Stage five: Jérôme Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling

Australia will have a new national champion in 2016 after Heinrich Haussler announced he would skip the January 11 race in order to focus on the European spring Classics.

Haussler, 31, beat young Orica-GreenEdge sprinter Caleb Ewan to the line in Buninyong before claiming three top-10s in the Tour Down Under and 10th place in the Cadel Evans Road Race.

But this winter the IAM Cycling rider will remain in Europe in order to prepare for the Classics, with his best finish in 2015 coming at the Tour of Flanders, where he crossed the line 26th.

"I love this [national champion's] jersey but for 2016 I just can't fit defending my title into my program because I really want to concentrate on the Classics, but I will be back in 2017," said Haussler in a statement from Cycling Australia.

Adding: "I'll never forget that day and riding in the Aussie colours in 2015 is also something I'll never forget. Every training ride I did this year, when I went to put on the Aussie champion kit, it was really a special feeling."

>>> 13 of the strangest nicknames in cycling

Haussler's nationals win proved to be his only victory in 2015, notching up another 12 top-10 finishes in 71 racing days for IAM. He will return to Milan-San Remo in March, looking to match or better his second-place finish of 2009 - the year he also finished second in Flanders and sixth at Paris-Roubaix.

With the European weather a bit dicey early in the year, the stars headed for far-away climes to get their seasons underway, with the Tour Down Under and Tour de San Luis providing the first of the action.

San Luis

The women got us underway pretty early in the month, with Britain's Hannah Barnes starting her year with a bang - winning the GP San Luis Femenino and then the first two stages of the actual race in three consecutive days.

She finished first in the youth classification, as riders from the American continents dominated the top 10 of the general classification.

In the men's race, we saw the arrival of cycling's next best young sprinter, as the little-known Fernando Gaviria beat Mark Cavendish twice in three stages. The Brit got his own back on the final stage, pipping his future Etixx-Quick Step teammate to the line.

Argentinian Daniel Diaz won his second San Luis title, having also triumphed in 2013, as defending champion Nairo Quintana battled to third place.

Tour Down Under

In sunny Adelaide, all eyes were on the Tour Down Under - a race which has become a staple of the early season, attracting many of the world's best riders, but always seems under threat of extinction.

After the 2015 edition, though, organisers should be buoyed by the fact that the racing was superb, the Aussies did well and the route was pretty decent as well.

Marcel Kittel started his season ominously, taking the People's Choice Classic on the day before the proper racing started, but he couldn't carry that form into the stage race - only breaking the top 100 once.

The home support had plenty to cheer for as Jack Bobridge won the first stage in Campbelltown to take the first ochre jersey - keeping it at the end of the second stage as well.

By winning stage three, Rohan Dennis both stole the leader's jersey and effectively sealed the race win overall. In the race's six stages, four Australians were winners, including NFTO's Steele Von Hoff and Team Sky's Richie Porte.

Secrets of the Toolbox: MTN-Qhubeka

Mallorca Challenge

Europe wasn't a complete racing ghost town in January, with some well-known riders taking part in the Mallorca Challenge races that takes place over four days at the end of the month and early February.

The first race, the Trofeo Santanyi-Ses Salines-Campos, saw an early win for IAM Cycling's Matteo Pelucchi - who would go on to win another on the first of February - as he beat Elia Viviani (Team Sky), José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) and Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) to the line.

The following day, Steve Cummings got his MTN-Qhubeka career off to a storming start - winning the Trofeo Andratx-Mirador d'Es Colomer in a summit finish ahead of Alejandro Valverde.

Cummings's emphatic win was caught on a shaky camera at the finish line and set off a remarkable season for the African team.

Jack Bobridge Hour Record

After two successful attempts at beating the UCI Hour Record by Jens Voigt and Matthias Brändle at the end of 2014, many people expected track specialist Jack Bobridge to storm his attempt on January 31.

Unfortunately, Bobridge got his pacing all wrong - setting off at a speed that even Sir Bradley Wiggins would have struggled to match - and came up short of Brändle's mark.

>>> Five things we learned from Jack Bobridge’s Hour Record attempt

It was hard to watch as Bobridge had to come to terms with the fact that he'd just emptied himself for nothing, as he struggled to get off his bike at the end and then was forced to recover under the track in Melbourne to allow the National Track Championships to continue.

Luckily, for Hour Record fans, this was just the first of a handful of attempts to come in the first months of the year.

Alexis Vuillermoz

At the age of 27 Vuillermoz is no spring chicken, but neither is he massively well known. An 11th place finish overall at the Giro d'Italia in 2014 showed us what he can do, but at this Tour de France he stood out in a first week which caused his Ag2r teammates to crack.

As Jean-Christophe Peraud and Romain Bardet - both top-10 finishers last year - lost time on stage two, Vuillermoz hit back immediately by climbing to third place behind Chris Froome and Joaquim Rodriguez on the Mur de Huy on stage three.

While the win wasn't to be in Huy, Vuillermoz didn't have to wait long to triumph in front of his home fans, soloing up the Mur de Bretagne on stage eight to salvage the first week for Ag2r.

He never quite reached the highs of stage eight through the rest of the Tour, but a win at the Tour de France is more than many riders ever achieve.

Warren Barguil

Another Frenchman, Barguil made waves in the first two weeks for his excellent bike riding skills before making the headlines in the final week for his terrible bike riding skills.

At the tender age of 24, Giant-Alpecin clearly see Barguil as a development project, with the hope to see him crack the overall top 10 in years to come.

>>> Etixx boss eyes up Warren Barguil as Rigoberto Uran fails at Tour de France

It looked like that year would be this year during the first two weeks and Barguil worked hard and put in some great rides in challenging conditions to challenge for a top-10 place.

He did well over the cobbles, up the Mur de Huy and in the wind and rain of stage two and was there-or-thereabouts throughout the three weeks without ever really threatening to win anything.

Barguil came to prominence on stage 16 for all the wrong reasons, though, when his cavalier descending style resulted in Geraint Thomas being hurled off the side of the road.

His climbing is good, his consistency needs a little work and his descending could certainly do with a polish, but as a prospect Barguil could be the next big French hope.

Robert Gesink

Half a decade ago, Gesink was touted as the next big thing in Dutch cycling after finishing fourth in the 2010 Tour de France, but he has never quite matched the potential he showed in his early career.

Problems caused by an irregular heartbeat blighted the last few seasons until he took time out of the sport to get the issue corrected in 2014.

Returning in time for the end of the season, Gesink started, but did not finish, the Vuelta a España and returned in 2015 with a new lease of life.

Top 10 overall finishes at the Tour of California and Tour de Suisse set him up perfectly for the Tour de France. Gesink fought back from losing time on stage two into Zeeland to secure sixth place in the final standings.

A testament to his consistency over the three weeks is that he never finished lower than 36th in any of the 21 stages, climbing to fourth on the race's first mountain up to La Pierre-Saint-Martin.

Eighth on the stage to La Toussuire effectively sealed Gesink's GC standing and sealed a very successful Tour for the LottoNL-Jumbo climber.

Daniel Teklehaimanot

At the start of the year, Teklehaimanot was just 'one of the Eritrean riders in MTN-Qhubeka', but after nine stages of the Tour de France the 26-year-old virtually became a household name.

It was, apparently, Teklehaimanot's dream to wear the polka dot jersey at the Tour and he did it with a smile after topping the mountains classification after stage six.

His intention was clear from the off, coming off the back of winning the climber's jersey at the Critérium du Dauphiné in June, and getting himself into the breakaway as soon as a climb came into sight in the first week.

There weren't many of them, though, and his lead in the competition was swiftly ended when Froome smashed it up the Col du Soudet, but that wouldn't have bothered Teklehaimanot.

Having got himself in the break again on stage 16 to Gap, the Eritrean notched up his first top-10 finish, crossing the line seventh after a good descent of the Col de Manse.

Mathias Frank

If you were told of the final top 10 of the 2015 Tour de France before it even kicked off you wouldn't be surprised to see nine of the names on the list. Matthias Frank, however, seemed to exceed a lot of people's expectations to climb to a solid eighth place overall.

Commentators often talk about riders who just get better as the three-week races go on and Frank was the epitomy of that theory as he recovered from a pretty average start and only went up the GC until stage 14.

>>> Five words to describe each team’s Tour de France performance

Fifth place on the climb to Pra Loup propelled Frank into the top 10 and there he stayed, flitting between seventh and eighth, eventually settling for the second number.

IAM Cycling haven't exactly set the world alight in their first season in the WorldTour, but this high finish for Frank will be a boost for the team.

 Watch the best bits of the 2015 Tour de France

IAM Cycling's Stef Clement has called for leniency to be shown after he turned up late to a drugs test at the end of stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia due to the hustle and bustle of the finishing area.

The Dutchman worried about receiving a two year ban for missing the test, but the rider has some pretty decent extenuating circumstances, by all accounts.

After crashing, like many others, on the wet descent from Crosara, Clement suffered cuts and bruises to his elbow and hip. He continued the race and finished in the gruppetto, over 17 minutes behinds stage winner Philippe Gilbert.

With the stage over, Clement's group faced a struggle to even get up the final climb, with crowds reportedly filling the roads.

"By the blocked finish I was late in anti-doping control. Wet, cold and with dirty wounds. Risk 2-year suspension."

He added later: “Have now done the control and given my explanation. Now hoping for some leniency from the authorities. Extreme conditions, seems to me.”

>>> Five talking points from stage 12 of the Giro d’Italia

IAM Cycling sporting director Thierry Marichal said: "The last riders were hijacked by the crowds even before they could start the final ascent. The security service was unable to contain the exuberant fans on the road. 

"This was a bit of a problem for us since Stef Clement was called to the doping control at the finish.  We had to help him elbow through with a car in order to get him to the doping control tent in time so that they could test him."

Crashes may have brought five of their squad to the sandy tarmac on stage four, but IAM Cycling remain confident of finishing the Tour of Qatar relatively unscathed.

Organisers were clearly worried about the wind, and the possibility of sandstorms, bringing the start time forward by over an hour, but the conditions were still hairy enough to bring a few jitters to the peloton.

IAM’s Australian national champion Heinrich Haussler was one of the riders to crash in the final stages, but recovered to finish sixth behind Alexander Kristoff in the final sprint.

“There were two small crashes in the last kilometres, and we had to reset ourselves each time,” he told the IAM Cycling website. “It was really fast, and my crash did not bother me in the sprint.

“Even if there is a lot of wind, and a lot of concentration and energy is required, I feel well protected and am certainly fit for Thursday, no problem.”

Three more IAM riders were involved in one of the more tangled crashes of the day, with Reto Hollenstein suffering a knee to the chin from Cofidis’ Gregory Soupe, with Matthias Brändle also hitting the ground.

IAM Cycling sporting manager Rik Verbrugghe said: “It is much easier to get caught up in crashes [when it’s windy], and for us, it certainly turned out that way since five of our guys all hit the deck (Marcel Aregger, Matthias Brändle, Reto Hollenstein, Heinrich Haussler and Jonas Van Genechten).

“Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured. Only Reto took a pretty hard hit to the chin and knee, but still nothing terrible.”

IAM Cycling’s plans to have personalised shirts for each of their riders have been blocked by the UCI.

The Swiss squad, who join the WorldTour for 2015, had originally designed their jerseys with the rider’s name under the IAM logo on the back.

>>> IAM Cycling announces 2015 lineup, with 10 new signings

But the sticklers at the UCI have ruled against it, meaning IAM have had to make last-minute changes ahead of the opening races of the season.

IAM said in another tweet that they would look into releasing the personalised jerseys to release to fans and also for training rides.

The UCI said in a statement: "It’s clear in the UCI Regulations that the upper section of any jersey shall be reserved for the team’s principal sponsors.

"Therefore, the UCI invited IAM Cycling to revise the initial design of its outfit. The new jersey was judged to be in compliance with the regulations and was therefore registered.

"Under these very same regulations, other elements of the outfit, including the helmet, are not subject to similar restrictions, giving teams more freedom in the design of their kit."

The decision to ban the personalised kits has, unsurprisingly, caused a bit of a Twitterstorm, with the general consensus being that if IAM’s sponsors were happy with the design then the UCI should support the decision.

An old though infamous loss to Mark Cavendish served as motivation for Heinrich Haussler who announced a return to form besting another pint-sized sprinter to win the elite men’s Australian national road championship today.

Haussler out-sprinted hyped neo-pro Caleb Ewan as well as Neil van der Ploeg to claim gold at the end of the 183.6km circuit race in Buninyong, Victoria, despite a mechanical at the finish.

Whilst his victory was convincing the dual with Ewan nonetheless provoked flashbacks to the 2009 edition of Milan-San Remo where Cavendish surpassed the naturalised Australian Haussler on the line.

“I didn’t necessarily learn anything from 2009 but in that last 100m where it was like edge, edge, edge, edge I was just thinking, ‘no, this is not going to happen again. It just can’t.’ I was just looking down trying to get everything out of my legs to get to that line first,” the jubilant 30-year-old said.

“It worked out perfectly in the last kilometre because he [Ewan] followed an attack and then I was on his wheel. It was a full gas headwind and I didn’t know he was going to hit out early but I kind of had the feeling he was. He did and I just waited, waited, waited and in the last moment tried to come around.

“It was a really tough sprint, I mean, the lactic acid was just coming out of my ears at the last 100m.”

A cool and calm Haussler used experience to his advantage in the final 10.2km lap of the race that incorporated the renowned Mt Buninyong climb, where he was dropped only to later re-join rivals on the descent to the finish.

“With two laps to go the guys started attacking. You look at your power meter and they’re sprinting with 600-700 watts. I can do that for 20 seconds maybe but not 30 seconds because I haven’t been training that hard at the moment,” he said. “So in the last climb I knew I had to pace myself. I couldn’t go over the limit otherwise I’d just blow completely. It was a bit of a poker game that it would come back together, six different guys, six different teams, [if] they played cat and mouse I knew I’d have a good chance coming back on the downhill.”

Haussler was part of a 15-man break that established early in the race and he ensured he remained at the forefront of affairs when new selections were established throughout the day. The gold medal winner also proved numbers aren’t always paramount. He started with sole IAM trade team-mate David Tanner against a field comprised of WorldTour and domestic outfits that in some cases had upwards of 10 riders.

None of the major favourites in Cadel Evans or Richie Porte prominently featured in the gruelling event that 57 riders, from 149, finished. Evans came in 52 seconds adrift of the winner in 11th with Porte 22nd.

The elite men’s title concluded the Australian championships that saw Peta Mullens win the gold medal in the women’s race on Saturday ahead of Rachel Neylan and Shara Gillow. Miles Scotson claimed the under-23 men’s title.

Haussler will debut the green and gold jersey later this month at the Tour Down Under in which he is hopeful of winning a stage before moving onto the Tour of Qatar and then another Spring Classics campaign that is set to include a Milan-San Remo title tilt.

Twitter: @SophieSmith86

>>>Garmin-Sharp’s Steele Von Hoff joins NFTO for 2015

IAM Cycling, who will ride for the first full season in their history at WorldTour level next year, have revealed their 29 man squad with ten new signings.

Notable new signings for the Swiss team include Dutch rider Stef Clement who signs from Belkin and Jerome Coppel who has moved from French team, Cofidis.

Leading riders such as Sylvain Chavanel, Heinrich Haussler, Martin Elmiger and current Hour Record holder Matthias Brändle will all continue with the team next year as they look to make an impact on the WorldTour.

IAM's only WorldTour win came this year through sprinter Matteo Pelucchi, who took stage two of the Tirreno-Adriatico from San Vincenzo to Cascina in March this year.

The team also revealed its new kit at the team presentation on Thursday, and although it looks distinctly similar to this year's kit, the design team seem to have had a spot of inspiration and come up with the idea of printing the IAM logo followed by each riders name on the rear of the jersey, as modelled by new signing David Tanner.

Full IAM Cycling 2015 lineup:

Marcel Aregger, Matthias Brändle, Sylvain Chavanel, Stefan Denifl, Martin Elmiger, Sondre Holst Enger, Mathias Frank, Jonathan Fumeaux, Heinrich Haussler, Reto Hollenstein, Roger Kluge, Pirmin Lang, Matteo Pelucchi, Jérome Pineau, Sebastien Reichenbach, Vicente Reynes, Aleksejs Saramotins, Patrick Schelling, Marcel Wyss

Plus new signings:

Stef Clement and David Tanner (Belkin), Dries Devenyns (Giant-Shimano), Jonas Van Genechten (Lotto-Belisol), Thomas Degand (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Larry Warbasse (BMC), Clément Chevrier (Bissell), Jarlinson Pantano (Team Colombia), Jérome Coppel (Cofidis) and Simon Pellaud (Stagiare).

>>>Trek Factory Racing finalise 2015 lineup with Gert Steegmans signing

Switzerland's IAM Cycling team will nearly double its budget to join the WorldTour in 2015, something the team owner Michel Thétaz considers a "success."

"2014 still not finished, but our budget was around €10m [£7.9]," Thétaz told Cycling Weekly. "It will be from 10 to 15m [£7.9-11.8m] in 2015 depending on how well the team does."

The Swiss businessman began the team to support his Independent Asset Management company and for the 2013 season, it rolled down the start ramp with a €7-8m (£5.5-6.3m) budget. Over the last two seasons, the team raced in the second division and received wildcard invitations to races like the 2014 Tour de France.

On Thursday, the UCI awarded the team one of its 18 first division licences to race in its WorldTour series. With the licence, it has the right, and obligation, to race in all 27 WorldTour races, which includes the three Grand Tours and classics like Paris-Roubaix.

The prestigious WorldTour programme comes at a cost: upping the roster from 24 to 29 cyclists, strengthening the backroom structure to support rides in all top-level races and participating in three simultaneous races at times.

"I'll be between €10 to 15 million, I hope towards the top end of that scale because that means that my team is doing well," Thétaz added.

"I'm flexible. We have a system, variables that are linked to their performances. My 29 cyclists have basic and fixed salaries, but also have ways to make more money. The team can cost me more, and I hope it does."

For 2014, IAM Cycling included cyclists Sylvain Chavanel, Mathias Frank and current hour record holder, Matthias Brändle. Thétaz added 10 new cyclists for 2015.

The 29-man team in blue and red will mostly race in Europe, but with a WorldTour licence, will start its season at the Tour Down Under in Australia and then travel the world. Thétaz said in 2013 that a WorldTour licence was not needed with his business on the European continent.

"Our first race is in Australia next year! Europe is the place where we want to be active, Switzerland is the emphasis, but anywhere you go, if you do the right thing, there will people in the region that you can target," Thétaz said.

"We've seen a lot of increased visibility and credibility from cycling. Everything's been boosted. Next year, which is IAM's 20th anniversary in Geneva, it'll be even better because no one can miss us.

"Receiving a WorldTour licence is a success for us. We've gone from nothing in 2013 to a WorldTour team in 2015. In terms of the image management, it's a success. It will bring us more visibility because the team, I believe, is up to our expectation."

The Astana cycling team will have to wait another week to see whether it is included in the 2015 WorldTour. The Kazakh squad was left off the list of confirmed WorldTour teams issued by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on Thursday evening. French outfit Europcar also awaits a decision on its licence.

Media reports earlier in the day suggested that Astana would not be awarded a licence after recent doping cases. Instead, the UCI Licence Commission's decision on the team has been delayed.

According to the UCI, a decision on both Astana and Europcar's WorldTour licences will be made by Wednesday, December 10. No reason for further review was given by the UCI. In order to be awarded a WorldTour licence, teams must meet the demands of the UCI Licence Commission's four criteria: sporting, financial, administrative and ethical.

Meanwhile, Swiss team IAM Cycling has been awarded a licence to race in the 2015 WorldTour, stepping up from Professional Continental status.

The UCI issued a list of 16 confirmed WorldTour squads - which they now term WorldTeams. If both Astana and Europcar are awarded a licence, it brings the number of WorldTour teams up to the maximum of 18.

The list of confirmed 2015 WorldTour teams is as follows:

Ag2r La Mondiale (Fra)

BMC Racing Team (USA)

Etixx-QuickStep (Bel)

FDJ (Fra)

IAM Cycling (Swi)

Lampre-Merida (Ita)

Lotto-Soudal (Bel)

Movistar Team (Spa)

Orica-GreenEdge (Aus)

Team Cannondale-Garmin (USA)

Team Giant-Alpecin (Ger)

Team Katusha (Rus)

Team Lotto NL-Jumbo (Ned)

Team Sky (GBr)

Tinkoff-Saxo (Rus)

Trek Factory Racing (USA)

Pending further review:

Astana Pro Team (Kaz)

Europcar (Fra)

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has confirmed to Cycling Weekly that Swiss team IAM Cycling will join its WorldTour top division for 2015, pending checks on its paperwork.

"According to UCI Regulations, the team has fulfilled the sporting criteria for a promotion," the UCI said. "Its UCI Professional Continental Team application will be submitted to the [WorldTour] License Commission which will review all other required criteria (financial, administrative and ethical)."

The UCI processed the WorldTour teams' documents before the November 3 deadline, but only had 17, including Great Britain's Sky, applying for the maximum 18 spots. The door was left open when Cannondale decided it would no longer sponsor its Italian WorldTour team.

The Swiss IAM team has raced in the second division since its debut in the 2013 season and in 2014, received one of the Tour de France's four wildcard invitations to race. Team owner Michel Thétaz planned to keep applying for wildcards into 2015, but the opportunity arrived to secure IAM's spot in every race on the WorldTour calendar.

The WorldTour calendar consists of 27 races from January to October. IAM Cycling will have the right, and the obligation, to race in all the races from the three Grand Tours and to races in Australia and Canada.

It will have greater security, but also greater costs that come with more staff and a more intensive racing programme. First division teams at times simultaneously race in three different races on three different continents.

Thétaz said he is seeking co-sponsor for 2016, but when Cycling Weekly contacted the team it would not say if it was making a sponsor push for the 2015 WorldTour. A second title sponsor could make going to Australia and Canada worthwhile, because Thétaz told Cycling Weekly in 2013 that his Geneva-based asset management company has no interest outside of Europe.

The Swiss businessman did not respond to Cycling Weekly when contacted for this article.

Assuming all applications pass, the 2015 WorldTour will include teams Sky with Ag2r La Mondiale, Astana, BMC Racing, Cannondale, FDJ, Katusha, Lampre-Merida, Lotto NL, Lotto-Soudal, Movistar, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Orica-GreenEDGE, Europcar, Giant-Alpecin, Tinkoff-Saxo, Trek Factory Racing. IAM Cycling would make 18.

The top series lost one team at the end of the 2014 season when Italy's team Cannondale closed and the sponsor agreed to take over Jonathan Vaughters' Garmin-Sharp team for 2015. Last year, Vacansoleil left and Europcar stepped up from the second division to join the WorldTour.

Besides IAM Cycling, second division teams Cofidis and MTN-Qhubeka have been named as squads that could possibly make the leap to the WorldTour for 2015 but neither team has shown interest.

To make step into 2015, Thétaz beefed up his blue and white team with several riders including Frenchman Jérôme Coppel, Colombian Jarlinson Pantano Gomez and Dutchman Stef Clement.

His roster already included Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, Italian Matteo Pelucchi and Austrian Matthias Brändle who set a new hour record on the track last week.

IAM Cycling set to join UCI WorldTour in 2015

Swiss team IAM Cycling are reported to be joining the UCI World Tour next year to bring the number of

Cannondale to become title sponsor of Garmin-Sharp team in 2015

American bike manufacturer Cannondale to join forces with American WorldTour team

The Swiss IAM Cycling Team are set to win UCI World Tour status for 2015 after agreeing to step up from the Pro Continental level.

With the Cannondale team folding at the end of 2014, the WorldTour is left one squad short, with Astana’s place also under consideration following their recent failed drugs tests.

But according to Cyclingnews, IAM Cycling has improved its Pro Continental licence application for 2015 to make it eligible for WorldTour status, which will be decided in late November.

The Swiss squad made their Tour de France debut in 2014, after securing a wildcard from organisers ASO and shot to prominence last week when Matthias Brändle broke Jens Voigt’s hour record.

An IAM Cycling spokesman told Cyclingnews: “We have had talks about [the licence] in the last few weeks and it is the UCI who will decide the music.”

With only 23 riders on their current roster, IAM Cycling would have to recruit three more to make up the 26-man minimum required in the WorldTour.

And the demands of racing a full WorldTour schedule will likely require the team to increase their staff and support levels as well.

The UCI Licence Commission meet between November 19-21, where the WorldTour roster will be finalised.

Matthias Brändle reflects on hard Hour Record

It may have been harder and hotter than Matthias Brändle expected, but he still set a new Hour Record

Astana's WorldTour licence in jeopardy after another failed drug test

Bradley Wiggins will beat Brändle's Hour Record, says IAM Cycling owner

IAM Cycling's Matthias Brändle set a new Hour Record, but his team's owner Michel Thétaz thinks that Bradley Wiggins will

Credit: Andy Jones

Vincenzo Nibali in "rage" after Astana doping revelations

Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) won the GP Ouest France-Plouay in France on Sunday, taking the win from a seven-man escape group.

Chavanel out-paced Andrea Fedi (Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo) and Arthur Vichot (FDJ) to the line and add to his overall victory in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes last week. It's the IAM Cycling team's first victory in a one-day WorldTour race.

Chavanel had attacked with six other riders over the final climb, staying away from the peloton to take the victory.

Ben Swift (Sky) was Britain's highest-placed rider, coming home in the pack two seconds behind Chavanel. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) finished in a group at 1-13 as he hones his form ahead of his title defence at the Tour of Britain, starting on Sunday, September 7.

“I had a fantastic week, morale is really high," said Chavanel after the win. "I never particularly liked this classic before, but in the end I waited until the last possible moment and then everything went perfectly. There was a tailwind and I decided to launch my sprint from a distance. No one could come past me."

The French national time trial champion will turn his attention to the 2014 UCI World Championships, where he is expected to contest the time trial and road race disciplines.

Result
GP Ouest France-Plouay 2014
1. Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) IAM Cycling in 5-38-26

2. Andrea Fedi (Ita) Neri Sottoli-Yellow Fluo

3. Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ

4. Cyril Gautier (Fra) Europcar

5. Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Omega Pharma-QuickStep

6. Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto-Belisol

7. Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing at same time

8. Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha at 2 secs

9. Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek Factory Racing

10. Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at same time

Other

32. Ben Swift (GBr) Sky at 2 secs

112. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky at 1-13

DNF Steve Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing

IAM Cycling led the ceremony to remember Kristof Goddaert at the start of the Tour of Oman stage two yesterday. The Belgian died in a training crash Monday in Antwerp.

"For sure, the coming days will be complicated," said team-mate Sébastien Hinault in a press release. "But Kristof was an energetic guy. Let us use that energy to enjoy this job that he loved so much."

"I decided to force the pace in an attempt to forget everything... We do not intend to withdraw from the race. The best thing we can do is continue to do business as usual, just as Kristof would have liked."

"I have unfortunately already experienced something like this in 2010 as a rider with Sky," said sports director, Kjell Carlström. "An assistant [Txema Gonzalez] died during the Vuelta a España. Today, I reminded the guys how important our decision Tuesday evening to pay tribute to Kristof is. Though they were all affected, they all showed complete professionalism at all times... Everyone has been exemplary."

Ondrej Sosenka plans 10-year anniversary hour record

With Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) planning to break his hour record, Ondrej Sosenka countered. The Czech cyclist, who holds the record at 49.700 kilometres, told L'Equipe newspaper that he would attempt it again on July 19, 2015, 10 years after setting the current mark.

Sosenka, now 38, beat Chris Boardman's distance in Moscow. In 2008, he tested positive for banned stimulant methamphetamine, received a suspension and never returned to racing.

Voeckler returns to racing

After breaking his collarbone in a training crash at the Tour Down Under five weeks ago, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) returned to racing. The Frenchman completed France's Tour Méditerranéen, finishing 124th overall, and the first stage of the Volta ao Algarve yesterday in Portugal.

Voeckler was due to race the Tour Down Under for the first time this year. After arriving, on January 15, he crashed into a car that braked suddenly and broke his collarbone. He will continue racing to build up for the Ardennes Classics and the Tour de France, where he has worn the yellow jersey and won four stages.

Savoldelli in court over doping claims

Italian Paolo Savoldelli, 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia winner, meets today at noon with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in Rome. The anti-doping prosecutor called him in based on testimony in the Lance Armstrong investigation.

The 40-year-old retired in 2008 but in his career, according to the US investigation, he doped and helped others do so. La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper listed three issues that CONI is questioning:

1) Former Discovery Channel team-mate Tom Danielson said that he could get EPO from Savoldelli at the 2006 Giro.

2) His relationship with banned doctor Michele Ferrari.

3) The e-mails between Armstrong and Ferrari's son, Stefano on August 16 and 17, 2010, when Armstrong asked Stefano to contact Savoldelli and have him sign a declaration saying that neither Armstrong nor Ferrari organised a doping system.

Of the 22, Savoldelli is believed to be redacted Rider 1 in the 2012 US investigation.

Tour of California announces extended women's race

Tour of California organiser announced that it will host two days of women's racing this year, a circuit race and a time trial, May 11 and 12. The race coincides with the men's stage race, May 11 to 18.

"Through the years, [organiser] AEG has been proud to provide a worldwide platform to the top women cyclists in the world," said Kristin Bachochin, executive director of the race and senior vice president of AEG Sports.

"We've staged a women's criterium from 2008 to 2010, and a time trial since 2011. This year, we're thrilled to announce not one but two days of professional women's racing."