- Double-header cycling action today with the final day of Zurich Six Days track cycling and UCI Cyclocross World Cup at Kalmthout.

- Track Cycling: Zurich Six Days LIVE now here.

- Cross: UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup at Kalmthout LIVE now here and here.  (Thanks Bernie and Jirka)

- 2010 Vuelta Route Presentation LIVE now here.  (Thanks, Bernie!)

- The route for the 2010 Vuelta a Espana has been posted on the official website.  There is supposed to be a live video feed of the route presentation here but as yet it hasn't worked for us.

2010 Vuelta a Espana Map

- The 2010 Vuelta a Espana route will be revealed Wednesday at the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones in Seville.  The presentation is scheduled to begin at 12:00 CET (6am U.S. Eastern) with the route simultaneously "published" on the official Vuelta website.  According to one source, there will be live streaming video of the ceremony but this needs to be confirmed.  Updates here as the ceremony gets underway.

Vuelta a Espana Official Website

- 2010 Vuelta a Espana:  The route for the 2010 Vuelta will be presented this Wednesday, December 16 in Seville.  The presentation is scheduled to get underway at 12:00 CET (6am U.S. Eastern), with the route simultaneously being published online.  We'll post links before Wednesday's presentation.

- Cyclocross:  Video clips of the weekend's cyclocross events are available online:

  Druivencross Overijse Highlights (02:27) - Final lap (07:16)

  GVA Trophy Cyclocross - Essen highlights and final lap are here.  Results are also posted further down on that page.

- The race is now LIVE (links below).  You can also watch LIVE here (opens in media player).

- Hopefully more live video streams for GVA Trophy Cyclocross - Essen as the race gets underway.

Sport.be live feed
(15:00 CET (9am U.S. Eastern))

Sporza live feed
(15:00 CET (9am U.S. Eastern))

- GVA Trophy Cyclocross - Essen will be shown LIVE Saturday on Sporza, with coverage scheduled to start as the Elite Men race gets underway at 15:00 CET (9am U.S. Eastern).   - More info -

- This race is also LIVE here.  A nice feed that is a few seconds behind the other one below.  Opens in media player.  (Thanks, Bernie.)

- Coverage has gone LIVE at vt4.be.  Alternative link for this feed here.

- Cyclocross live action returns Sunday with live streaming of the Superprestige Cyclocross at Gieten.  Start lists are here.  The Elite Men race is scheduled to begin at 15:00 CET (9am U.S. Eastern) with coverage beginning as early as 14:30 CET (8:30am U.S. Eastern).

Superprestige Cyclocross - Gieten
Official Website
(Coverage begins at 14:30 CET)
(8:30am U.S. Eastern)
Live video: vt4.be

- Team RadioShack manager, Johan Bruyneel, today announced the final roster for the 2010 squad - 26 riders from 16 different countries.

The riders, in alphabetical order:

- Coverage has gone LIVE at vt4.be.  Alternative link for this feed here.

- Waiting for coverage to begin.  They are running late, though the race itself shouldn't begin until 15:00 CET.  Meanwhile, there is currently a short cross clip here that should get you in the mood for the holidays.

- Cyclocross live action returns Sunday with live streaming of the Superprestige Cyclocross at Hamme-Zogge.

Superprestige Cyclocross - Hamme-Zogge
Official Website
(Coverage begins at 14:30 CET)
(8:30am U.S. Eastern)
Live video: vt4.be

- Coverage has gone LIVE at vt4.be.  Alternative link for this feed here.

- Cyclocross live action returns Sunday with live streaming of the Superprestige Cyclocross at Gavere.

Superprestige Cyclocross - Gavere
Official Website
(Coverage begins at 14:30 CET)
(8:30am U.S. Eastern)
Live video: vt4.be

- The Six Days of Grenoble (track cycling) starts this evening.  We are not aware of any live video streaming for this event, unfortunately.  - Official Website -

- The November issue of Velo Magazine hit newsstands in France yesterday.  It contains more details regarding the selection of Alberto Contador as Velo d'Or winner for the third consecutive year.

November 2009 Velo Magazine, Alberto Contador Velo d'Or issue:
"Armstrong made me popular"

The 2009 Velo d'Or jury was composed of 16 journalists from around the world.  This year, each member of this international jury ranked their top 5 picks for "rider of the year".  A rider earned 5 points for each #1 pick he received, 4 points for each #2 pick he received and so on.  All the points were tallied up and the results were as follows:

1. Alberto Contador - 69 points
2. Mark Cavendish - 49
3. Fabian Cancellara - 32
4. Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, tie - 22
6. Lance Armstrong - 19
7. Alejandro Valverde - 18
8. Denis Menchov - 6
9. Tom Boonen - 2
10 Thor Hushovd - 1

The jury was made up of Klaus Angermann (Germany, Wiesbadener Kurier), Rupert Guinness (Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald), Michael Kasper (Austria, ORF-Radio), Joel Godaert (Belgium, La Derniere Heure), Hector Urrego (Colombia, Cyclisme RCN), Josu Garai (Spain, Marca), Gilles Simon (France, Velo Magazine), Jeremy Whittle (Great Britain, The Times), Raymond Kerckhoffs (Holland, De Telegraaf), Pier Bergonzi (Italy, La Gazzetta dello Sport), Nobuhito Kubo (Japan, Cycle Sport), Marcel Gilles (Luxembourg, RTL), Christophe Wyrzykowski (Poland, Eurosport Polska), Matvey Voznesenski (Russia, Canal Sport), Martin Born (Switzerland, Tages Anzeiger), and John Wilcockson (USA, Velo News).

Of the 16 journalists, 9 had Contador as their #1 pick, 5 had Cavendish as their #1 pick, 1 (Kasper) had Armstrong as his #1 pick, and 1 (Wilcockson) had Cancellara as #1.

Montpellier (cyclingfans.com) - Astana's Alberto Contador, winner of the 2009 Tour de France, has won the prestigious Velo d'Or ("golden bicycle") award for the third time, tying the record of consecutive wins held by Lance Armstrong, overall a 5-time winner.  The award is given annually to the rider considered  to have performed best during the year.  Created by the French Velo Magazine in 1992, the Velo d'Or winner is selected by an international panel of journalists who individually rank their top 3 candidates for the award.  A point system results in an overall score for each rider that was named by journalists, the rider with the most overall points winning the award.  Voting was closed on September 29 meaning that Philippe Gilbert's fantastic run in October was not considered.

Contador flew to Paris this afternoon and was presented his Velo d'Or trophy live on France TV's Stade2 program.  You can watch the award presentation here. (11:01)  During the program, Contador acknowledges that he will need to train hard on cobblestones before the 2010 Tour de France.  When asked when he will make a decision on which team to race for next season, he indicated that a lot will happen in the next week.  He presumably was referring to reports that he would soon meet with Astana officials to learn of their plans for him for 2010.  Contador has long been linked to the Caisse d'Epargne, Garmin-Slipstream and Quick Step teams; Caisse is considered the front runner should the 2009 Tour champion decide to leave Astana.  He became free to leave Astana when the team recently missed an administrative deadline related to its ProTour license registration for the 2010 season.

Alberto Contador wins the 2009 Velo d'Or (France 2)
Click image to watch the program. (11:01)

France TV also played a video document with highlights of Contador's 2009 season, including his bonk at Paris-Nice while wearing the leader jersey, and his career which has included an inspiring return from a near fatal accident.  You can watch this program here. (03:33)

Alberto Contador, season and career highlights (France 2)
Click image to watch the program. (03:33)

A Velo d'Or is also given annually to the top French rider as picked by a panel of French journalists.  Track star Gregory Bauge won the 2009 award.