Saxo Bank riders stretch before a training ride on Gran Canaria (@albertocontador)

Your hot line to riders, staff and sponsors in 2012!

Alberto Contador and an increasing number of his teammates offer you an open line of communication via their Twitter accounts. Some Saxo Bank staff tweet, too. Follow them this season to show your support and stay current on everything from training camps, race reflections, health updates, crazy photos and what’s for dinner!

Team Saxo Bank riders:

Alberto Contador: @albertocontador
Jesús Hernández: @jesushernandez3
Sergio Paulinho: @sergiompaulinho
Bruno Pires: @brunopires
Ran Margaliot: @RanMargaliot
Karsten Kroon: @KarstenKroon
Christopher Juul Jensen: @JensenJuul
Jonathan Cantwell: @J_Cantwell
Troels Vinther: @Troels_Vinther
Michael Mørkov: @MichaelMorkov
Luke Roberts: @lukeroberts77
Karsten Kroon: @karstenkroon

Team Saxo Bank staff

Hannah Grant, chef: @dailystews
Anders Damgaard, communications: @Damgaard1974

Sponsors

Saxo Bank: @saxobank
Specialized: @iamspecialized

And be sure to follow the Alberto Contador Notebook! @Contador_Notebk

Are there other Team Saxo Bank riders or key contacts with Twitter accounts? Help us complete the list! Please contact contadorfans@hotmail.com .

Thanks to M. Sarti for contributing to this post.

"Awesome dinner in the making Troels attacks the butternut squash !" (Chef Hannah Grant @dailystews)

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Cuitu Negru before resurfacing (as.com)

Asturias, the majestic province in the north of Spain, yielded back-to-back victories to Alberto Contador in his bid for a first Vuelta win in 2008. Slaying the twin giants of l’Angliru and Fuentes de Invierno put Contador in the leader’s jersey to stay, and were key in adding his name to the record books as one of just five Triple Crown winners – the only Spanish winner – and one of only three to win both the Giro and the Vuelta in the same season.

Since then, Asturias has been the scene of other spectacular stages in the Vuelta a España, like Carlos Barredo’s audacious solo to Lagos de Covadonga in 2010 and the charge of El Bisonte on the Angliru last year. Clearly, the Principality can be relied upon to lend the Vuelta drama worthy of Spain’s hard-won first kingdom, and to demand of cyclists the valor of the medieval king Pelayo.

This year, Asturias offers three consecutive summit finishes, including a behemoth making a first-time appearance - Cuitu Negru. Will Contador try for another title? And, if he made it two in a row on Asturian slopes in 2008, could he make it three in 2012?

Green light for the queen stage: Asturian Bola del Mundo will be resurfaced in time for Vuelta Stage 16

AS.com | by Juan Gutiérrez | It’s official: Cuitu Negru, a 2.8-kilometer extension of the ski station Valgrande-Pajares with slopes of as much as 25%, will be put into condition to host the finish of the sixteenth stage of the 2012 Vuelta a España on September 3. The queen stage, which also includes the climbs of San Lorenzo and Cobertoria, will thus end on a spectacular high note.

The inclusion of Cuitu Negru in the route was dependent upon whether they would be able to undertake the revamping of the road surface, because it is currently a dirt and tarmac path. The improvements will be possible thanks to the combined efforts of the Principality of Asturias, the ski station, and the Vuelta organizers.

Cuitu Negru, which has already been baptized the Asturian Bola del Mundo, is an extension of the Pajares road, an offshoot from Brañillin with an average gradient of 13.3%. It covers one ramp of 24% and another of 25%, and its final 500-meter section presents an unrelenting average of 17%. Adding the 2.8 kilometers to the climb to Valgrande-Pajares, the total ascent will be 23.5 kilometers at 6.8%.

The queen stage will be situated at a key moment of the Vuelta, since there will also be summit finishes on the two previous days: Ancares (Saturday, September 1) and Lagos de Covadonga (Sunday, September 2). The following day will be a rest day.

The 2012 Vuelta, which will be presented next Wednesday, January 11, in Pamplona, will have seven summit finishes, two uphill finishes, a team time trial and one individual time trial.

The road to Cuitu Negru in its current state (music track by La Collá Propinde)

Valgrande-Pajares Ski Station: Descent from Cuitu Negru to Brañillin

Asturian countryside, including Cuitu Negru

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Caja Rural signs David de la Fuente: “It´s a great challenge to see where my limit is”

January 3 | Biciciclismo – Caja Rural has reached an agreement with David de la Fuente and he will ride with the Navarre-based group in 2012. Left stranded without a team after the disappearance of Geox-TMC, the Cantabrian cyclist will be a star reinforcement for Mikel Azparren’s organization.

With this agreement, Caja Rural has finalized its roster for 2012, a year in which the team hopes to take a step forward and continue to grow. De la Fuente, a professional since 2003, comes to the team with three victories as a professional: GP Miguel Indurain, Stage 2 of the Tour of Germany and the GP Llodio, as well as the Most Combattive prize in the Tour, plus having been a gregario to Alberto Contador in his most recent Tour victory and to Juanjo Cobo in last season’s Vuelta a España. His teams have been: Vini Caldirola-Saunier Duval (2003), Saunier Duval-Prodir (2004-2007), Saunier Duval-Scott (2008), Scott-American Beef (2008), Fuji-Servetto (2009), Astana (2010) and Geox-TMC (2011).

The arrival of De la Fuente, 30, an experienced, versatile and reliable cyclist, fills the last slot in a strong Caja Rural for 2012, where the plan is for the team to acquit itself well enough to get an invitation to the Vuelta a España next August 18 in Pamplona.

Mikel Azparren, manager of Caja Rural, was pleased with the signing and said that “with David de la Fuente our roster is closed. We’ve managed to round out a very complete team for tackling the challenges of 2012.”

“The team has made a big effort to incorporate him into the organization and we’re convinced of the performance that he’s going to offer us. We’re confident that he will find his place in the professional peloton having more responsibilities within the group. He has proven to be a very strong team player, and we’re confident that at Caja Rural, with more opportunities for overall victory, he’ll make good and bring us a lot of happiness,” he said.

David de la Fuente marked as his objective “after so many years helping teammates, it’s a big challenge to see where my limit is and how far I can go as one of the team’s cards to play for victory. Obviously, I’ll always do whatever work the team asks me to do, as I have always known to do. I’ll continue to put the interests of the group ahead of personal ones. I firmly believe in this philosophy.”

“I’m very happy to be able to ride in 2012 with Caja Rural and to be able to keep showing my value as a cyclist. Besides being my profession, this is my passion and I want to keep enjoying cycling. Caja Rural has been growing in cycling for several years, for 2012 they’ve managed to form a very complete and high-quality squad. In addition, the excitement of continuing to grow unifies us all. I hope to contribute everything that I can, and if it’s possible, with much bigger victories. Things look very good for Caja Rural in 2012,” he emphasized.

Other Caja Rural signings for 2012 are: Javier Aramendia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Hernani Broco (LA-Antarte), André Cardoso (Tavira-Prio), Manuel Cardoso (RadioShack), Marcos García (ex-Xacobeo-Galicia and KTM-Murcia), Francesco Lasca (amateur), Danail Petrov (Konya) and Antonio Piedra (Andalucía-Caja Granada), and coming up from the amateur ranks are Karol Domagalski, Yelko Gómez and Josué Moyano. Gari Bravo, David de la Cruz, Fabricio Ferrari, Aitor Galdos, Igor Romero, Alexander Ryabkin and Julio Sánchez Pimienta complete the team from Navarre.

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