I am sure you were just pulling a fast one on our buddy THY (shame on you;-). It's actually a good idea (posting a dummy link for every one of his dummy links).

Here is the real cyclingnews link http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pauwels-barry-to-join-team-sky just to keep THY's scissors and glue in order.

Seriously, the story was different like an hour ago! :P

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cervelo-extend-deignans-contract

Nice! Important signing after Simon Gerrans' departure. 

World champion going spare: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/evans-to-leave-silence-lotto

I think he is going to Team Sky..
It's very unlikely that he will join us.

Sky would be good for Evans: finally a strong team to back him up. Guess that leaves Wiggins in the lurch; this would kill any chance that Garmin can do a 3-way ( Wiggo to Sky for cash, which they use to sign Contador). If Contador can make a move, it looks like Caisse d'Epargne.

mudrock:

Sky would be good for Evans: finally a strong team to back him up. Guess that leaves Wiggins in the lurch; this would kill any chance that Garmin can do a 3-way ( Wiggo to Sky for cash, which they use to sign Contador). If Contador can make a move, it looks like Caisse d'Epargne.

 

I just can't see Contador going to Garmin.  Contador is  a great rider, but I think he has major attitude and would be poison to the wrong team. If Astana goes under (I believe its ProTour license is under review by UCI), Contador will definitely be going places.

Updated:

Cervélo TestTeam transfers so far:

In:
Stefan Denifl
Theo Bos
Davide Appollonio (stagaire, not signed)

Out:
Simon Gerrans
Hayden Roulston
Serge Pauwels


Re-signed:
Thor Hushovd
Heinrich Haussler
Philip Deignan
Andreas Klier
Ignatas Konovalovas
Martin Reimer
Daniel Lloyd
Íñigo Cuesta López de Castro
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



With both Simon Gerrans and Serge Pauwels leaving the team, Cervélo TestTeam will need at least one good climber as replacement to next year. I hope Cervélo will surprise us with a good quality rider.

Cadel Evans pulled a shocker, opting out of Lotto and joining BMC. Looks like BMC is taking a page out of CTT, forming a continental team that can hold it's own on the Pro Tour. That gives CTT some competition for a Tour invite. If ASO holds to 20 teams for the race, there will be a lot of competition for that last spot, assuming the non-PT French teams take up two spots.

Edit: My bad - I see there are 18 PT teams for 2010, with Bbox and Cofidis out and RadioShack and Sky in. I also realized, or forgot, that the Grand Tours are not required to invite all PT teams to their races. (Fuji-Servetto did not get an invite to the TdF even though they are PT) It could be Astana won't get an invite to the Tour if Contador has moved on.

mudrock:

Cadel Evans pulled a shocker, opting out of Lotto and joining BMC. Looks like BMC is taking a page out of CTT, forming a continental team that can hold it's own on the Pro Tour. That gives CTT some competition for a Tour invite. If ASO holds to 20 teams for the race, there will be a lot of competition for that last spot, assuming the non-PT French teams take up two spots.

Edit: My bad - I see there are 18 PT teams for 2010, with Bbox and Cofidis out and RadioShack and Sky in. I also realized, or forgot, that the Grand Tours are not required to invite all PT teams to their races. (Fuji-Servetto did not get an invite to the TdF even though they are PT) It could be Astana won't get an invite to the Tour if Contador has moved on.

 

Yup,  ProTour is a UCI designation, the 3 GTs are each run by independent bodies in their respective countries.  BMC qualified for ProContinental with wildcard status. By not having to commit to the entire UCI  ProTour circuit, these teams can selectively pick and choose races to "go for it". I think the wildcard teams taking things up a notch will challenge the "big boys" and have and will make the Grand Tour stages more exciting. Astana has not had its ProTour license renewed yet, and apparently under UCI rules, a ProTour rider can break his contract with a team if the team has not been granted a ProTour License by October 20. So I believe it is merely a matter of time before Contador's  Astana contract is voided. I suspect with Contador gone, and Astana drug rumors in the media, the odds of Astana racing ProTour in 2010 in its current form are somewhere between slim and none.

I'll bet Euskaltel, because of Asterloa's positive, and Astana don't get invited by ASO for 2010. That leaves room for both CTT and BMC.

mudrock:

I'll bet Euskaltel, because of Asterloa's positive, and Astana don't get invited by ASO for 2010. That leaves room for both CTT and BMC.

Doesn't Euskaltel  generally choose Basque riders or at least riders with an association with the Basque region? They are partially funded by the Basque cultural foundation (Euskadi). On the heels of Cadel Evan's jump to BMC, it looks like the Alberto Contador sweepstakes are about to get very interesting.

DeepCover:

Doesn't Euskaltel  generally choose Basque riders or at least riders with an association with the Basque region? They are partially funded by the Basque cultural foundation (Euskadi). On the heels of Cadel Evan's jump to BMC, it looks like the Alberto Contador sweepstakes are about to get very interesting.

Yes, but not exclusively. They also have non-Basque Spaniards on their roster. And they just signed the French U23 world champ, Romain Sicard. Euskaltel also had the positive with Landaluze, in fact. They're definitely not going to the Tour next year.

Velonews: Euskaltel to reshape it's roster after doping scandals

José Ángel Gómez Marchante joins Andalucía Cajasur
It will be hard to replace him.


Now we definitely need some new good climbers for next season!