I get mail.

I just wanted to pass along two sales on women's cycling clothing, for the girls and for the guys shopping for the girls.

First, Team Estrogen is having a 30% off sale on selected items. Shipping on orders over $50.00 is also free. See all the details at the Team Estrogen website. If you've never visited Team Estrogen, they are incredibly nice, have a vast selection of women's clothing, and ship very quicky. All good.

Also, Sheila Moon in San Francisco is having a holiday sale on 2008 Spring clothing. Prices are discounted 25% with closeouts priced at 50% off. Check it out at Sheila Moon.

Have fun!

Kelly Slater

Bra... Bend at the knees, not at the waist.

How do the two Dudes match up? Smack Down on the Flip!

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HTFU Edition.

It was a rough day here at the Gossip World Headquarters. All we wanted was a cup of coffee and an internet connection and THEY WOULDN'T GIVE IT TO US!

Ahem.

This Gossip business, not for the faint of heart. But we have persevered and scoured the interwebs to bring you all the Gossip that really matters, and probably a whole bunch that doesn't. It's not like we're solving world hunger or anything.

En avant, mes amis. That's French. It means, move along now, nothing to see here. (Roughly.)

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The UCI has announced today the teams who have received Pro Continental licenses for the 2009 season. Five teams were denied licenses, due to unspecified irregularities. They have until Friday, 5 December to appeal the decision. The five are: Rock Racing, H2O, LPR Brakes, Amica Chips (Martinelli's new team), Murcia-Contentpolis AMPD. According to this press release, it appears that Rock Racing applied for a Pro Conti license after all, but so far, the UCI has not granted them a license. In the United States, BMC is the only team who has received a Pro Continental license.

Have a look at the press release for the full list.

Quicky Update: Podium In Sight gives us the explanation for the denial of Rock Racing's application. According to an interview Ball granted to Bicycling Magazine, the team put in an application, then decided against completing the process. Ball reportedly did not see much chance of securing invites to the Giro d'Italia or other major races, given the many other teams trying to get in the door (true dat!), and decided to save his cash. The team will revisit the decision next season.

Gazzetta dello Sport reports today that Gianetti's Fuji-Servetto and Masciarelli's Acqua&Sapone are set to merge. Paolo Bettini will take over as manager of the new formation. According to Gazzetta, a verbal agreement exists to pursue the merger, but it is not yet finalized.

The three principals met in Chiasso, Switzerland, Saturday, to discuss the plan. Gazzetta reports that there were some disagreements at the Chiasso meeting, but they are described as "not serious." Palmiro Masciarelli, who currently manages Acqua&Sapone is prepared to step aside in Bettini's favor, and seems to be the strongest proponent of the idea. Mauro Gianetti is less enthusiastic, but the doping scandals of Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Riccò limit his options. Already, the grand tour organizers have signaled their reluctance to include Gainetti's new Fuji-Servetto in their races, despite the team's pro tour status. Gazzetta speculates the Fernando Matxin will also need to step back from his management role, if the team is to regain credibility.

Paolo Bettini would certainly have his work cut out for him in taking over the "Scandal Team" of Gianetti. The sponsors no doubt hope that the well-regarded former World Champion can open the doors that for now appear tightly closed. Bettini will reportedly meet with the Giro d'Italia organizers this week to sound them out on the possibility of an invite to their Centenary race. Bettini is well-regarded in Spain, and would likely find the Vuelta organizers open to his approach. But the gates to the Tour de France will almost certainly remain closed.

Though Bettini will face a difficult task in re-establishing the team's credibility, if such a thing is possible, taking on the management role will join him with several old friends. Both Luca Paolini and Stefano Garzelli are close friends with Bettini, and currently ride for Acqua&Sapone. Another long-time friend, Andrea Tonti, recently signed on to ride for Fuji-Servetto. Bettini told Gazzetta, "The alliance of the two... could give great satisfaction." He also said he would likely take an active role in the team. "I want to do the things that I know to do, like in races." So, "a captain, not a player," concludes Gazzetta.

As Gazzetta makes clear, the deal is not yet signed and sealed. The principal obstacle appears to be the question of ensuring that the team will be allowed to ride the Giro d'Italia, and perhaps also the Vuelta a España. The Italian races have long been open to Acqua&Sapone, so the new team should have a full schedule. But without the grand tours, they would remain distinctly second tier, which would no doubt disappoint the new sponsors. Indeed, it is not out of the question that the merger and management change are a consequence of demands made in the sponsorship agreement. Unfortunately, no details on those agreements are available. With Gianetti and Matxin at the helm, Fuji-Servetto is unlikely to enjoy the benefits of its pro tour license. Acqua&Sapone has spent the last two seasons left out of the Giro d'Italia. They would desperately like to come in from the cold. The addition of Paolo Bettini, well-liked in Italy, appears to solve these problems. At the same time, it will likely take a season or several before the memories of the team's past scandals are erased.

We see cases all the time of mangled translations in the English-language press. And we heckle when appropriate, natch.

Here is a bit of a head-scratcher from the Italian press:

"Tom Danielson, Captain of Garmin for the Giro and Tour," headlines tuttobiciweb. The article continues, "Tom Danielson is one of the big, promising talents in American cycling, but ... it is true that he has not won a race since 2006, when he won a stage of the Vuelta a España." He is approaching the 2009 season with "grand ambitions," concentrating especially on the early part of the season. The article goes on to list races such as Tour of California and Pais-Vasco as numbering among his objectives. He will then ride the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, they report. Danielson "who will be the team leader for Garmin-Chipotle in these races," writes tuttobiciweb, said that it is important for him and for the team that he achieve good results.

Now, I love me some tuttobiciweb. They're quick. They're usually accurate. And they're Italian. But they seem not to know their Team Garmin so well. Christian Vandevelde, who? Never mind that Danielson has yet to finish either the Giro d'Italia or the Tour de France. Perhaps the Italian journalists simply know something we don't know.

Young Italian sprinting talent Oscar Gatto will ride for ISD next season. With the folding of team Gerolsteiner, Gatto ended up without a contract and over the last few weeks, increasingly dispaired of finding a job for next season. Rumor had connected him with Mauro Gianetti's new team, Fuji-Servetto. In a press conference today, he confirmed that he will ride for the Italian team ISD next season.

At ISD, Gatto will benefit from the experience of Mario Cipollini, il Re Leone, and long-time Cipollini gregario, Luca Scinto, who has signed on as a sports director. Cipollini is looking forward to working with the young talent, saying that he wants to work with Gatto like a "professor and student." During the press conference earlier this month announcing his involvement with the team, Cipollini had said he wanted to sign a sprinter. With Gatto, he has certainly gotten his wish.

Gatto describes himself as a sprinter who can also get over the short climbs, and is hoping that Cipollini and Scinto can help him develop his speed and power. In 2006, riding for Zalf as an U23, Gatto won 13 races, more than any other Italian rider. His record as a junior was still more impressive. Born in 1985, Gatto is one of the more promising talents on the Italian scene, though he has yet to deliver a big result in the pro ranks. By all accounts, his two years at Gerolsteiner were not especially happy ones, and he is reportedly pleased to be returning to an Italian team. He is only 23 years old. He has time on his side, and now also, the deep experience of one of the sport's most successful sprinters, Mario Cipollini.

Source: tuttobiciweb.it

Mauro Gianetti has at last confirmed the title sponsors for his new team, the successor to Saunier-Duval. The American bicycle manufacturer Fuji will join with Servetto, an Italian company who makes bedroom furnishings and accessories, to sponsor the team. TMC Transformers, previously rumored as a possible title sponsor, has signed on as a supporting sponsor. TMC Transformers, as the name suggests, manufactures electrical transformers (oh, the kit possibilities.). The team will also receive sponsorship support from the government of the Spanish province of Cantabria.

Today, Gianetti also confirmed Alvaro Crespi's management role and that several new riders have signed contracts. They include: Andrea Tonti and Davide Vigano from QuickStep-Innergetic, Danieli Nardello from Diquigiovanni-Androni, and Ricardo Serrano from Tinkoff. Serrano for one is very excited to begin his "new adventure" with the team. Said Serrano, "I am very happy to have signed a contract, because for many long weeks I was in a state of uncertainty and didn't know anything, and that is a not a nice thing." The team roster should be complete within the next week. Rumor has suggested that Gianetti might pick up sprinter Oscar Gatto, formerly of Gerolsteiner.

Fuji-Servetto, which also includes sixteen riders from Saunier Duval, has a pro tour license for next year. Though Gianetti's Saunier Duval-Scott team dissolved in one of the scandals of the year, which included two riders testing positive for CERA at the Tour de France, he has succeeded in wooing sufficient sponsorship money to remain esconced at the highest levels of the sport. Many within the sport have criticized Gianetti and his apparent proximity to cycling's doping scandals. Said retired French pro, Stéphane Heulot during the Tour, "certain managers, like Gianetti, can not think of a cycling without doping, a cycling different from that which they have always practiced." It remains to be seen whether the scandals of the past continue to haunt the new team's future.

Track sprinter Theo Bos will ride the road for Rabobank Continental beginning next season. The offer from Rabobank came at a good moment, says Bos. The Beijing Olympics proved disappointing, as the talented sprint specialist returned home empty-handed. Since he began racing at the elite level in 2004, Bos has won world championship titles in the sprint (twice), the kilo, and the kierin, and boasts numberous world cup results. In 2004, he took silver in the sprint at the Athens Olympics. In comparison to past years, this season was not an especially successful one.

The Cervélo TestTeam was also reportedly interested in signing the 25 year old Dutchman. Rabobank offered a longer-term commitment to Bos than Cervélo, and he likely wanted to stay closer to home. The contract with Rabobank runs two years, and Bos will join the Rabobank Pro Tour team in the second year. The decision to take on a full-time road commitment next season means that Bos will probably not contest the London Olympics in 2012.

The transition from track to road does not always come easy. For the endurance specialists, such as pursuiters, the road comes relatively easily, because most riders in these disciplines put in significant time on the road. For the sprint specialists, it can be more difficult. Sprinting from a standing start on the track is a far different affair than sprinting after 200 kilometers of racing. Track sprinters also carry considerably more muscle mass than the average road sprinter. Forget about climbing.

For American sprint specialist Marty Nothstein, for example, the results on the road came slowly, and mostly in short criterium events. Nothstein's road adventures came at the end of his lengthy track career. By contrast, Bos is currently 25 years old, and has time to develop the endurance necessary for the road. Reportedly, Bos has already begun the necessary transition work, but it may be a season or two before his talent really shines on the road. Should all go according to plan, though, we may yet have a talented new sprinter to watch.

Source: wvcycling.com.

Photo copyright Lyne Lamoureux, used with permission. Full disclosure: The rider in that photo is not Bos, but we have do have permission to use it. Win some, lose some.

From the Department of Unfortunate Podium Photos, I bring you:

The Australian Pursuit Team.

Is Viagra on the banned list yet?

Next time, perhaps the ostriches - I believe that's what the boys are holding, at least - should be held overhead? Really, they could not have done worse with this one.

Yes, this post was completely juvenile. Not that there's anything wrong with that, is there?