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Levi Leipheimer will make his European debut to the 2011 season at the Ruta del Sol in late February with RadioShack.

Race organizers confirmed Wednesday that Leipheimer will lead the squad in what will be the American team’s first appearance in the five-day race held across Spain’s Andalucía region, set this year for February 20-24.

Joining Leipheimer will be Haimar Zubeldia and Janez Brajkovic, who beat back Alberto Contador to win the Critérium du Dauphiné in June. Also lining up for the Shack will be Geoffrey Lequatre, Ivano Rovny and Dimitri Muravyev.

Last year’s edition of the race, also known as the Vuelta a Andalucía, was won by Michael Rogers.

Óscar Freire, the three time world champion, wants another shot at the Olympic gold medal and has decided to postpone retirement until the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Freire told reporters at an honorary dinner for him in his hometown of Torrelavega in northern Spain that if he can get through the 2011 season without any major injuries or setbacks, he’d make another run for gold.

“I would continue racing at least through the Olympic Games of London in 2012,” Freire was quoted by the Spanish wire service EFE. “If I am not involved in any major crashes or suffer any injuries, I would probably try to participate in what would be my fourth Olympic Games. It’s a special race, totally different than any other. ”

Freire had hinted that the 2011 season was going to be his last, but the off-season seems to have mellowed his sentiments about retiring next year.

Despite some suggestion that Freire had a poor season last year mainly due to his lack of stage victories during the Tour de France and Vuelta a España, he scored two huge wins to book-end his 13^th professional season.

In March he won his third Milan-San Remo, and followed that up with two stage wins during the Tour of the Basque Country, and then closed the season with a trip to the top spot on the podium at Paris-Tours in October.

Those victories give him motivation going into what will be his ninth season with the Dutch-backed Rabobank, which sees the arrival of compatriots Luís León Sánchez and Carlos Barredo.

“I achieved two important victories in different classics and, even more important, I ended the season with motivation to keep going,” Freire said. “I admit when things weren’t going well this season, I was ready to retire at 100 perecent.”

Freire will debut at the Mallorca Challenge in early February and then race the Ruta del Sol, which he won in 2007. Milan-San Remo and a strong performance during the northern classics are also important goals for Freire in 2011.

Freire also admitted he likely won’t go to the Tour de France next year, in large part to prepare intensively for the world championships in Denmark, which will be held on a course favorable to his characteristics.

Katie Compton descends one of Zolder's many technical bits. Photo: Dan Seaton

ZOLDER, Belgium — Powering through rutted, melting snow on the slippery hillsides surrounding this Formula 1 racetrack, American Katie Compton (Planet Bike) grabbed the overall leader’s jersey in the UCI World Cup of cyclocross with another decisive win over the world’s best women cyclists.

Compton’s wire-to-wire win was her fourth in as many World Cup starts, and showed that, despite the return of world champion Marianne Vos (Nederland Bloeit), she remains on top of the cyclocross world heading into the final month of racing before the world championships in Germany at the end of January.

The seven-time American champion’s victory came on an already technical track turned even more dangerous by record snowfall in Belgium. The heavy, wet snow turned normally easy straightaways into barely rideable gantlets of ruts and slippery potholes, and even left sections of course along the speedy racetrack treacherous with nearly invisible ice that caused more than one hard fall during the day’s four races.

Fall down, get up, repeat

Compton herself slid out as she turned from the tarmac onto the snowy course during the race’s first lap, which momentarily allowed the Czech Republic’s Pavla Havlikova and the Netherlands’ Daphny Van Den Brand (ZZPR.nl) and Sanne Van Paassen (Brainwash) back into the race. But Van Den Brand tumbled and fell from the front of the race moments later, allowing World Cup leader Van Paassen to take over the chase alone.

The American would fall again — and again, and again — on a day that spared pretty much nobody, but popped back up and onto her bike each time she hit the snow. Two laps into the four-lap race, Compton led the pursuit by more than 40 seconds, and the race became a battle for second place, as Vos, who clawed her way back from a back-row start, connected with Van Paassen at the front of the chase.

Marianne Vos concentrates on some tricky handling. Photo: Dan Seaton

While Compton continued on to pull away, Vos dropped Van Paassen during the third lap and eventually opened a half minute gap of her own, easily taking second place, almost a minute behind the American. With Van Paassen in third, Van Den Brand managed to hold off Havlikova in a sprint for fourth.

Seven minutes behind Compton, fellow Americans Sue Butler (Hudz-Subaru) and Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob’s Red Mill-Seven Cycles) rounded out the top 20. Bruno Roy spent much of the day closer to 15th place, but told VeloNews that she fell to 20th late in the race when she had trouble with snow-clogged cleats and pedals.

Butler, on the other hand, described her race as nearly opposite her countrywoman’s, struggling with pedal problems early in the race before finally managing to clear the snow and move up to 19th at race’s end.

After the race, Bruno Roy said she benefited from some strategic running on a few of the course’s more dangerous sections.

“I just decided to run (those sections),” she said. “In practice yesterday there was a lot of snow, and you could really easily lose the front wheel. So you run the risk of fighting the bike and then waiting to see what happens, or making the decision at the top to be in control. I think it was just as fast or even faster to run.”

A ‘crazy’ race

Butler, meanwhile, described the race as a comedy of errors.

“Crazy would be a good word for it — insane,” she said. “The start was total chaos. You did what you could do, but you needed a really smooth pedal stroke and I couldn’t get into my pedals because they were iced. People were crashing in front of you — it was just humorous. It was so funny. You couldn’t help but laugh.”

Maureen Bruno Roy said running was often faster than riding. Photo: Dan Seaton

But it was Compton doing the most laughing, as she described her error-riddled, but nonetheless spectacular ride.

“I couldn’t keep it upright today, and I didn’t feel good technically. But I think we were all struggling. It’s harder than it looks out there,” she said, after donning the World Cup leader’s jersey at the end of the race.

“I just figured, I’m going to crash a bunch. I just have to jump up quickly and get going as fast as I can. I think I was two-for-four on the downhill. There’s a reason why all the crowd is on the downhill.”

Runner-up Vos echoed Compton’s remarks, saying she also took her share of spills.

“I think the descents were pretty good, but on the straight parts, you were on a straight track and then suddenly you were just down and or in the barriers,” she said. “It’s incredible. The snow just makes you take paths you don’t want to take.”

Vos said that she was not particularly hindered by a back-row start, the result of her decision to skip the first several months of the season, but wasn’t sure she could have beaten Compton anyway.

“I’m happy with these two second places,” she said. “Of course second is not a win, but Katie was outstanding last week, and this week again. I think second was the best I could do. I’m quite happy to get back and already be racing for the podium.”

The World Cup will continue in Pont-Château, France, in three weeks, where Sanne Van Paassen will be the favorite to retake the leader’s jersey. Compton, who said she is entirely focused on winning a world championship, will return to her home in Colorado for a three-week training block, returning to Europe for the World Cup finale in Hoogerheide, just across the Netherlands border from Belgium.

“I’m really happy to be World Cup leader for another two weeks until the next race, but it’s okay,” she said. “I would love to win it, but it’s hard to travel back and forth and get it all done. I need to get back to work and get training consistently.”

Complete results

Quick results

• 1. Katherine Compton (USA), 39:58
• 2. Marianne Vos (Ned), Nederland Bloeit, at 0:54
• 3. Sanne Van Paassen (NED), at 1:29
• 4. Daphny Van Den Brand (NED), at 2:10
• 5. Pavla Havlikova (CZE), at 2:11

ZOLDER, Belgium (VN) — For a guy just dabbling in cyclocross this season, Lars Boom is making a pretty good impression.

Lars Boom concentrates on a tricky descent in Zolder. Photo: Dan Seaton

The 2008 world champion, who has since focused most of his attention on the road, had only returned to cyclocross this month, insisting that he is racing in the mud as preparation for the road and “ to entertain myself, no more than that.”

On a snow-covered World Cup course in Zolder, Belgium, on Sunday, one would have to say that Boom looked pretty darn entertained as he overcame early mechanical troubles and rode away from a field featuring the world’s best.

Pauwels’ quick start … and fade

Two weeks of nearly nonstop snowfall have turned this into what may be Belgium’s snowiest and coldest December since the Allies repelled the final German offensive of the Second World War in the Battle of the Bulge.

That pivotal moment in WWII took place in the frozen hills of the Ardennes, just about 100km southeast from the Formula 1 circuit at Zolder where there was a decidedly more festive atmosphere to the sixth round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup.

With temperatures hovering near freezing, fresh snowfall on Christmas added extra challenge to an already technical course, which wound its way around the low hills at the center of the racetrack.

Afternoon temperatures warmed enough to allow all of the snow on the small paved sections of the Zolder course to be cleared, leaving only a sheen of water on the asphalt. Starting on the race track, the course made a quick left turn on to a narrow dirt section, forcing a bottleneck just seconds after the gun went off.

Kevin Pauwels (Telenet-Fidea), second in the World Cup standings, took advantage of his prime starting position and took an early lead as other riders battled traffic, leaving many to run on the slippery snow-covered surface.

Despite his relatively bad starting position, Boom navigated the early traffic jam, caught and then passed Pauwels midway through the first lap. Tight on the Rabobank rider’s wheel was World Cup leader Niels Albert (BKCP-Powerplus). Pauwels struggled to hang on but soon found himself drifting back to a large group led by Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) and Czech star Radomir Simunek Jr. (BKCP-Powerplus).

Kevin Pauwels had a good start, leading Niels Albert early. Photo: Dan Seaton

Strong ride … with early troubles

Boom quickly established an early lead, ending his first lap alongside Pauwels with nearly a half-minute on the third-placed Nys.

Boom went to work on lap 2, building a lead by taking advantage of his superior strength on the straight sections and bounding up the steep sections of a run-up that saw Albert struggling. Indeed, Boom looked set to solo the entire event, were it not for the fact that he had troubles on the sandy downhill sections with tight, off-camber turns.

“I dropped my chain every time I came to the downhills,” he said.

On the third lap, Boom dropped his chain on two tight corners and soon found himself chasing to close a 13-second gap to Albert.

After a quick bike change on lap 4, Boom steadily narrowed the gap, passing Albert for good just after the start of lap 6.

Behind, Simunek, who had been fighting Nys and Gerben De Knegt (Rabobank) for the final podium spot, crashed into a barrier, leaving the race with what appeared to be a broken collarbone.

Radomir Simunek Jr. was having a great race before he fell. Photo: Dan Seaton

Over the final two laps, Boom appeared to be riding a conservative race, hoping to avoid a fate similar to that of the Czech rider. That caution gave Albert an opportunity to close the gap, but it never got closer than four or five seconds.

Boom hit the final run-up at full speed and then extended his lead to 10 by the time Albert picked his way up the climb.

The big Dutch rider only let up when he rounded the final turn, cast a glance back over his shoulder and realized that he was on his way to the win.

“It’s nice to win in Zolder and it’s great to come back after so much time away from cyclocross,” Boom said.

‘I had in mind to try to win’

“Before the race, before I saw the track, I had in mind to try to win today,” Boom told VeloNews after the race. “But then I saw the track and was like, ‘No way!’ And I didn’t know what would happen today because I was on the fifth row in the start. So you have to see if you have a good start; when you’re in 10th position you’re already screwed, you’re too far away.”

Boom, of course, did have a good start despite the poor position on the line. The big Dutchman quickly took control, powering away from a largely Belgian contingent of chasers. Boom’s early attack — perhaps surprisingly — was a hit with crowds who once regarded him as the only serious threat to Flemish supremacy in cyclocross, and, therefore, a despised rival.

“Today was really good,” he said. “All the Belgian people like that I came back to do some races, and they get to see some nice cyclocross races and some nice competition. Of course, two years back we had a bit of a fight between Niels and Sven Nys and me — and the Belgian people were against me also in the (2009) world championships in Hoogerheide. But it’s normal.”

The popular appeal of Boom’s return to the sport might be linked to the fact that he will not contest the worlds in St. Wendel, Germany, next month. The Dutch racer continued to emphasize that while he was happy to see he still has the legs to match the sport’s best on its biggest stage, he still regarded ’cross as nothing more than preparation for his blossoming road career.

“This is my fourth race this season,” said Boom. “I’ve been away for most of two years — last year I only did two cyclocross races — I had two years on the road. Some of (my road teammates) are training in Girona in Spain. I did that last year and it didn’t feel good for me. I’ve had a lot of fun in cyclocross, and it was fun to be home in November and December to train in the woods and on the road. For me, this is better preparation for the road season than doing long hours on the road in Spain.”

Albert keeps World Cup lead

Albert, Boom’s one-time foe, was vanquished again today. Nonetheless, he continued to benefit from his consistent showings in World Cup races, and extended his overall lead in the series to 66 points over Nys, who himself moved into second position, five points ahead of Pauwels.

Niels Albert shoulders his bike and climbs another hill. Photo: Dan Seaton

Albert, however, told reporters that he will continue to take his racing one day at a time.

“I’ve never ridden cyclocross with an eye on the classifications, and I’m still not doing that, because it could all be over in one day,” said the one-time world champion. “I might be well positioned for the World Cup, but if I have a mechanical (in the next round) in Pont-Château and finish 25th, it could all be over.”

Meanwhile, while Boom’s return to form may have been the headline of the day, third place may have represented an equally significant breakthrough for Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea), who endured an eight-race streak of near misses — finishing either fourth or fifth each time — in November and early December.

“This season I’ve been every week fourth place,” Wellens told VeloNews, explaining that a crash early in the race actually helped him relax and ride better. “Sometimes that was my fault, I made mistakes, but sometimes it was just bad luck. Today, I had again bad luck on the start. In the first two corners I crashed. So I was like 16th or 17th place. But then the feelings were good, and I found the good tracks, and I felt like I didn’t need to push, so I felt good.”

Wellens said that he didn’t really understand just how well he was riding until just before he connected with the group battling for third.

“One time my father was yelling, ‘Yeah, you can go for third place!’” he said. “Then I saw Sven Nys and Simunek up ahead, and the moment that I got to them, they crashed. So it was just full gas to the finish. And it was good enough.”

Tough day for the North Americans

Despite the large North American contingent in the race — 10 riders — only Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) managed to finish on the lead lap. Ryan Trebon (Kona-FSA) opted not to take the start, while his teammate Sean Babcock looked strong all day, but was pulled along with the majority of the race’s entrants who were simply outmatched by the technical prowess of Boom and company.

Jonathan Page survives another trip down the hill. Photo: Dan Seaton

Babcock finished 36th, while the United States’ other entrants, Mark Lalonde, Ryan Iddings, Ryan Knapp, Mitchell Hoke and Brian Matter finished 48th, 53rd, 58th, 59th, and 61st, respectively. Craig Richey led the Canadian contingent in 49th, while countrymen Mike Garrigan and Shaun Adamson finished 52nd and 60th.

Page, meanwhile, finished the day in 19th, and may have had a chance for a significantly better result had he not fallen several times during the race’s early laps. Once he got going, the New Hampshire native, looking more comfortable in the snow than many of his European competitors, passed more than a dozen people during the later laps.

“It was just mayhem at the start,” Page said. “There were guys who would get caught in ruts and then they would get thrown sideways and everybody else would pile up behind them. I spent the first part of the race just bouncing off people.”

Page, who is still recovering from an ankle injury during last weekend’s Scheldecross race in Antwerp, said he considered dropping out in order to protect it after the first couple of laps.

“I asked (my mechanic) Franky if I should just stop the race and be safe, but he said keep going and just start picking off people,” Page explained. “And that’s what I did the whole day.”

Page and his compatriots return to action Monday in the sixth round of the Nissan Superprestige Cyclocross series in Diegem, just outside of the Belgian capital Brussels. The World Cup, meanwhile, resumes in three weeks time in Pont-Château, France.

Dan Seaton and VeloNews.com senior editor Charles Pelkey contributed to this report.

Complete results

Quick results

• 1. Lars Boom (Ned), Rabobank, 1:08:29
• 2. Niels Albert (B), BKCP-Powerplus, at 0:13
• 3. Bart Wellens (B), Telenet-Fidea, at 1:16
• 4. Gerben De Knegt (Ned), Rabobank-Giant Offroad Team, at 1:45
• 5. Sven Nys, (B), Landbouwkrediet, at 1:55

In what may be wishful thinking or perhaps a sign that there’s something brewing, Alberto Contador is registered to start the Vuelta a Murcia in early March in Spain.

The Spanish wires were alight Christmas night with news that Contador has been listed as one of the starting riders for Saxo Bank-Sungard for the Murcia tour, set for March 4-6 along Spain’s Mediterranean coast.

According to a report on the Spanish wire service EFE, race organizers confirmed that Contador’s name is on the Saxo Bank roster. Others include Lucas Sebastián Haedo and Jesús Hernández.

Due to the late hour in Europe, VeloNews could not independently confirm the news.

Whether that’s just a procedural matter by Saxo Bank brass or a gesture of solidarity for its embattled star remains to be seen.

Teams will often send names to race organizers simply to fill in a rough draft of what races athletes might participate only to see the final rosters altered due to injuries, illnesses and other changes in racing schedules. Teams are also required to register riders at least 20 days before the start of an event.

The appearance of Contador’s name on the preliminary start list, however, could be a sign that there may be news coming soon for the Contador camp.

The Spanish rider is anxiously waiting to hear his fate ever since he was temporarily banned from racing after testing positive for traces of clenbuterol during the 2010 Tour de France. He blames the positive test on contaminated steaks.

Contador’s press attaché Jacinto Vidarte told VeloNews on Thursday that they don’t know when a decision would be forthcoming from a four-member panel empowered by the Spanish cycling federation to review his case. An interview with the Spanish cycling federation president last week suggested a decision wouldn’t be likely until mid-January.

But perhaps Contador received a hint that there could be good news coming down the pipe.

Contador suddenly “reappeared” on his Twitter account Friday after a three-week silence and sounded optimistic in the three messages he posted, promising that 2011 would be “HISTORIC” (his emphasis).

“Hello, long time — this will not be my best Christmas or the quietest. I hope that in 2011, coherence, ethics and truth will prevail to do justice,” Contador wrote. Also thanking his teammates at Saxo Bank-Sungard, he added: “Next year will be HISTORIC. Querer es poder (where there’s a will, there’s a way), Merry Christmas.”

If the Spanish cycling federation were to clear Contador, however, it likely wouldn’t be the end of the story. Both the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency can appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a process that would likely drag on for months.

In what’s a clear sign of what Contador can likely expect, WADA recently filed motions to appeal a decision to the German table tennis association to not ban Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who also claimed he triggered a false clenbuterol positive after eating meat on a trip to China.

Editor’s Note: Today we are re-running one of our most popular training columns, on designing your annual training plan. If you enjoy this, be sure to check out Frank Overton’s second most-popular column: What to do with your new power meter.

By Frank Overton

These days, there’s something to be said for designing your own training program. Athletes that are willing to put some thought and dedicate some time into designing a personal training strategy can be quite successful, more so than just riding around and hoping your form comes around.

A 2010 FasCalendar

It is also helpful to have your own game plan on paper even if you plan to take advantage of the help of an expert.

For those of you who like to do it yourself (DIY), here are four steps and two documents to use for designing a great 2009 training and racing season.

Step 1: Get Organized

The first step in designing your plan is to have everything written down and organized on one sheet of paper like the one pictured. To download this worksheet visit FasCatCoaching.com.

In one view, this worksheet breaks down the entire 2010 calendar into 37 weeks. Start by figuring out when you are going to start (and stop) racing. If you are lucky enough to attend a training camp write that down, too. Even knowing in advance when you’ll be taking a vacation away from the bike is helpful.

Step 2: What are you training for?

The next step is to identify precisely what you are training for. Having a tangible goal to work for will give you the motivation to get on the bike each day with a purpose. For starters, write down your three most important races. Then enter those races into the calendar. Define how many weeks you have from now until your first “A” race.

Having the big picture — the 30,000-foot aerial view, if you will — of how your races are setting up this spring and summer will give you the ability to zoom in your training week-to-week.

Step 3: Advanced Planning

Now that you are organized, and your goals are defined, begin to fill in your plan with more detail. Remember, designing your own training plan is a not a one-time exercise; it’s a work in progress. In January concentrate on the number of weeks you have before your race season begins.

January
Write down how many hours you can train each week between now and when your season begins. Weigh the possibility for a late winter or early spring warmer weather training camp to wrap up your “base.” Conversely, plan around potential business trips and other limitations (we all have to work, right?) Perhaps most importantly, plan on riding after work beginning March 8th with daylight savings.

As you know, the more training the better, but keep it realistic. By having weekly hours written down, you automatically give yourself the motivation to achieve those goals and ride those hours.

February and March
By the time February and March roll around, most local racing associations have posted their 2009 racing calendars. Begin to review and chose which you want to race before and in-between your major A races. Also use this advanced planning opportunity to look at what races aren’t going to work for whatever reason. You do not and should not race every weekend from April through September. Schedule a healthy dose of non-competitive weekends during which you ride for fun in a productive way.

A 2010 Annual Training PLan

I also recommend a mid-season break for all athletes (one week of no riding and racing to recharge mentally and physically). Mid-season breaks are a great time to balance your life outside of cycling for work and family.

Revisit this worksheet in February and March and adjust your weekly hours based on how easy or hard they have been to achieve so far. Once your racing is underway and you have seen how successful you are, and are going to be, revisit your race program and your goals based on your successes so far.

Now that you have your big picture training plan taken care of, you are ready to zoom down to the day-to-day design. I like to use a calendar like the one pictured and you can see that January is planned out as an example. You can download this calendar to use for your design by visiting FasCatCoaching.com.

Take the weekly hours from your big picture plan and pencil them in for the week ending each Sunday. Say, for example, that you planned out eight hours for the week, January 12th – 18th. Working off of those hours, you could do three one-hour mid-week workouts and two 2.5-hour rides over the weekend. Alternatively, you could do one three-hour ride on Saturday and a two-hour ride on Sunday. The benefit of designing your own training plan is that you know the limitations of your schedule and how each week/weekend shapes up against basketball games, business trips, carpools and if you are gonna be able to hit the Saturday morning group ride throw down.

Every two or three weeks plan a recovery week with fewer hours than you normally would ride. Give yourself more complete off days during the work week and ride once on the weekend. Try to train especially hard in the week and the days before your planned rest.

Repeat your day-to-day training plan design once-a-month using a monthly calendar. Always plan ahead based on what has happened with your previous training.

Finally, print out both of these documents. Use them to write down what you did each day. Post them on your refrigerator, desk, garage – wherever you are going to glance at daily so that you already know what you need to do for training the next day. Show your family. Share it with your cycling club and teammates. Rally for as much support as you can find. Oh and honey, can you watch the kids on Saturday morning so I can go hammer with the group ride?

Frank Overton is the head Cycling Coach at FasCatCoaching.com, a cycling coaching company in Boulder, Colorado. If you would like to receive the Training Plan Design Worksheet and the monthly FasCalendar (with an example January Training Plan) referenced above please, email info@fascatcoaching.com.