Team CSC-Saxo Bank’s newest signing – hailed British rider Jonathan Bellis – leads the team in the Tour of Britain. The eight-day race begins Sunday with an 86-kilometer road stage in London and ends Sept. 14 in Liverpool. Jens Voigt, meanwhile, reloads in the one-day German race at the Vattenfall Classic in Hamburg, also on Sunday.

Chris Anker Sørensen is back in the saddle after fighting through some knee problems. After winning a stage at the Dauphiné Libéré in June and a great showing in the Beijing Olympic Games, Sørensen’s knee problems forced him out of the Deutschland Tour. The Dane climbing sensation was scared that he might even require surgery, but a five-day break and some medication have helped get him back on track. Sørensen will line up at the Tour of Britain and then race the Herald Sun Tour in Australia after the road cycling world championships in October. 

Team CSC-Saxo Bank will ride on Specialized bikes for the 2009 season and beyond. “I have taken multiple trips to the Specialized headquarters in the past few months to ride their bikes and speak with their engineers and I am hugely impressed with what I’ve seen,” said team manager Bjarne Riis. “We are very keen to give the best possible feedback to Specialized in order for us to be riding the best bikes in the world.”

If Carlos Sastre wins this year’s Vuelta a España, he will become the first Spanish rider to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year, something only two riders have done in history. Jacques Anquetil did it in 1963 and Bernhard Hinault in 1978. 

There was no Olympic medal for Team CSC-Saxo Bank rider Brad McGee in track racing at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. McGee entered Beijing a five-time Olympic medalist during three Olympic Games, but failed to reach the finals in the Individual Pursuit to finish a disappointing ninth. Then Australia rode to fourth in the four-man Team Pursuit, leaving McGee one medal short of tying the Olympic Games record of six medals in track racing.