Must Reads: Stuart O’Grady targets Australian road nationals; Dario Cioni stops racing, joins Sky staff; Garmin-Cervélo short on YouTube

Stuart O’Grady on the job for Leopard-Trek during the 2011 Vuelta. Photo: Graham Watson (file)

The Courier: O’Grady targets Aussie national road championships

Stuart O’Grady has confirmed he would contest the Cycling Australia National Road Championships blue-ribbon men’s road race — an event he won in 2003 on the same course at Buninyong.

His visits to Buninyong have been sparse since his 2003 triumph — a factor he attributes to lack of preparation.

“I have not done it much because I have not had the form or injury-free lead-up to win it,” O’Grady said. “You have to have everything going well to win at Buninyong.

“Lately, I have been able to put in some really hard training. It’s probably cram training and I am feeling pretty good.”

Eurosport: Cioni retires, takes Sky staff job

Dario Cioni has announced his retirement from professional cycling but the Italian will stay with Team Sky in 2012 in a communications role.

Cioni, who joined the British team for their debut season in 2010, will now focus his attentions on liasing between Italian sponsors and the Italian media.

“I’ve been racing for 20 years and turned 37 in December and know that I can’t race forever even though I’d love to,” Cioni said.

“One starts to look forward and when Dave (Brailsford) proposed this role I understood it was the right moment to start with the new job.

“I have a degree in international business with sports management and it looks like the perfect way to continue in the sport and with the team.”

YouTube: Garmin-Cervélo short ‘Journey to a Dream’ on YouTube

Filmmaker Nigel Dick, with the backing of Clif Bar, put together the short “Journey to a Dream” for Garmin-Cervelo’s team presentation November 17 in Boulder.

The film recaps the highlights of Garmin-Cervélo’s 2011 season, which included Johan Vansummeren’s triumph at Paris-Roubaix and the squad’s first-ever victory at the Tour de France victory in the team time trial.

Now you can watch it, too — Dick’s film has been posted on YouTube.

To read the whole story, visit here: http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/12/news/must-reads-stuart-ogrady-targets-australian-road-nationals-dario-cioni-stops-racing-joins-sky-staff_200740

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