It looks like Christian Vande Velde will be staying with Team CSC for at least another year.

The 29-year-old confirmed to VeloNews that he reached a verbal agreement with Bjarne Riis’s red and white team Wednesday night and will likely sign the contract during this weekend’s GP Zürich to make it official.

Vande Velde joined Team CSC this year along with compatriot Dave Zabriskie and rode strongly in both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. Despite crashing three times, Vande Velde toughed it out to help Carlos Sastre finish third overall.

In other team news, Sastre has decided to stay with Team CSC for at least one more season.

Sastre, 30, penned a one-year contract extension to ride for Bjarne Riis’s team with an eye on helping Ivan Basso win the Tour de France. Interest in Sastre picked up after he finished third in the Vuelta a España, but Sastre said he’s too comfortable at Team CSC to switch teams now.

“I have everything on this team, especially a lot of good friends, whom I wouldn't want to be without,” Sastre said. “I’ve achieved a lot in my career and I think I’ll get even further at Team CSC.”

Sastre and Riis met over the weekend to hash out details of the contract. Riis had complained to Danish television that Sastre was demanding too much money, but a common ground was found to keep Sastre in a Team CSC jersey.

“Carlos and I have had a good dialogue about the new contract and I truly feel he belongs with us. Carlos is a world-class rider and tremendously important to our team,” Riis said. “There's no doubt Carlos is an attractive rider to a number of teams and it means a lot to me that he decided to stay with us in the end. Here he has the opportunity to make some results of his own as well as playing a major part in the mountains during the Tour.”

González denies doping allegations
Aitor González has vehemently denied media reports that he failed an anti-doping test at the 2005 Vuelta a España just as authorities have officially notified the rider about testing results.

The latest reports from Spain indicate that González has now been officially notified that he tested positive for banned anabolic steroids Metandriol and Metiltestosterona, two recovery and muscle-growth agents that are on cycling’s banned list.

González, the 2002 Vuelta winner, has yet to publicly speak on the matter, but issued a statement through his agents denying he used the banned substances.

“The damage is already done,” said Ángel Buenache, González’s representative. “No one can take back what’s been written in the press all over Europe that he was positive. But he hasn’t taken anything. We haven’t confirmed or denied anything, because now the presumption of innocence, the right to a defense and the laws protection evidence have been compromised.”

French journalists leaked the report earlier this week, but Euskaltel-Euskadi representatives say they still have yet to be notified.

“Aitor has received an official notice, but he insists he didn’t take anything,” said Euskaltel-Euskadi team manager Miguel Madariaga. “It’s disturbing and the news has caught him by surprise. We still haven’t heard anything official.”

González won the Tour de Suisse in June after two sub-par seasons with Fassa Bortolo and recently signed a contract extension with the Basque team. Madariaga said González would be fired if the allegations are proven to be true.

Guidi cleared
Italian rider Fabrizio Guidi has been cleared of doping after a B sample returned a negative result, his Phonak team confirmedFriday.

The 33-year-old Guidi has been reinstated in the Swiss team after being suspended following the positive test for EPO (Erythropoietin) after the HEW-Cyclassics in Hamburg in July.

The test on the B sample took place on September 21.

Guidi had looked set to be the fourth rider from the Phonak team to test positive for doping inside the past two years. American Tyler Hamilton, Spaniard Santiago Perez and Switzerland's Oscar Camenzind have all failed doping tests while riding for the Swiss team.

Big Mag ready for paced hour record attempt
Magnus Bäckstedt is honing his form ahead of tackling the derny paced hour record in late October. The 2004 Paris-Roubaix champion announced last month he’d try to beat the 66.114km record and is now putting the finishing touches on his condition ahead of the Oct. 29 attempt in the Newport track in his adopted homeland in Wales.

“I finished the Vuelta in a very good shape,” Bäckstedt said during an appearance at the Interbike Show of Las Vegas. “I’m ready to start the tough derny paced training in the Newport Velodrome. The secret is joining rhythm and power. I will do my best to beat Pronk’s record.”

The first derny paced hour recordman was Jean Bobet in 1953. The current record holder is Dutch rider Matthé Pronk, who broke the long-standing 1970 record set by Belgian by riding 1,568 meters longer. Other big names to have held the record include Stan Ockers and Peter Post.

“I spend a lot of time over the winter on the track and this is a record that really appeals to me,” Bäckstedt said earlier. “I feel that with the Newport track being so close to home as well. It is the perfect venue and I hope that people will come out and enjoy an evening of entertainment.”

Bäckstedt suggested if he’s successful at the paced record he might aim for the individual world hour record.

In October 2000, Chris Boardman set a new mark for the "athlete’s hour" record which restricted bike designs with a distance of 49.441km. Boardman also holds the unrestricted record of 56.375km he set in 1996. In July this year in a much-overlooked effort, Czech Ondrej Sosenka bested the “traditional” hour-record, covering 49.700 kilometers at Moscow's Olympic velodrome in Krylatskoye.

Chichi heading to Quick Step
The Italian rider Francesco Chicchi will ride alongside Tom Boonen during the 2006 season after pinning a deal to join Quick Step. The 2002 espoirs world champion joined Fassa Bortolo in 2003, but didn’t win a race until this year despite seven top-3s in 2004. “My objective is that of being useful to Boonen in the final sprints and hopefully also gaining a few wins for myself where my sprinting ability will be required,” Chichi said.

Valverde eyes Zürich
Not wanting his good late-season form to go to waste, Alejandro Valverde will lead Illes Balears in this weekend’s GP Zürich. Runner-up in Sunday’s world championships, Valverde will be looking to make a strong finish to the 2005 season which also included a stage win at Paris-Nice and the Tour de France.

Also lining up for the Spanish team will be Chente García, Imanol Erviti, Mikel Pradera, Iván Gutiérrez, Vicente Reynés, Joan Horrach and Pablo Lastras. More Russians for Balears
Russian riders feel at home on Illes Balears and the Spanish team has signed up Alexei Markov to join for 2006. A former track rider, Markov has won seven races in his career, including the GP CTT de Correios , all of them on the roads in Portugal. He’ll join compatriot Vladimir Karpets next year on the team headlined by Alejandro Valverde. Russian rider Denis Menchov rode for five seasons with Illes Balears before switching to Rabobank this year. Preliminary start list for GP Zürich
Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Chris Horner (Saunier Duval) and Saul Raisin (Crédit Agricole) are among the field for Sunday’s Züri Metzgete (GP Zürich) in Switzerland. The hilly one-day race used to be held in August, but has been moved to October to be part of a trio of events to close out the ProTour series. Up next are Paris-Tours (Oct. 9) and Giro di Lombardia (Oct. 15). Here’s a preliminary start list, but this is sure to change as the final rider’s list will be presented at the sport director’s meeting on the eve of the race.

Bouygues Telecom
Bonnaire Olivier
Brochard Laurent
Charteau Anthony
Fedrigo Pierrick
Gene Yohann
Geslin Anthony
Kern Christophe
Lefèvre LaurentCofidis
Atienza Daniel
Bertagnolli Leonardo
Bessy Frédréric
Chavanel Sylvain
Fernandez Bingen
Moinard Amaël
Trentin Guido
Vasseur CédricCrédit Agricole
Bellotti Francesco
Botcharov Alexandre
Joly Sébastien
Leblacher Eric
Poilvet Benoît
Raisin Saul
Talabardon Yannick
Vogondy NicolasDomina Vacanze
Celestino Mirko
Bertolini Alessandro
Cortinovis Alessandro
Nuritdinov Rafael
Grivko Andriy
Honchar Serhiy
Valoti Paolo
Visconti GiovanniEuskaltel-Euskadi
Camano Iker
Gonzalez Gorka
Laiseka Roberto
Luengo Antton
Martinez Egoi
Sanchez Samuel
Verdugo Gorka
Zubeldia JosebaFassa Bortolo
Flecha Juan Antonio
Bernucci Lorenzo
Cancellara Fabian
Codol Massimo
Kirchen Kim
Nibali Vincenzo
Sacchi Fabio
Siutsou KanstantsinIlles Balears
Garcia José Vicente
Gutierrez Ivan
Horrach Juan
Escobar Sergi
Lastras Pablo
Mancebo Francisco
Reynes Vicente
Valverde AlejandroLampre-Caffita
Cunego Damiano
Bennati Daniele
Commesso Salvatore
Bortolami Gianluca
Figueras Giuliano
Mazzoleni Eddy
Simoni Gilberto
Ballan AlessandroLiquigas-Bianchi
Albasini Michael
Calcagni Patrick
Di Luca Danilo
Garzelli Stefano
Gerosa Mauro
Miholjevic Vladimir
Noe‘ Andrea
Pellizotti FrancoAG2R Prévoyance
Astarloza Mikel
Calzati Sylvain
Deignan Philip
Dessel Cyril
Gerrans Simon
Goubert Stephane
Portal Nicolas
Turpin LudovicSaunier Duval-Prodir
Bertogliati Rubens
Jeker Fabian
Horner Chris
Marchante Gomez Angel
Mori Manuele
Lobato Elvira Ruben
Cuesta Inigo
Zaballa CostantinoCSC
Sörensen Nicki
Sastre Carlos
Basso Ivan
Schleck Frank
Voigt Jens
Piil Jakob
Peron Andrea
Vande Velde ChristianDavitamon-Lotto
Aerts Mario
Ardilla Mauricio
Baguet Serge
Brandt Christophe
Evans Cadel
Moerenhout Koos
Vansummeren Johan
Van Huffel WimDiscovery Channel
Popovych Yaroslav
Bileka Voldymyr
Brajkovic Janez
Ekimov Viacheslav
Beppu Fumyuki
Mikhaylov Gennady
Van den Broeck JurgenLa Française des Jeux
Bichot Freddy
Casar Sandy
Di Gregorio Remy
Gilbert Philippe
Finot Frédéric
Mc Gee Bradley
MCLeod Ian
Roy JérémyLiberty Seguros-Würth
Anderle René
Baranowski Dariusz
Davis Allan
De Koert Koen
Jaksche Jörg
Nozal Vega Isidro
Paulinho Sergio Miguel
Sanchez Gil Luis LeonGerolsteiner
Fothen Markus
Moletta Andrea
Rebellin Davide
Strauss Marcel
Totschnig Georg
Wegmann Fabian
Zberg Beat
Zberg MarkusPhonak Hearing Systems
Elmiger Martin
Grabsch Bert
Urweider Sascha
Pena Victor Hugo
Murn Uros
Perdiguero Miguel
Pereiro Oscar
Rast GregoryQuickstep
Bettini Paolo
Moreni Cristian
Paolini Luca
Pozzato Filippo
Rogers Michael
Sinkewitz Patrik
Van Goolen Jurgen
Verbrugghe RikRabobank
Boogerd Michael
Dekker Erik
Eltink Theo
De Groot Bram
Menchov Denis
Niermann Grischa
Rasmussen Michael
Weening PieterT-Mobile Team
Aldag Rolf
Ivanov Serguei
Kessler Matthias
Kohl Bernhard
Lararniz Francisco
Nardello Daniele
Sevilla Oscar
Wesemann Steffen