BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news

Lance Armstrong is known to favour his iPod Mini for pre-race warm-ups but his sunglass sponsor has given him a new toy to play with, shades with music on tap... UPDATED: And the name for the MP3 shades? Thump.

Nicole Cooke of Wales has won the Giro Donne, the female equivalent of the Giro d'Italia. With no Tour Feminine this year, the women's equivalent of the Tour de France, Cooke's victory is especially significant.

And BikeBiz.com can prove it. French and Irish muck-raking journalists should click within for evidence that will blow their minds...

Sky George, that is. Sky is the Californian company's VP of Marketing and "almost fell off my chair" when OLN's Tour de France coverage of Wednesday's team time trial showed CSC's Bobby Julich sporting a 40-ounce reservoir under his jersey. The custom RaceVest was discontinued in 2001 but could be brought back into production if enough time triallists asked for it...

When Scott was relaunched in the US at Sea Otter earlier this year, Specialized execs took a keen interest in the suspension set-up on the Genius. Mike Sinyard's company filed suit, claiming patent infringement. Unless the infringement suit is settled, Scott cannot sell its headline-making Genius bikes in the US.