Kelly Slater's 360s worth $100,000 at surfing's U.S. Open

Kelly Slater turned a couple of big-air 360 reverses into a huge payday Sunday, winning the 2011 Nike U.S. Open of Surfing contest in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Facing Australia's Yadin Nicol in the final, Slater opened up with an 8.50 ride and never trailed, winning 16.27 to 2.57 to collect the $100,000 top prize.

It was the Cocoa Beach surfer's first U.S. Open win since defeating Shane Beschen 15 years ago.

"I guess Yadin wanted me to win because he didn't catch any waves," Slater said. "This gives me confidence."

Heading next to Tahiti on the world circuit, Slater finds himself sixth in the rankings just before the midway point of the season. The 10-time world champion skipped the previous event in South Africa to chase better waves.

The 360s were close to perfect.

"I don't practice them in free-surfing, you can get hurt," he said. "But I stuck a couple of them."

Nicol is on the "bubble" trying to qualify for the world tour.

"I was just really frustrated for him because he was sitting out the back waiting for the big sets and the big sets were close-outs," Slater said. "The small ones, he was just too far outside and I got them. I think what happened is, I got the 8.50 to start and he was just going to be patient. If he got a good one, he would have thrown a big rotator, but it just never came."

In the semifinals, Slater defeated Hawaii's Dusty Payne 17.94 to 14.90, and in the quarterfinals he defeated longtime rival Taj Burrow of Australia 15.50 to 15.27.

Tour Stars confirmed for USA Cycling Challenge

Cadel Evans (BMC), Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) and Frank Schleck are all down to ride the USA Pro Cycling Challenge according to announcement released by the race organisation on Tuesday. The news means that the top-three of the Tour de France will all be riding in Colorado.

Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) have also been confirmed to ride, adding to one of the strongest fields to attend a US race.

"The confirmed participation of the sport’s premiere athletes is a monumental achievement for the event in its first year," said Sean Petty, Chief Operating Officer for USA Cycling. "It shows the interest and intrigue in what will prove to be an epic battle through the Colorado Rockies."

Shawn Hunter, co-chairman of the race organisation explained that the idea was always to set the bar high for the race’s debut later this month.

"Our goal is to assemble one of the best competitive fields an American professional stage race has ever seen," said Hunter. "This is a great moment of truth for the sport in America and for our race. To have secured such an incredible lineup of teams along with the greatest riders in the world is a credit to what the owners have committed to do in the event’s inaugural year."

The announcement sees Evans return to racing in the US after a four year exodus. Colorado will be Evans’s last race of the season, and the former world champion will be looking to cap off a stellar season in style.

"I've heard good things about the race in Colorado and I know it won't be easy. But I'm up for one more challenge," said Evans.

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge is set to begin on August 22 with a 8.2km prologue around Colorado Springs.

DZNuts with Dave Zabriskie

Dave Zabriskie breaks it down on his creations: DZNuts and the NutUp!

Dznuts High Viscosity Chamois cream was designed for Dave Zabriskie (DZ) by a pharmaceutical scientist to reduce and relieve chafing, irritation, and protect fragile perineal skin from bacterial and fungal infections.

Formulated for real and synthetic chamois from ONLY plant-derived natural ingredients like *Tea Tee Oil (powerful anti-bacterial and anti-fungal), *Evodia (powerful anti-inflamatory and wound healing), and *Masterwort (used by ancient Greeks for wound healing and calming properties).

"Proper MAINTAINTANANCE of the perineal area is essential during high level training and racing. Nothing can ruin stage race success faster than an infected saddle sore."

--Dave Zabriskie

To order click on the title link

22 minute Basic Routine: Learn how to move

This is a video Foundation Roots made for their clients a couple years ago to use when traveling or just in need of a quick tune up. This is as basic as it gets. Do this video every day for 2 weeks. Enjoy the results.

Normann Stadler Announces Retirement

Four weeks after his hear surgery Normann Stadler retires from professional triathlon.

Normann Stadler: “I am flattered that so many people believe in my comeback. Nevertheless I know that I wouldn’t be able to achieve a world class level again.”

The 38-year-old Commerzbank athlete is the only German so far who was able to win the Ironman Hawaii twice: 2004 and 2006.

Lance Armstrong wins Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey mountain bike race

Lance Armstrong wins the Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey, qualifies for the 2011 Leadville 100.

​Look out, Leadville 100 competitors: Lance Armstrong is coming for you again after winning yesterday's Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey mountain bike race with a time of 4:32:21, three seconds ahead of second-place finisher Greg Krause and third-place finisher Travis Scheefer. The 63-mile Crested Butte Alpine Odyssey is the third and final qualifier for the Leadville 100 (August 13), which Armstrong has previously won.

"We had a last minute entry from Lance Armstrong, which came as a huge surprise for us all and made for great racing," reports race spokeswoman Erica Reiter.

Race organizers first learned Armstrong would be racing when he tweeted about it the night before the race.