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Daniele Bennati isn’t going to let muscle pain keep him out of the Tour of Flanders, though it’s likely he’ll have plenty more of that after Sunday’s punishing course. The Liquigas sprinter confirmed he will race Sunday despite some lingering pain from a crash dating back to the second stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Team doctors said Bennati was suffering from intense muscle pain in his right thigh, which flared up again during this week’s Three Days of De Panne. Bennati, however, insists on racing and the team is standing by his decision.

French rider Jerome Coppel delivered another victory for FDJeux after kicking to victory in Friday’s Route Adélie de Vitré in France. Coppel came through one second ahead of the chasing David Le Lay (Agritubel), with Romain Feillu (Agritubel) coming through third to round out the podium. Critérium International winner Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank) came through with a group at 3:45 in 35th.

Spanish rider Hector Guerra (Liberty Seguros) took control of the Volta ao Alentejo in Portugal on Friday, pulling the double in the 19km time trial.   Guerra won the race in 24:05, 18 seconds faster than runner-up Christophe Moreau (Agritubel).   Guerra also takes over the lead, moving just two seconds ahead of Vitaliy Kondrut (ISD).  

Price: $90 Colors: Red, orange, pink, yellow, green, blue, silver, and black Web site: www.rockymounts.com RockyMounts is replacing its Lariat SL rack with the all-new PitchFork. The new rack is RockyMounts' standard in fork-mounted bike carriers for Thule and Yakima crossbars. The new design is a bit more sleek with a low-profile design for better aerodynamics.

Another sprint in Italy and another victory for Alessandro Petacchi.   The Italian snagged his second win at the Settimana Lombarda in Friday’s stage into Vertova to retain his grip on the overall lead.   Already a winner on Wednesday (plus a member of LPR’s winning team time trial squad to open the race Tuesday), Petacchi made easy work of Luca Paolini (Acqua e Sapone). Francisco Ventoso, the Spanish sprinter on Carmiooro, crossed the line third in the 183.6km course.   The race continues Saturday with the 159km fifth stage starting and finishing in Flero.

Shimano is revamping its Ultegra group, cutting weight from the second-in-line road parts and, in trademark trickle-down fashion, incorporating many features that the company added to its Dura-Ace group last year. The company claims that the new Ultegra 6700 group will be more than 150 grams lighter than the current Ultegra 6600 and 45 grams lighter than the Ultegra SL group.

Rabobank 1 Brown, Graeme 2 Flecha Giannoni, Juan... 3 Hayman, Mathew 4 Horrillo Mun?oz, Pedro 5 Leezer, Tom 6 Nuyens, Nick 7 Stamsnijder, Tom 8 Van Emden, Jos Quick Step 11 Boonen, Tom 12 Devolder, Stijn 13 Hovelijnck, Kurt 14 Hulsmans, Kevin 15 Tosatto, Matteo 16 Van Impe, Kevin 17 Velo, Marco 18 Weylandt, Wouter Silence - Lotto 21 Cretskens, Wilfried 22 Elijzen, Michiel 23 Hoste, Leif 24 Kaisen, Olivier 25 Lang, Sebastian 26 Ljungblad, Jonas 27 Roelandts, Jurgen 28 Scheirlinckx, Staf

Tom Boonen has won the Tour of Flanders twice, but that doesn’t at all diminish his desire for a win again here at the first cobbled classic. “I’m eager,” Boonen told VeloNews. “It’s a big challenge trying to be good in that same period every year. And I’ve achieved that goal almost every year. I think my sensation now is a little bit better than the same period last year. But being good and winning are still a big difference.”

Astana has its fingers crossed for a strong showing in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, bringing a mixed squad of young yet ambitious riders keen to prove their place among the favorites. With GC riders like Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador cooling their jets after finishing 1-2 in the Vuelta a Castilla y León last week, the Astana squad brings its Kazakh contingent to the Belgian classic. Maxim Iglinskiy, third in the E3-Prijs Vlaanderen last weekend, will be the team’s best chance, with riders like Assan Bazayev and Dmitriy Muravyev hoping to be in the mix.

Columbia-Highroad brings a multi-pronged attack for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, with George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt lining up as the team’s two top options. The veteran American, third at Flanders in 2006, and Burghardt, winner of the 2007 Ghent-Wevelgem, will be supported by a strong Columbia team laden with motivated riders.

Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre continues on his road toward the Giro d’Italia with a trip to the hilly, six-day Vuelta al País Vasco. The Cervélo TestTeam captain wants to see marked improvement in his condition during challenging and highly competitive week of racing in Spain’s hilly Basque Country. “It’s the last stage race that I will race before the Giro and I hope to feel the accumulation of the work I’ve done,” Sastre said. “The goal is to arrive at the start of the Giro in the best condition.”

The public prosecutor's office in Vienna on Friday announced five new arrests in the anti-doping case that has rocked Austrian sport over the last few weeks. Five unnamed people were arrested in the provinces of Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria and Carinthia between February and the beginning of April, said prosecutor spokesman Gerhard Jarosch. Some of them were active in the "fitness and weight training" sectors and are suspected of dealing in doping agents on a commercial scale, thereby contravening anti-doping and pharmaceutical laws, Jarosch said.

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Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Garmin-Slipstream rider Blake Caldwell, who narrowly missed out on a national road championship in a photo finish against Tyler Hamilton last September, fell while training in Spain Thursday and broke his femur. Team manager Jonathan Vaughters confirmed that Caldwell had fractured the neck of his femoral head while training in Girona. “It’s a similar injury to what happened to Floyd Landis,” Vaughters said. “Hopefully Blake won’t have all the same problems Floyd had.”

Dorel Industries executives say it pained them to end U.S. production of Cannondale bicycles, but said the cost of domestic production made the decision "crystal clear" from an economic perspective.

Samuel Caldeira (Palmeiras Resort-Prio Tavira) was first across the line in the second stage of the Volta ao Alentejo in Portugal on Thursday, but judges relegated him for dangerous sprinting.   Instead, Filipe Cardoso (Liberty Seguros) was awarded the victory in the 209.9km stage, with Cesar Quiterio (CC Loulé) taking second and Bruno Lima (Madeinox Boavista) with third.  

Frederik Willems (Liquigas), won the Three Days of De Panne on Thursday following the race-concluding 15.3km time trial which was won by Garmin’s Bradley Wiggins. Willems nipped in ahead of Dutch racers Joost Posthuma and Tom Leezer for his third career success in seven years as a pro. Wiggins won the time trial, which followed on from a 112km third regular stage where Isle of Man sprinter Mark Cavendish saw off all-comers with his second consecutive victory over Australian rival Robbie McEwen.

Short track, the fast and furious format of cross-country mountain bike racing, is coming back to the top end of American mountain bike racing. The ShoAir-Specialized US Cup, the new 13-race series of cross-country mountain bike races nationwide, will feature three stand-alone short track events this year. The races will be held at the April 19 Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California; the August 16 Yankee Clipper at Windham Mountain, New York; and the September 26 U.S. Cup finals in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Another sprint at Settimana Lombarda in Italy, but a different winner this time as Mattia Gavazzi gives underdog Diquigiovanni yet another win on the 2009 season. Gavazzi won the 164km third stage by out-kicking Yuri Metlushenko (Amore e Vita), with former world track champion Theo Bos (Rabobank continental) continuing to show progress with his second consecutive third place. Overnight leader Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) conserved the leader’s jersey going into Friday’s fourth stage.

One of the most famous and unique endurance races in the world takes place annually in Alaska. The Iditarod sled dog race was won on March 18, when Alaskan Lance Mackey reached the end of the 1049-mile route from Anchorage to Nome in nine days, 21 hours, 38 minutes and 46 seconds. The last finisher came in nearly six days later.

It's a bad habit, we know. But, for longer than anyone here can remember, the staff at VeloNews (the magazine) and now, VeloNews.com, has entertained itself by coming up with a handful of absurd stories on April 1. The goal is to make the stories just realistic enough to pull readers in and leave them wondering — or perhaps seething — at the absurdity, until they look at a calendar.

Quick Step 1. Stijn Devolder 2. Tom Boonen 3. Sylvain Chavanel Kevin De Weert Kevin Van Impe Maarten Wynants Matteo Tosatto Carlos Barredo Silence-Lotto 11 CRETSKENS Wilfried 12 DELAGE Mickael 13 GILBERT Philippe 14 HOSTE Leif 15 LANG Sebastian 16 SCHEIRLINCKX Staf 17 VAN AVERMAET Greg 18 VANSUMMEREN Johan AG2R-La Mondiale 21 CLERC Aurélien 22 DION Renaud 23 ELMIGER Martin 24 HINAULT Sébastien 25 PINEAU Cédric 26 POULHIES Stéphane 27 ROUSSEAU Nicolas 28 SMUKULIS Gatis Astana 31 BAZAYEV Assan 32 IGLINSKY Maxim

Garmin-Slipstream is enjoying its best March ever. With stage victories by Christian Vande Velde in Paris-Nice and Tyler Farrar in Tirreno-Adriatico, the team has stepped up nicely in its second season at the elite level. David Zabriskie rode to third at the Castilla y León tour last week and Danny Pate capped a strong spring with third overall at Critérium International. The results marked the first podiums at top-level, European stage races for both riders.

Milram will bring its young guns to the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, hoping for a shot at surprising the favorites. The team is betting its lot on Niki Terpstra and Martin Velits, with strong support from former Paris-Roubaix winner Servais Knaven and riders like Gerard Ciolek.

In a repeat of his victory Wednesday, Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) relegated Robbie McEwen (Katusha) to second place for the second day running at the Three Days of De Panne. The recently crowned Milan-San Remo champion roared to victory in Thursday’s short, 112km stage, pushing back a threat from McEwen by a half-wheel. Dutch rider Andre Schulze came through third. Overnight leader Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), who won the opening stage as part of a breakaway, lost 40 seconds and ceded the leader’s jersey to Frederik Willems (Liquigas).

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As part of a company-wide restructuring in North America, Europe and Asia, Dorel Industries will reduce its workforce at its Cannondale bicycle factory in Pennsylvania by two-thirds this year. Dorel owns the Cannondale, GT, Sugoi, Pacific, Schwinn and Mongoose brands.

Ghent-Wevelgem is one of Belgium's classic April races, held every year on the Wednesday between the bookending weekends of The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. The first race, held in 1934, was brutal, taking riders over rough cobblestone roads. It hasn't gotten any easier. Long called "the sprinter's classic," because of its relatively flat run-in, today riders must twice climb the very steep, narrow and cobbled Kemmelberg climb. It is here the race is often decided.

The Tour of Flanders dates to 1913. Photographer Graham Watson has not been capturing its action for that long, but you might find some surprises among our favorite Watson photos from the last three decades of the race. This Sunday's race is sure to create some more memorable scenes, and Watson, and VeloNews, will be there to capture them. Check back Sunday for more of his photos, along with live coverage and a race report from VeloNews' John Wilcockson.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) ordered that the former coach and doctor of now-retired cyclist Geneviève Jeanson be banned from sport for life, after concluding that they had “aided, abetted and assisted” in providing EPO to Jeanson throughout her career. Relying on direct testimony from Jeanson, the panel found that André Aubut and physician Maurice Duquette had directly administered synthetic erythropoietin to Jeanson, including times during the early part of her career while she was a minor.

Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) won the second stage of the Settimana Lombarda in northern Italy to retain control of the leader’s jersey. The Italian sprinter held off compatriot Danilo Napolitano (Katusha) and former track world champion Theo Bos (Rabobank) in the stage Wednesday into Calcinate. The 35-year-old Petacchi was already the leader after his LPR team won the team time trial to open the race on Tuesday. The race continues Thursday with the third stage.

Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) bolted to a sprint victory Wednesday in the second stage of the Three Days of De Panne in Belgium. The recently crowned Milan-San Remo champ beat back Robbie McEwen (Katusha) and Italian Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas) in the 219km start into Coxyde. "It was a long day for the team, who worked very hard. I'd have liked to help one of my teammates win it — but with McEwen in my slipstream that wasn't possible. I had to sprint myself to win it," Cavendish said.

Glen Chadwick of Rock Racing narrowly missed out on victory and a chance at taking the leader’s jersey in the first stage of the Volta ao Alentejo in Portugal on Wednesday. The Kiwi was beaten to the line by Maxime Bouet (Agritubel), who won the 159km opening stage and took the leader’s jersey in the five-day race. Vitaliy Kondrut (ISD) came through third. With time bonuses, Bouet leads Chadwick by five seconds, with Kondrut slotting into third at eight seconds adrift.

Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri on Wednesday called for Alejandro Valverde, embroiled in a Spanish blood doping probe, to be suspended for two years. Last month, Valverde told an Italian anti-doping hearing he had not done anything wrong and was in no way mixed up in Spain's Operación Puerto scandal.

Dear Explainer,
A few years ago, the UCI banned a time trial position which was dubbed the "Praying Landis," named after its originator. It seems to me that Levi Leipheimer's current position on his time trial bike is very similar to that used by Floyd Landis. What am I missing?
Joseph Welsh
Banner Elk, North Carolina

Theo Bos is racing this week at the Settimana Lombarda in northern Italy with the Rabobank continental team in what’s his third stage race since switching from the track. The former world sprint champion admitted he was a bit nostalgic watching the world track championships last week in Poland, but the Dutch sprinter remains firm in his commitment to give the road a shot.

Óscar Freire is expected to return to competition in time for the Vuelta al País Vasco next week in Spain. The three-time world champion is still recovering from a crash at the Tour of California that left him with two broken ribs and difficulty with breathing. The injuries forced Freire to skip his first major goal of 2009 at Milan-San Remo. Rabobank officials are hopeful the Spanish sprinter’s condition continues to improve.

Editor's Note: Rebecca Rusch competed in South Africa's Absa Cape Epic stage race on on a Mixed team with fellow American Matthew Weatherley-White. Rusch, a two-time 24-hour mountain biking world champion, is sharing her daily diaries with VeloNews readers. Her stage 5 and 6 diaries were not published until today because VeloNews used up its March quota on the word "epic".