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Belgian Niels Albert won the Hoogstraten Superprestige cyclocross on Sunday in Belgium. It was the seventh race of the Superprestige championship series.

Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound and Swiss-based attorney Robert Briner have been nominated as candidates to fill the vacant presidency of the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. Both nominations were put forward by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC is the only body that can nominate candidates for the CAS presidency, and the 20-member board will make the final decision, which is expected in April. No formal date, however, has been set for the final vote.

Managers of the four ProTour teams excluded from the Giro d’Italia are still in disbelief. Citing a selection process based on “ethics and quality,” Giro organizer RCS told Astana, Bouygues Telecom, Crédit Agricole and High Road they were not invited to the May 10 – June 1 event. While decision seems partly based on doping controversy from the 2007 season — Astana and High Road (formerly T-Mobile) certainly experienced their share — the motivation to shut out Bouygues Telecom and Crédit Agricole is less clear.

After going down on stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar, Slipstream-Chipotle’s Magnus Bäckstedt took an overnight flight to the United Kingdom for a rush surgery on his broken right clavicle. The surgeon put a permanent plate inside his shoulder to fix the clean break. After an overnight stay in hospital, Bäckstedt hopes to be riding a trainer within a week and back out on his bike soon thereafter.

In a bold move, Kelly Benefits-Medifast team director Jonas Carney guaranteed Friday that his second-year team would place a rider on the podium at every stage of February’s Amgen Tour of California. Okay, not really.

Reigning Tour de France champion Alberto Contador, who has signed for the once-disgraced Astana team, will not be a guaranteed a starting place in the 2008 race, race organizers said on Friday. Patrice Clerc, the president of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) which oversees the epic competition, said that selection for the Tour de France was based on teams rather than an individual pedigree. "When we make our selection, we don't pick individual riders but rather the teams," said Clerc. "Let us have the time to calmly make our decision."

High Road, Astana, two French ProTour teams and the squad of former winner Stefano Garzelli won't be going to the 2008 Giro d'Italia, the organizers of the season's first grand tour announced Friday. In a surprise move that could foreshadow possible selections to July's Tour de France, officials from Giro organizer RCS announced 21 teams that will be at the May 10 start of the 2008 Giro. As VeloNews reported earlier, Slipstream-Chipotle is among the select teams.

(Carson City, NV and Valkenswaard, the Netherlands) Veltec, the company that markets some of the world’s finest cycling brands has signed an agreement with Descente, Ltd. to become the licensee of the Descente brand for the cycling, triathlon, running and fitness markets, in North America and Europe beginning February 1.

Dear Readers,
Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from your friends at VeloNews.com.

Tom Boonen might be known as Mr. Classics, but the road to glory in April goes through the wind-blasted deserts of Qatar. Ever since trekking to this Arabic nation overflowing with petro-dollars for the first time in 2004, Boonen has used the weeklong sprint-fest as a trampoline for spring-classic success. “The last few years we’ve been good here, so it’s become somewhat of a habit,” said Boonen, who relegated Alberto Loddo (Tinkoff) to second with Luciano Pagliarini (Sauner Duval-Scott) third in Friday’s finale. “If we weren’t going good, then I’d be worried.”

Training in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his Astana teammates, Levi Leipheimer is looking forward to another season as America’s best active stage racer. Albuquerque police have been giving Astana rolling enclosures during training rides. When the team comes to stop signs or red lights, it doesn’t stop. At 34, Leipheimer doesn’t intend to stop, either.

Bob,

British cycling star Bradley Wiggins said on Thursday he was shocked by news that his father had been found dead in suspicious circumstances in Australia. According to media reports here, 55-year-old Gary Wiggins was found to have died from a head injury after he was discovered unconscious in the street in the town of Aberdeen, north of Sydney, last Friday. "I am sad and in shock at this time," said his son in a statement. "We still don't know the full details of what happened, however I have every confidence that the authorities will get to the bottom of this out in Australia.

The Kona professional mountain-bike team will send its six factory riders to a diverse group of races in 2008, from World Cup-level downhill and cross-country events to multi-day stage races and local events.

Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) received a nice birthday present Thursday as he steered clear of a nasty crash that KO’d classics candidate Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream-Chipotle) and won stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar ahead of race leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step). While Backstedt wound up with a broken right clavicle, barrel-chested Napolitano bolted ahead of Boonen’s derailed train to snag his first win over Boonen, who retained the overall lead over teammate Steven De Jongh with just one day to go.

The Astana team gets ready for a chilly training ride.

The Astana team is in Albuquerque for camp. Photographer Casey Gibson is, too.

While USA Cycling hosts a variety of clinics and conferences, these haven’t included leadership conferences aimed specifically at women – until last weekend. Apparently the time is ripe, as USA Cycling’s Enhancing Leadership in Women’s Cycling Conference held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs was sold out, and declared a rousing success by all those involved. “People are really excited,” Lynda Ransdell said. “They think this is the start of something … getting more women involved in USA Cycling in both racing and coaching.”