Road

KORTRIJK, Belgium (VN) — With Paris-Roubaix looming Sunday in northern France, most of the big classics names and quite a few Americans will be racing Wednesday and Thursday in Belgium at the Scheldeprijs Wednesday and the Grand Prix Pino Cerami Thursday.

Stage 1

• 1. Daniele Bennati, ((ITA)) Leopard Trek
• 2. Samuel Dumoulin, ((FRA)) Cofidis,le Credit En Lig.,
• 3. Nacer Bouhanni, ((FRA)) Fdj
• 4. Pablo Forero Juan, ((COL)) Colombia Es Pasion
• 5. Jure Kocjan, ((SLO)) Team Type1-Sanofi Aventis

Daniele Bennati (Leopard-Trek) claimed his first win on the 2011 season after kicking to victory in the opening stage at the Circuit Cyclist Sarthe in France

Stage

• 1. Vasili Kiryienka, Movistar Team (mov), at 4:06:39
• 2. Andreas KlÖden, Team Radioshack (rsh), at 2
• 3. Andy Schleck, Leopard Trek (leo), at 2
• 4. Chris SÖrensen, Saxo Bank Sungard (sbs), at 2
• 5. Christopher Horner, Team Radioshack (rsh), at 2

GC

• 1. Andreas KlÖden, Team Radioshack (rsh), at 8:09:23
• 2. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Katusha Team (kat), at 0
• 3. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez, Euskaltel-Euskadi (eus), at 0
• 4. Christopher Horner, Team Radioshack (rsh), at 1
• 5. Ryder Hesjedal, Team Garmin-Cervelo (grm), at 6

Vasili Kiryienka (Movistar) delivered victory in another wild ride during the seven-climb second stage at the Tour of the Basque Country on a very warm and sunny Tuesday.

Jure Kocjan has been knocking at the door of victory all season long for Team Type 1 – sanofi aventis. The 26-year-old Slovenian sprinter has scored two second places and a fourth at the MontePaschi-Eroica race over the gravel roads in Tuscany in the opening months of the season.

DENVER, Colorado (VN) – In a reshuffle following the arrival of co-chairman Shawn Hunter to the management team of the Quiznos Pro Challenge in January, the race will assume a new name going forward. The inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge will also air on NBC and Versus networks in August as part of a multimedia distribution package. The final stage, which finishes at the Colorado State Capitol, will air live on NBC.

Fränk Schleck (Leopard-Trek) downplayed suggestions that he used a Camelbak hydration system to help him become more aerodynamic in a time trial en route to overall victory at the Critérium International.

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Colorado State University hosted the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference’s third weekend of racing with a windswept circuit race on Saturday, and a rainy criterium Sunday. In typical Colorado fashion, the weekend was marked by high winds and wild swings in temperature. A record high of 78 degrees on Saturday was followed by rain, snow, and temperatures in the low 40s Sunday.

Complete results, Colorado State University race weekend

The Denver Post, citing an anonymous source, is reporting that NBC will broadcast the final stage of this year's Quiznos Pro Challenge stage race.

Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com) and Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) sit atop the season’s first National Racing Calendar standings after their overall wins at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Realcyclist.com and HTC also lead the team classifications for men and women, respectively.

With nearly all the major Tour de France hopefuls lining up this week at the Tour of the Basque Country, Alberto Contador has gone to the mountains.

• 1. Harley Goss Matthew, HTC-Highroad, with 203 points
• 2. Michele Scarponi, Lampre - Isd, with 202 points
• 3. Fabian Cancellara, Leopard Trek, with 156 points
• 4. Tom Boonen, Quickstep Cycling Team, with 140 points
• 5. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, with 128 points

Chris Horner (RadioShack) kept alive his GC hopes in a wild opener at the Vuelta a País Vasco (the Tour of the Basque Country), where the veteran American lined up Monday with the No. 1 start bib as defending champion.

GENEVA (AFP) - Chile's top cyclist Marco Arriagada, his compatriot Jose Medina Andrade as well as Argentina's Alfredo Lucero have tested positive for doping, the UCI said Monday.

Fabio Duarte (Geox-TMC) is a name to watch this season as the former U23 world champion makes inroads into the European peloton. The 24-year-old Duarte promises to be in the thick of the action this week at the Vuelta al País Vasco, a race that fits his characteristics as he enters his first full season in Europe after racing three years in his native Colombia.

• 1. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Katusha Team, at 4:02:42
• 2. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at s.t
• 3. Andreas KlÖden, Team Radioshack, at s.t.
• 4. Christopher Horner, Team Radioshack, at 1
• 5. Ryder Hesjedal, Team Garmin-Cervelo, at 6

REDLANDS, California (VN) – Former U.S. time trial champion Alison Powers is recovering from surgery to her fractured right arm. Powers (Tibco-To The Top) suffered multiple fractures Saturday in a crash late in the stage 2 criterium at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. She could miss two months with the injury.

The UCI has confirmed that the Spanish city of Ponferrada will be the only candidate to organize the 2014 world road cycling championships.

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Stage 3

• 1. Cole House, Realcyclist.com, 3:40:54
• 2. Jonathan Cantwell, Fly V Australia, same time
• 3. Luca Damiani, Kenda-5hr Energy, s.t.
• 4. Raymond Kreder, Chipotle Development, s.t.
• 5. Joeseph Lewis, Trek-Livestrong, s.t.

Final GC

• 1. Francisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, s.t.
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 0:09
• 4. Corrales Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, at 0:10
• 5. Cesar Grajales, Realcyclist.com, at 0:17

Cole House scores a rookie win at Redlands while his Realcyclist.com teammate Francisco Mancebo squeaked out of town with the final leader's jersey.

Stage 3

• 1. Catherine Cheatley, Colavita Forno D'asolo, 3:10:54
• 2. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, same time
• 3. Denise Ramsden, Team Juvederm, s.t.
• 4. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12, s.t.
• 5. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.

Final GC

• 1. Amber Neben, HTC-Highroad Women, 7:31:01
• 2. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:14
• 3. Evelyn Stevens, HTC-Highroad Women, at 0:19
• 4. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:31
• 5. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 0:41

Team Type 1 keeps edging ever closer to a breakthrough European victory with Jure Kocjan dashing to second in the Fleche d'Emeraude

On paper, Garmin-Cervélo boasts the deepest classics team in the sport. Yet the team came up empty-handed at Milan-San Remo and now Flanders.

Cath Cheatley makes it three stage wins in four tries as Amber Neben wins her third overall Redlands title.

When push came to shove — and the racing came down to an onslaught of fierce attacking and counterattacking — Nick Nuyens found himself in contention at the 2011 Tour of Flanders.

Fabian Cancellara didn’t just enter the Tour of Flanders as a race favorite — he entered the race as the defending champion and the overwhelming favorite.

Tour of Flanders winners, 1913-2011

Most of this year's Flanders peloton opted to ride straightforward race bikes, mostly using 25mm tubulars.

Nick Legan snaps some pre-race shots of Flanders machinery.

Preliminary Results

• 1. Nick Nuyens (B), Saxo Bank-Sunguard, 256.3km in 6:00:42
• 2.Sylvain Chavanel (F), Quick Step, s.t.
• 3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), Leopard-Trek, s.t.
• 4. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step, at 0:02
• 5. Sebastian Langeveld (Nl), Rabobank, at 0:08.
• 6. George Hincapie (USA), BMC, at 0:08
• 7. Björn Leukemans (B), Vacansoleil-DCM, at 0:08
• 8. Staf Scheirlinckx (B), Veranda's Willems-Accent, at 0:08
• 9. Philippe Gilbert (B), Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 0:08
• 10. Geraint Thomas (GB), Sky, at 0:08

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Nick Nuyens wins a hard-fought Tour of Flanders as Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) finally proves himself mortal on the steeps of the Muur.

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Roman Van Uden wins the stage-two downtown criterium at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

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Gran Premio Miguel Indurain

• 1. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Esp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:42:47
• 2. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus), Team Katusha, at 0:02
• 3. Fabian Wegmann (Ger), Leopard-Trek, at 0:07
• 4. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Garmin-Cervélo, at 0:07
• 5. Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Esp), Movistar, at 0:07

The American U-23 squad is showing strength at the Triptyque Mont et Chateaux in Belgium.

Amgen Tour of California organizer AEG appears set to launch a women’s elite time trial alongside the men’s event in Solvang, with sources saying the purse will be paid based on the number of men the women beat.

The VeloNews crew eyeballs Leopard-Trek's prototype Bontrager wheels before Tour of Flanders.

Fabian Cancellara prefers a bit more rake in his fork and is using a mechanical group instead of Shimano's Di2 Dura-Ace group.

Tech editor Nick Legan checks out Fabian Cancellara's Flanders bike.

While the cobblestone specialists hog the spotlight ahead of tomorrow’s Tour of Flanders, riders who will take over in the Ardennes sharpened their form in an exciting battle at the GP Miguel Indurain in Spain.

Ted King's Cannondale

When Ted King signed with Liquigas/Cannondale he didn’t speak a word of Italian. That had to change and quickly. Thanks to Rosetta Stone and his move to Lucca, Italy, he’s progressing nicely. Immersion is the key to his success.

Basque squad Euskaltel-Euskadi plans to welcome back Mikel Astarloza to the team when his racing ban for EPO ends later this summer.

Stage 1, MEN

• 1. John Bennett, California Giant-Specialized, 4:40:01
• 2. Lachlan Morton, Chipotle Development, s.t.
• 3. Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, s.t.
• 4. Anibal Borrajo, Jamis Sutter Home, at 00:12
• 5. Shawn Milne, Kenda/5hr Energy/geargrinder, at 00:12

Overall Standings, Men

• 1. Fransisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, 4:49:52
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 00:03
• 4. Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, at 00:06
• 5. Andy Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 00:09

Stage 1, WOMEN

• 1. Theresa Cliff-Ryan, Colavita Forno D'asolo
• 2. Christina Gokey-Smith, Rouse Bicycles, s.t.
• 3. Jen Purcel, Danbury Audi, s.t.
• 4. Carmen Small, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.
• 5. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, s.t.

Overall Standings, Women

• 1. Amber Neben, HTC Highroad Women
• 2. Evelyn Stevens, HTC Highroad Women, at 00:08
• 3. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 00:13
• 4. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 00:30
• 5. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 12 , at 00:34

BEAUMONT, California (VN) - Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Colavita-Forno-D'Asolo) took the stage 1 bunch sprint under oppressive heat at the Redlands Bicycle Classic Friday. A few minutes after the women's teams cleared out of the Beaumont, 20-year-old amateur John Bennett (Cal Giant-Specialized) took a radically different win in the men's race, topping a three-up sprint from the day's long breakaway.

BRUGGE, Belgium (VN) – Fabian Cancellara is the undisputed favorite heading into the Tour of Flanders and the reigning champion. He knows it, two-time winner Tom Boonen knows it, and the oddsmakers around cycling-mad Belgium certainly know it. But as to who has more pressure, Cancellara and Boonen both point to the other guy.

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Rapha North America has issued a recall notice on 200 cans of its chamois cream.

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Women

• 1. Amber Neben, Htc Highroad Women, in 11:12
• 2. Evelyn Stevens, Htc Highroad Women, at 0:08
• 3. Erinne Willock, Team Tibco-To The Top, at 0:13
• 4. Andrea Dvorak, Colavita Forno D'asolo, at 0:30
• 5. Kristen Armstrong, Peanut Butter & Co. Twenty 1 , at 0:34

Men

• 1. Fransisco Mancebo, Realcyclist.com, in 9:39
• 2. Ben Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:01
• 3. Chris Baldwin, Juwi Solar-First Solar, at 0:03
• 4. Andy Jacques-Maynes, Bissell Pro Cycling, at 0:09
• 5. Luis Amaran, Jamis Sutter Home, at 0:10

REDLANDS, California (VN) - Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com) showed the U.S. peloton he means business Thursday, topping the Sun Time Trial prologue at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Amber Neben is back in the driver’s seat Thursday after winning her second consecutive prologue at the Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Readers ask about treating tires, both inside and out, and protecting your knees in cold weather.