Road

Still savoring his second Paris-Roubaix victory, Quick Step’s Tom Boonen said Tuesday he now wants to focus all of his efforts on retaining his Tour de France green points jersey this July. The 27-year-old Belgian, who celebrated victory in the legendary spring classic on Sunday, said he was going to take a 10-day break after Wednesday's Escaut Grand Prix and recover from a busy spring. "I need to relax on the days following the Paris-Roubaix," said Boonen, who has won six stages on the Tour de France. "You need to let the muscles relax after such a race.

Reigning Olympic and world champion Paolo Bettini has ruled out the possibility that he will ride Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands. The 34-year-old two-time world road race champion has not recovered from the fractured rib he suffered last Thursday in the Tour of the Basque Country. According to his Quick Step team, the Italian hopes to be recovered in time for next week’s Tour of Trentino, (April 22-25), and be fully race fit for Liége-Bastogne-Liége classic on April 27.

What better way to begin my maiden voyage into the world of cycling diaries then to write about the Redlands Bicycle Classic, comparing it to racing in Europe in the spring? Racing in California in March and April is not always the best preparation for Europe. It makes you soft. Nice weather, wide open roads, and a small, non-aggressive women's peloton — it’s a pampered life, including host housing that is comparable to living in "Pleasantville.” I have never seen such manicured lawns, houses the size of castles, and host families so welcoming that it is almost surreal.

Dear Lennard,
I've just read your article article about the SRAM ceramic bottom bracket and its maintenance. We at CeramicSpeed have been working with ceramic bearings for the past 11 years, introducing systems for bicycle applications eight years ago.

Stuart O'Grady took another step towards erasing the memory of the Tour de France crash which nearly ended his career with a stunning ride at the Paris-Roubaix classic Sunday. O'Grady, the first Australian to claim cycling's biggest one-day prize in 2007, went into the cobblestone-riddled epic lacking full form and knowing that only "a miracle" would give him the chance of a repeat. But he produced a stunner to finish fifth shortly after his CSC team leader Fabian Cancellara had been humbled only by an explosive winning sprint from Belgian Tom Boonen.

One-time Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich continues to maintain his innocence, despite paying a "six figure" fine to end the doping fraud case that has dogged him since July 2006. The public prosecutor’s office in Bonn announced on Monday that it was formally ending an investigation of the German cyclist after Ullrich paid a fine in the case. Prosecutors had accused the 1997 Tour de France winner of taking performance-enhancing drugs, leading to a fraud case against the 34-year-old based on his alleged deception of the public, sponsors and his team.

Kyle Gritters (Health Net-Maxxis) broke free from a large break to take first at the Garrett Lemire Memorial Grand Prix Sunday in Ojai, California. He was followed closely by teammate John Murphy and Toyota-United’s Hilton Clarke. Australian Tiffany Cromwell (Colavita-Sutter Home) soloed across the line in the women’s race, well ahead of teammate Iona Wynter-Parks, who also finished alone, before Rachel Tzinberg (Bicycle John’s) took the bunch sprint just seconds later.

Minutes before the start of Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix in the French town of Compiegne, Slipstream-Chipotle boss Jonathan Vaughters predicted big things for his young Dutch rider, Martijn Maaskant. “Martijn is going to have a good ride today — he is going to be the surprise of the race,” Vaughters said. The 24-year-old Maaskant did not disappoint. In just his first crack at “The Hell of the North,” Maaskant finished fourth in the Roubaix municipal velodrome, crossing the line 3:39 behind race winner Tom Boonen.

The nasty rain didn’t show up for the 106th Paris-Roubaix, but a superb Tom Boonen sure did. On a Sunday of cool sunshine and favorable winds, the Quick Step team leader took his second Roubaix victory, three years after the first, with an unstoppable sprint over his final breakaway companions Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and Alessandro Ballan (Lampre).

Wet weather changes everything in Paris-Roubaix, and the forecast for this Sunday’s 106th edition is rain showers with a brisk tail wind throughout the day. These conditions will pose a new challenge for many riders, including the media’s big favorite, 2006 winner Fabian Cancellara of CSC. The big Swiss has never ridden the Hell of the North in the rain, and although he feels 100 percent better than he did at last weekend’s Tour of Flanders, he tipped other riders to be on the podium in the Roubaix velodrome Sunday night.

On the eve of his first try at Paris-Roubaix’s infamous pave´, Mike Friedman understandably has a few butterflies in his stomach. The 25-year-old Slipstream-Chipotle strongman is only a handful of months into his first-ever European campaign. And Friedman, affectionately called “Meatball” by the peloton, stands as one of his team’s chief lieutenants for its captain, 2004 Roubaix winner Magnus Backstedt.

Alberto Contador wrapped up another 2008 stage race win Saturday when he dominated the final time trial of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the tour of the Basque country. Contador grabbed the lead on the first stage with a blistering attack on the final climb. Throughout the six-stage race, sprinters like High Road's Kim Kirchen were able to grab stage wins while Contador's Astana team kept tight reins on the peloton to protect Contador's narrow lead.

Spain's Alberto Contador overcame toothache to add the Tour of the Basque Country to his triumph in last year's Tour de France after success in the sixth and final stage here Saturday. The Astana ace, who has dominated the week since taking the first stage, beat Australian Cadel Evans by 20 seconds in the 20km individual time trial to wrap up the ProTour event. Evans (Silence-Lotto) finished second too in the overall standings, 30sec adrift.

Team High Road's Chantal Beltman won the Ronde Van Drenthe race on Saturday, notching the team's second consecutive World Cup win. World champion Marianne Vos was second and High Road's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg was third at the race held in Drenthe, The Netherlands. The route includes several cobbled sections. Beltman took off in a three-woman breakaway after the second section of cobbles and broke away from the group with five kilometers left in the race. She built up a maximum lead of just 20 seconds, and finished 6 seconds ahead of the chase.

This year's Paris-Roubaix will come too early for defending champion Stuart O'Grady. But despite an admitted lack of form the Aussie is determined to play a key role in his CSC team's bid for a third victory in the world's toughest one-day bike race. "We're going there to win, and we're going to have to take risks," said O'Grady, who is primed to work for team leader Fabian Cancellara as he estimates his own form to be only "85 percent." If Fabian has a bad day then one of us can go up the road and take his place. That's the strength of our team."

Former world champion Tom Boonen said he is determined to make amends for his mediocre season so far by winning the prestigious Paris-Roubaix one-day classic. However Boonen is wary of a few rivals who he said have been preparing specially for cycling's toughest one-day classic. Boonen won the race for the first time in 2005, and goes into Sunday's epic knowing it could be his last chance to save his season after being upstaged by Quick Step teammate Stijn Devolder at the Tour of Flanders last week.

Disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is to pay out a million euro fine to end a fraud case which German prosecutors have been investigating, Focus news magazine reported on its Web site Saturday. Prosecutors accused the 1997 Tour de France winner of taking performance-enhancing drugs, leading under German law to fraud charges against the 34-year-old on the basis he deceived the public, sponsors and his team.

Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara has been promised the unwavering support of his CSC team as they go into battle for a third consecutive Paris-Roubaix crown on Sunday. CSC ride into the 259.5km cobblestoned classic, known ominously as the 'Hell of the North', as the favourites having won the past two years through Cancellara in 2006 and defending champion Stuart O'Grady.

In preparation for its first crack at Paris-Roubaix — arguably the world’s most demanding single-day event for riders and their bikes — Slipstream-Chipotle wisely called on their team captain Magnus Backstedt for technical recommendations. Maggy, the 2004 winner of the “Hell of the North,” keyed the team’s mechanics in to a few secrets of smoothing out the bumpy ride.

Quick Step rider Paolo Bettini fractured a rib when he fell in Thursday's fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque country, histeam said Saturday after he had hospital tests in Cecina, Italy. "I have suffered a lot this past couple of days. I hurt all over but today I am a little more optimistic. Last year I rode more than two weeks at the Giro with a cracked rib," said Bettini in a statement, promising to get back in the saddle as soon as possible.

Rock Racing is suing the Tour de Georgia's owner and its organizing company, asking to be let into the race that starts April 21. The team's owner, Rock Racing LLC, filed a complaint April 8 asking for an injunction against the race's owner — the Tour de Georgia Foundation, and its organizer, Medalist Sports, court records show. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday in superior court in Fulton County, Georgia. Rock Racing spokeswoman Martine Charles said the team had an "oral agreement" with Medalist Sports to participate in the race.

Italy's Damiano Cunego, riding for Lampre, won Friday's penultimate fifth stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco (the Tour of the Basque Country), a 162km run between Vitoria and Orio. Spain's Alberto Contador crossed the line in second in the same time as Cunego to retain the overall lead he's held since the first stage. Cunego lies second, eight seconds adrift. The day's ride was held in hostile weather and was marked by numerous falls just before the finish triggered by a near-the-line collision between Ricardo Ricco and David Herrero.

With weather reports calling for chances of precipitation ranging from 20- to 61-percent for Sunday’s race, Silence-Lotto isn’t taking any chances. The team’s eight Roubaix riders prerode with purpose-built X-Fire carbon cyclocross bikes on the course Thursday. The ’cross bike is built from Ridley’s 24-ton high modulus carbon fiber and its geometry is acceptable enough for Paris-Roubaix. Plus it offers a longer, more stable wheelbase and plenty of clearance for larger tires.

Nick Nuyens proved he could ride as a classics contender with his second-place finish at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. Nuyens, Cofidis’ newest strongman, bridged to a surging Juan Antonio Flecha in the final kilometers of Belgium’s most famous single-day race in an attempt to bring back Quick Step’s streaking Stijn Devolder. While Devolder took the win, Nuyens took the sprint for second, as well as his best-ever classics result.

The days prior to Paris-Roubaix are the traditional practice and reconnaissance days for the top teams, who ride key sections of the course while photographers, reporters and fans watch. On Friday VeloNews' Fred Dreier and John Wilcockson headed out to the Arenberg Forest to check out the scene, and Wilcockson, engaging in a little bit of participatory journalism, even found himself helping pound some stakes for crowd control barriers.

American cross-country mountain bike racer Adam Craig has his sights set on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. That means for the next few months he will be battling it out on the World Cup and National Mountain Bike Series with his fellow Americans for a slot on the U.S. team. In between races, Craig skis, kayaks and is the rally car co-driver for his Giant teammate Carl Decker. VeloNews.com is along for the ride. —Editor

As a general rule, cycling is a game best played outdoors. There’s more room to roam, sights to see and places to go. But there are also exceptions to every rule, which is certainly the case in this case. Bad weather, short days and any number of other factors occasionally force even the most dedicated bike riders to stay indoors. You pull the trainer out from your closet, load up a Tour de France highlights DVD, and hammer away in the basement. It’s far from ideal but still better than running.

A list of the 28 cobblestoned sectors on this year's Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, which begins Sunday in Compiegne north of Paris and finishes in the Roubaix velodrome after 259.5km of racing. Race organisers ASO (Amaury Sports Organization) have ranked each sector on a scale of one to five, five being the most difficult. Only three sectors are ranked five — the Arenberg Forest at 163.5km, Mons-en-Pevele at 210.5km and the Carrefour de l'Arbre at 242km. In total, cobblestoned sectors make up 52.8 km of the race's total, 100 meters more than last year.

The U.S. Open of Cycling, whose inaugural event last year will be remembered for its epic snowy conditions and network television coverage, will not take place this year, the race's promoter said Friday. The event was run last year in Virginia. Promoters announced last month that they had moved it to a May date for 2008 and changed the venue to Providence, Rhode Island. But Richard Durishin of Red Five Sports Group said the late changes did not allow time to line up sponsors and other business partners.

Danish oufit CSC will be fired up to make amends for their debacle on the cobble of the snow-hit Flanders last week when they line up two former champions at Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. CSC goes into the 259.5km cobblestoned classic, known ominously as the 'Hell of the North,' as big favorites having won the past two years through Swiss Fabian Cancellara and Australian Stuart O'Grady. A rare hat-trick of wins is credible, and will be further boosted by their bid to banish the demons of last week's Tour of Flanders where they were decimated by crashes and punctures.

Is this the year? Is this the year that the stars will be aligned for George Hincapie on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix? Is this the year that the tall 34-year-old American can follow up his two sixth places, two fourth places and his runner-up spot (of 2005) with another big performance on Sunday? Is this the year he can win?

VeloNews spoke with Rabobank’s Juan Antonio Flecha just a little more that 24 hours after he helped deliver teammate Oscar Freire to his win at the 70th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem.

In this four-part video tutorial, VeloNews Tech Editor Matt Pacocha walks us through the procedures involved in properly gluing tubular tires.

• Part 1: Tools, preparation & removing the old tire
• Part 2: Cleaning the rim & stretching the tire
• Part 3: Prepping the tire and applying the glue

Team High Road's Kim Kirchen won Thursday's fourth stage of the Pais Vasco in a sprint finish, while Astana's Alberto Contador retained the overall lead. It was Kirchen's second stage victory in this year's event, and left him in fifth place in the overall standings. Contador came in 20th with the same time as the stage winner to retain his overall lead, three seconds ahead of compatriot Ezequiel Mosquera. Kirchen covered the 171 kilometers between Viana and Vitoria-Gasteiz in four hours, 17 minutes and 33 seconds to edge his teammate Morris Possoni of Italy at the line.

Paris-Roubaix organisers might be feeling "reassured" after a favorable, midweek preview of the famed cobblestone sectors that will feature prominently on the race. However weather predictions for Sunday could make the world famous one-day classic, known ominously as the 'Hell of the North,' an even less inviting affair for some. The 2008 edition will be held over a total of 259.5 km, from Compiegne to the north of Paris to Roubaix just outside of Lille.[nid:74480]

You’re saying there’s a chance? Well, when there was, Mario was ready to turn some heads. Carbon Sports, the manufacturer of Lightweight wheels, was commissioned to build Rock Racing's Mario Cipollini something special for Milan-San Remo, but when Cipo and Rock Racing didn’t get an invite, then parted ways, this special wheelset became obsolete — to Cipollini anyway.

This week’s two-year suspension of Eddy Mazzoleni, third in last year’s Giro d’Italia, for links to the “Oil for Drugs” doping scandal raises the prospects that 2007 winner, Danilo Di Luca, could soon face the same fate. Di Luca is facing allegations leveled by officials from Italy’s Olympic Committee (CONI) that he underwent banned transfusions en route to his Giro victory. If Di Luca is banned, last year’s runner-up Andy Schleck (CSC) could be elevated to overall winner, something that the 22-year-old says he’s not relishing.

Christian Vande Velde powered to victory in Wednesday’s time trial stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe to deliver Slipstream-Chipolte its first European victory of its breakout 2008 season. Vande Velde’s consistent performances all spring finally paid off with an impressive victory on the 8.3km course in Angers. He covered the course in 10 minutes, 10.58 seconds (53.948kph) and stopped the clock 10 seconds faster than his closest rival, Benoit Vaugrenard (FDJeux).

Our annual Buyer's Guide features several tours of bicycle and bicycle accessory factories and labs. Here are some outtake photos from VeloNews' photo editor Brad Kaminski's visit to the Bell Sports headquarters in Santa Cruz, California. To read Fred Dreier's complete article on Bell Sports, along with other factory tours and in-depth product reviews, you'll have to grab a copy of our Buyer's Guide.

Spain's David Herrero of the Karpin team won the 195km third stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Wednesday between Erandio and Viana while Astana's Alberto Contador retained the overall lead. Herrero had finished third in the first two stages of the race, and now lies third overall, eight seconds behind Contador. The 28-year-old Herrero beat out compatriot Luis Leon Sanchez and Italy's Olympic champion Paolo Bettini in a sprint finish for a time of 4:54:24.

A heightened threat of rock fall on one mountain pass has forced Tour de France organizers to alter the route of a stage in this year’s edition. The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced Wednesday that the 15th stage of the 2008 Tour would now start from Embrun, rather than Digne-les-Bains, and feature the 2744m Agnel climb before arriving in Prato Nevoso in Italy. The stage was originally to have included the ascent at Larche but that is now being avoided due to the "very high" risk of rock fall, ASO noted in a press release.

Oscar Freire’s knack for winning chaotic sprints made him a favorite to win the 70th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem as a huge 77-rider pack thundered toward the finish line in this small Belgian town. And while the cagey 32-year-old did emerge victorious to become the event’s first Spanish champion, Freire and his Rabobank teammates earned the win the old-fashioned way.

Quick Step rider Carlos Barredo might have been a little bit groggy before Monday’s start of the Tour of the Basque Country; he certainly had reason to be. Barredo raced Sunday’s Tour of Flanders and barely had time to wipe down before he was being hustled away to the airport in Brussels for a flight to Spain, where a team car was waiting for him to shuttle him to the team hotel above San Sebástian. The Spanish rider didn’t get to bed until 1:30 a.m. after what was a very long day.

Over the years, dozens of top sprinters, from Freddy Maertens to Sean Kelly to Mario Cipollini, have won Ghent-Wevelgem, which celebrates its 70th edition on Wednesday. But the UCI ProTour classic rarely ends in a field sprint. When Cipollini earned his third Wevelgem scalp in 2002, he was in a small breakaway group with Americans Fred Rodriguez and George Hincapie. Hincapie won the race the year before in a photo-finish over Dutchman Leo Van Bon, also in a small-group sprint.

The whistling of wind; the hiss of spray kicked up from mud-covered roads onto hollow down tubes; the light crackling sound of hail smashing into helmets; the honking of blown noses, clearing both spring sickness and mud; a hacking cough piercing the air every few minutes; and the worst sound of all: blood-curdling yells, followed by the inevitable sound of metal on pavement and snapping carbon, and more yells, and then probably some unsavories not fit for print. Yep, those are the sounds of “spring” in northern Europe. Repeat that sequence for six hours and you’ve got a bike race.

Kim Kirchen (High Road) drove a fierce sprint up a rising finish to upset two-time world champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) in Tuesday’s attack-riddled second stage at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Riders went down in the middle of the pack in the final surge to the line as teammate Michael Barry gave Kirchen a perfect lead-out to spring the Luxembourg all-rounder to a morale-boosting victory ahead of the Ardennes classics later this month.

Eddy Mazzoleni, third in last year's Giro d’Italia, has been handed a two-year ban by the Italian cycling federation (FCI) for his involvement in the so-called "Oil for Drugs" affair, the FCI said on Tuesday. The FCI also banned 28-year-old Domenico Quagliariello, formerly with Ceramica Flaminia, for life for his involvement in the same affair. The 34-year-old Mazzoleni was temporarily suspended by his Astana team in June 2007, then sacked a few days later. Both men have 10 days to lodge an appeal with the Italian National Olympic Committee (Coni).

Are longer cranks 'harder to push'?

The last time Stuart O'Grady experienced such atrocious weather on a bike, he had to dive under a tractor to hide from hailstones the size of golf balls. That wasn't the case at the snow-hit Tour of Flanders on Sunday, but still the reigning Paris-Roubaix champion and his CSC team suffered arguably their worst ever day of racing. CSC harbored realistic hopes of seeing Milan-SanRemo champion Fabian Cancellara grab his second classics scalp of the season.

Fabian Cancellara was among the big name favorites for the Tour of Flanders crown left regretting the harsh conditions and race tactics which produced a surprise winner here on Sunday. The Swiss ace came into the race as a big favorite after a commanding performance in the Italian one-day classic Milan-San Remo a fortnight ago, won shortly after he had triumphed at the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race.

Alberto Contador’s “Revenge Tour 2008” continued Monday as the Astana rider uncorked a blistering acceleration on the last of seven climbs to bolt away from a soggy and cold peloton in the 137km opener at the Vuelta al País Vasco. Contador won the stage three seconds ahead of Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin-Galicia) and takes an unexpected eight-second lead on his main adversaries in an exciting opening day of the six-day Basque Country tour.

A decision on the fraud case against disgraced former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich is expected in the next week, it was revealed on Monday. Prosecutors in Bonn have been investigating the 1997 Tour de France winner since July 2006 after it was alleged that he was involved in taking performance-enhancing drugs. The 34-year-old faces fraud charges, alleging that by using banned substances, he deceived the public, sponsors and his team.

When it’s a hard day in the Tour of Flanders, the home riders nearly always come out on top. And Sunday’s 92nd edition of the gnarly Belgian classic was one of the hardest, with hail showers, even some snow, and long bouts of heavy rain blasting the riders through the middle part of the 264km race, which started and ended in spring sunshine. So it was fitting that the reigning champion of Belgium, Stijn Devolder of Quick Step-Innergetic, emerged with a gutsy solo triumph.

They won’t be facing off against each other in the Tour de France this summer, so this week’s Tour of the Basque Country in Spain will provide a glimpse of what should have been the season’s biggest showdown.

Randy Van Zee, a long time cyclist and 2004 solo competitor in the Race Across America, died Friday after being rear-ended by a car while on a ride near his home in Iowa. Police are still investigating the collision. The car was driven by a 21-year-old woman from Archer, Iowa. Van Zee, who was 56, finished in 8th place in the 2004 RAAM. He was a counselor who worked for Hope Haven, Inc. for 29 years before moving to Sheldon, Iowa, in 2002, where he worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor for the state of Iowa. He is survived by his wife, children and six grandchildren.

Professional endurance competitor Rebecca Rusch has tackled her fair share of adventure races and 24-hour mountain bike races throughout the years. Now, the Idahoan is in South Africa, at the Absa Cape Epic, a nine-day mountain bike stage race across the country’s scenic Western Cape. Following an accident that resulted in a broken collarbone, teammate Cristina Begy withdrew from the race, but Rusch decided to continue, albeit unofficially, on her own. — Editor

Alex Wrubleski (Webcor Builders) and Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) wrapped up the overall titles at California's Redlands Classic on Sunday. Wrubleski not only won the Beaver Medical Group Sunset Road Race in a bunch sprint, just ahead of Leigh Hobson (Cheerwine) and Kim Anderson (Team High Road), but took just enough bonus time in Sunday’s final stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic to take the overall from Mara Abbott (Team High Road) by a mere second.

The American Slipstream-Chipotle squad endured a day of highs and lows at the 2008 Tour of Flanders, the American squad’s debut at Belgium’s biggest one-day race. The high came at the finish line, where the team’s 24-year-old Belgian rider Martin Maaskant was the 12th man to cross the line, finishing 21 seconds in arrears alongside a handful of the sport’s classics stars, including George Hincapie, Alessandro Ballan, Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen.

Danilo Di Luca (LPR) won the Settimana Lombardia race on Sunday following the sixth and final stage over 162.7km around Bergamo. Teammates Paolo Savoldelli and Daniele Pietropolli finished second and third respectively. Italy's Francesco Failli (Acqua e Sapone), won the stage in a sprint finish. It was the 43rd career win for 32-year-old Di Luca, the reigning Giro d'Italia champion. Di Luca is embroiled in an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have a three-month suspension he served for a doping offense last year overturned.

German ace Judith Arndt out-kicked American Kristin Armstrong to win the women’s Tour of Flanders, the third round of the 2008 UCI women’s World Cup. It was the fourth career World Cup victory for Arndt, the silver medalist from the 2004 Olympics, and the first for her team under its new High Road label. “It was a perfect victory; a perfect day for us,” said Arndt. “It was a team victory.”

Emilia Fahlin (Team High Road) and Jeff Louder (BMC) won Saturday’s 1st Centennial Bank-KWB Wealth Managers Criterium, the second stage of the 2008 Redlands Classic in California. Fahlin, a 19-year-old Swede, took the bunch sprint ahead of a hard-driving women’s peloton in Saturday’s 1st Centennial Bank-KWB Wealth Managers Criterium. Hot on her wheel was Canadian Alex Wrubleski (Webcor Builders) and Advil-Chapstick’s Brenda Lyons.

The Absa Cape Epic stage race wrapped up Saturday with the Bulls team — comprising the German riders Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm — capturing the final stage while the overall title goes to the Cannondale Vredestein duo of Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang and Belgium's Roel Paulissen. With a nine-minute time advantage built up of over the last couple of stages, the Cannondale Vredestein team solidified their position by finishing in the lead bunch. The Bulls team secured second place overall.

Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) won in Spain and Tony Martin (High Road) took the flowers in Holland in weekend racing across Europe. In Spain’s GP Miguel Indurain, Wegmann repeated his victory from two years ago by being first up the climbing finish at the 950-meter El Puy in Estella. Wegmann profited from the work of his Gerolsteiner teammates to control the pace made easy work of Michael Albasini (Liguiqas), who crossed the line second some two seconds ahead of third-place Joaquin Rodríguez (Caisse d’Epargne).

The possibility of chaos on the 'Koppenberg' and mayhem on the 'Muur' lies in store for the more ambitious hard men of the peloton during the Tour of Flanders here on Sunday. If, as predicted, the rain, wind and hail hit the race it could, according to local media, lead to "apocalyptic" scenes not witnessed on the race since 1985. Belgium's biggest one-day bike race is considered one of the toughest classics in the world because the latter part of the 264 km which leads the peloton from Bruges to Meerbeke is littered with 17 steep climbs.

A few glimpses of sunshine were interrupting the rain showers Saturday evening in Belgium, partially drying out the 24 sections of cobblestones and 17 hellingen included in the 92nd Tour of Flanders.

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel will saddle up for his first Tour of Flanders one-day classic on Sunday and find himself in the unexpected position of being a potential race winner. Alongside two-time winner Tom Boonen, Swiss hard man Fabian Cancellara, and last year's runner-up Leif Hoste, Chavanel — on paper — looks to have little chance of winning Belgium's biggest one-day classic. However two victories in the space of 10 days on the muddy, cobbled roads of northern Belgium have hoisted the 28-year-old Cofidis rider in with the big favorites.

Fabian Cancellara's scintillating early season form will be tested to the full when he lines up as one of the favorites for what could be a rain-lashed Tour of Flanders this Sunday. As the early spring classics move up a gear ahead of next week's 'Hell of the North' at Paris-Roubaix, the Swiss all-rounder has every right to believe he can win the 264km one-day classic from Bruges to Meerbeke.

Rock Racing's Santiago Botero won Friday's stage 1 circuit race at the Redlands Bicycle Classic, after soloing away from a five-man breakaway. In the women's race, Aarron's Katherine Carroll won the stage in a sprint. Casey Gibson was there to capture the action in photos.

Liam Killeen (Specialized) and Sarah Kaufmann (Roaring Mouse) won the NOVA Marathon as the second leg of the National Mountain Bike Series kicked off on Friday at McDowell Mountain Regional Park outside Fountain Hills, Arizona. Killeen won his 70-mile race in 4:00:43, five minutes up on Evan Plews (Scott USA). Tinker Juarez (MonaVie-Cannondale) finished third in 4:13:09.91. Kaufman won the women’s race in 5:14:53, nearly an hour ahead of runner-up Kristen Hayden Phillips (Red Rock), who finished in 6:09:56. Caroline Goulard (Sho-Air) was third in 6:19:09.

Professional endurance competitor Rebecca Rusch has tackled her fair share of adventure races and 24-Hour mountain bike races throughout the years. Now, the Idahoan is in South Africa competing in the Absa Cape Epic, a nine-day endurance mountain bike stage race across the country’s scenic Western Cape. And we’re along for the ride. - Editor Today's report is from Ryan (Specialized mechanic and DJ for the camp)

Former Olympic track cyclist Tammy Thomas was found guilty of three counts of perjury on Friday. Thomas, the first defendant charged in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative investigation, was acquitted of two counts of lying to a federal grand jury investigating the BALCO case, but the jury in a federal district court found her guilty of three counts.

Colombian Santiago Botero (Rock Racing) took the win in Friday’s Beaumont Circuit Race, the first stage of the Redlands Cycling Classic — and his first win in America. After working in a break with five other riders beginning in the second of five 17-mile laps, he attacked in the final lap and powered across the finish line a resounding 52 seconds ahead of Sebastian Haedo (Colavita-Sutter Home) and Burke Swindlehurst (Bissell) in second and third.

Competitive cyclists are not patient people. They tend to go directly to the pain, work too hard too early, and mistakenly overlook the real limiter of their performance simply because it doesn’t hurt enough to satisfy their addiction to pain.

Tyler Hamilton is looking at the glass half full. After the Rock Racing team captain was prohibited from racing at the Amgen Tour of California and his team was not invited to this month’s Tour de Georgia, it would be understandable for Hamilton to be discouraged following Rock’s devastating loss of the race lead by one second in the final stage criterium of the San Dimas Stage Race on Sunday. Not the case, Hamilton said Wednesday evening as he rode in a team car towards the Redlands Classic.

In the penultimate stage of this year's Absa Cape Epic, some new faces competed for the men's stage win, while the overall standings were largely unchanged for the men and women's events. In a surprise stage finish, the Full-Dynamix Rsm team — Sweden's Fredrik Kessiakoff and Italy's Massimo Debertolis — took top honors for the first time during this year’s event. Hot on their heels was the USN/adidas team, Brandon Stewart and Max Knox, who arrived seven seconds later.

Under a dreary Southern California sky that made for nearly ideal time trial conditions, Mara Abbott (Team High Road) surprised few by winning the Redlands Cycling Classic prologue — The Sun Time Trial — by a resounding 25 seconds over second placed national team member Katharine Carroll (Aaron’s). Abbott’s teammate, Kim Anderson, rounded out the podium less than 1 second behind Carroll.

Photographer Casey Gibson captured the action at the Redlands Bicycle Classic prologue, a fast uphill 5km held under hot and sunny conditions in California on Thursday. Gibson will be following the traditional domestic season opener in its entirety for VeloNews.