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Sean Madsen answers a reader's question on hand numbness

Must Reads: Voigt thanks Basque fans; Ricco denies blood doping

Sometimes I laugh so hard I cry. Last week during the behind-the-scenes moments of the Redlands Bicycle Classic, my teammates did a good job of helping me with my core training through laughter.

VeloNews just put nearly 1,000 bikes at your fingertips.

2011 Brabantse Pijl

• 1. Philippe GILBERT (BEL), Omega Pharma-Lotto, 4:40:38
• 2. Björn LEUKEMANS (BEL), Vacansoleil-DCM, same time
• 3. Anthony GESLIN (FRA), Française des Jeux, at 1:03
• 4. Johnny HOOGERLAND (NED), Vacansoleil-DCM, at 1:03
• 5. Bram TANKINK (NED), Rabobank Cycling Team, at 1:04

Stage 1: Medina de Ríoseco - Palencia

• 1. Francisco José VENTOSO ALBERDI (ESP), Movistar, in 4:12:57
• 2. Manuel BELLETTI (ITA), Colnago-CSF, s.t.
• 3. Marko KUMP (SLO), Geox-TMC, s.t.
• 4. Luke ROBERTS (AUS), SaxoBank-Sungard, s.t.
• 5. Russell DOWNING (GBR), Team Sky, s.t.

General Classification

• 1. Francisco José VENTOSO ALBERDI (Spain), Movistar, in 4:12:57
• 2. Manuel BELLETTI (Italy), Colnago-CSF, s.t.
• 3. Marko KUMP (Slovenia), Geox-TMC, s.t.
• 4. Luke ROBERTS (Australia), SaxoBank-Sungard, s.t.
• 5. Russell DOWNING (Great Britain), Team Sky, s.t.

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A reader has a new set of wheels with tubeless tires, but the darn things leak. Lennard goes through the steps that you - or your bike shop - need to follow to keep air where it belongs.

Back home after Roubaix, it’s time to look through photos from the weekend.

Depending on whose viewpoint you want to believe, the Garmin-Cervélo team was either (1) totally brilliant or (2) toxically negative.

PARIS (AFP) - RadioShack's Sebastien Rosseler will be out to defend his title in the Belgian semi-classic Fleche Brananconne Wednesday as the peloton say a weary goodbye to the cobbles in anticipation of the hillier Ardennes classics.

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Fifteen years after the last Tour DuPont passed through its streets, Richmond is hoping to reunite with the international cycling community. Richmond stands alongside the sultanate of Oman as one of two bidders for the 2015 championships.

Francisco Mancebo (Realcyclist.com) and Amber Neben (HTC-Highroad) remain in the lead of the National Racing Calendar individual rankings despite not competing in this weekend's NRC event, the Sunny King Criterium in Alabama.

ROUBAIX, France (VN) — Jonathan Vaughters finally landed a big fish. And it doesn't get any bigger than Paris-Roubaix.

USA Cycling has adjusted results for three masters national road championships following the suspension of Peter Cannell last week.

UCI World Rankings, updated April 11, 2011

ROUBAIX, France (VN) — David Veilleux (Europcar) made the most of his Paris-Roubaix debut with an impressive top-25 finish after riding in the day's main breakaway in Sunday's battle across the cobbles.

Tour of the Battenkill

• 1. Brett Tivers, Garneau-Club Chaussures-Norton Rose, 4:07:37
• 2. Jesse Anthony, Kbs-Optumhealth, at 0:11
• 3. Brendan Housler, Mt. Borah Custom Apparel / Minerva Design, at 0:47
• 4. Bobby Lea, Pure Energy Cycing/proairhfa, at 0:55
• 5. Shaun Mc Carthy, Garneau-Club Chaussures-Norton Rose, at 0:56

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VeloNews editor in chief Ben Delaney catches the action in the fabled forest as the fans grill, chill and thrill.

“Honestly, I enjoyed myself today,” said U.S> national champion Ben King. “I’ve never done anything like it before. It was unbelievable.”

RENO, Nev. (VN) — The ninth week of collegiate racing for the WCCC continued on the weekend of April 9-10, hosted by University of Nevada-Reno. The driving distance of the race had deterred many from attending the race, but still a significant amount flocked to Northern Nevada to attempt to gain points for their team.

Supporting a team at Paris-Roubaix is a tough hustle. VeloNews hitched a ride in a Garmin team car to find out just how tough.

• 1936 Philemon Demeersman (BEL)
• 1937 Adolphe Braeckeveldt (BEL)
• 1938 Émile Masson Jr. (BEL)
• 1939 Edmond Delathouwer (BEL)
• 1940 No race

2010- Emma Pooley (GBR) 2009- Marianne Vos (NED) 2008- Marianne Vos (NED) 2007- Marianne Vos (NED) 2006- Nicole Cooke (GBR)

What a difference a year makes: A DNF at Paris-Roubaix in 2010, Johan Van Summeren wins the race in 2011 with a well-timed solo break.

The Hell of the North lived up to its name for Quick Step as three-time winner Tom Boonen crashed out and Tour of Flanders runner-up Sylvain Chavanel could only muster 38th.

Former Paris-Roubaix winner Stuart O'Grady was among a handful of riders who survived the cobbles to cross the line in the velodrome only to have their results erased because they were beyond the time limit.

ROUBAIX, France (VN) ─ Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) went down swinging at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, salvaging an impressive second place that Leopard-Trek manager Brian Nygaard called "heroic" when it seemed much of the peloton was racing against him.

Results for the 2011 Paris-Roubaix

Johan Van Summeren salvaged Garmin-Cervélo's classics season with a brilliant victory at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Check out CyclingTips's author page.

Jonathan Cantwell wins the 60-lap men’s race at Saturday’s Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama.

Colavita-Forno d’Asolo dominated the women’s race at Saturday’s Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama.

Former junior Paris-Roubaix winner Geraint Thomas hopes for big things from the real deal.

Defending champion Fabian Cancellara "has shown the form" to go for the win, "but if he gives me the green light, I'm ready to go," says Stuart O'Grady.

Matthew Goss won't be satisfied with anything less than a top-10 finish in Paris-Roubaix.

The slow hand of justice in Spain seems finally to be moving. Nearly six years after police uncovered the Operación Puerto doping ring, officials are pressing for jail time for the leading protagonists.

ANNISTON, Ala. (VN) — VeloNews.com will present a live video stream of Saturday's Sunny King Criterium, including all amateur and elite categories at the National Racing Calendar event.

Bad blood between Tom Boonen and Sebastian Chavanel is a fabrication of an overly speculative media, Chavanel said Friday. Chavanel, Boonen and their Quick Step director Wilfred Peters all said that they raced the Tour of Flanders with solid tactics, and any talk of bitterness that Boonen helped chase down Chavanel was nonsense.

The 2011 Paris-Roubaix contains 51.5km of cobbles spread out over 27 sectors. The first comes 98km into the race and the final sector is at the entrance to the Roubaix velodrome.

PARIS (AFP) - Garmin-Cervelo's Thor Hushovd said he is ready to step up and do justice to the world champion's rainbow jersey when he bids for a maiden victory in the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic on Sunday.

VeloNews' newest online rider diarist is domestic pro Phil Gaimon of Kenda-Geargrinder. Gaimon already is well known to readers of VeloNews magazine as the author of one of our most popular (and funniest) features: Ask a Pro.

Defending champion says he can’t control the Hell of the North, but Arenberg Forest will be key

Stage 5: Éibar - El Corrillo

• 1. Francesco GAVAZZI (ITA), Lampre-Farnese Vini, 4:27:03
• 2. Kristof VANDEWALLE (BEL), Quick Step, s.t.
• 3. John GADRET (FRA), Ag2r La Mondiale, s.t.
• 4. Pim LIGTHART (NED), Vacansoleil-DCM, s.t.
• 5. Egoitz GARCIA ECHEGUIBEL (ESP), Caja Rural, s.t.

Overall, after Stage 5

• 1. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER (Spain), Team Katusha, 21:39:46
• 2. Andreas KLÖDEN (Germany), Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 3. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ (Spain), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
• 4. Christopher HORNER (United States), Team RadioShack, at 0:01
• 5. Ryder HESJEDAL (Canada), Garmin-Cervelo, at 0:06

Stage 5: Éibar - El Corrillo

• 1. Francesco GAVAZZI (ITA), Lampre-Farnese Vini, 4:27:03
• 2. Kristof VANDEWALLE (BEL), Quick Step, s.t.
• 3. John GADRET (FRA), Ag2r La Mondiale, s.t.
• 4. Pim LIGTHART (NED), Vacansoleil-DCM, s.t.
• 5. Egoitz GARCIA ECHEGUIBEL (ESP), Caja Rural, s.t.

Overall, after Stage 5

• 1. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER (Spain), Team Katusha, 21:39:46
• 2. Andreas KLÖDEN (Germany), Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 3. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ (Spain), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
• 4. Christopher HORNER (United States), Team RadioShack, at 0:01
• 5. Ryder HESJEDAL (Canada), Garmin-Cervelo, at 0:06

PARIS, April 8, 2011 (AFP) - Australia's Baden Cooke will saddle up for Paris-Roubaix on Sunday with a chance to showcase his own ambitions in the tough one-day classic.

Daniele Bennati (Leopard-Trek) won for the third time this week with victory in a bunch sprint in the final stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe in France.

When Tour of the Battenkill promoter Dieter Drake and USA Cycling staff traded barbs over rider invites in January, Mike Poe and the Sunny King Criterium were caught in the crossfire.

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"Twice, I took more than a month off from ALL forms of training during the season. Each time, I struggled to remain positive when my first rides back had a heartrate ceiling of 130 bpm and power that never got above 120 watts. "

KORTRIJK, Belgium (VN) — With three days until Paris-Roubaix, and months of preparation complete, the main favorites now are simply waiting with the hope that the stars of training, recovery, form and luck will align for them on Sunday.

Stage 4: Amurrio - Éibar

• 1. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ (ESP), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 4:42:37
• 2. Andreas KLÖDEN (GER), Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 3. Alexandre VINOKOUROV (KAZ), Astana, s.t.
• 4. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER (ESP), Team Katusha, s.t.
• 5. Ryder HESJEDAL (CAN), Garmin-Cervelo, s.t.

Overall Standings

• 1. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER (Spain), Team Katusha, 17:12:46
• 2. Andreas KLÖDEN (Germany), Team RadioShack, s.t.
• 3. Samuel SANCHEZ GONZALEZ (Spain), Euskaltel-Euskadi, s.t.
• 4. Christopher HORNER (United States), Team RadioShack, at 0:01
• 5. Ryder HESJEDAL (Canada), Garmin-Cervelo, at 0:06

EIBAR, Spain (VN) - It looks like it will all come down to Saturday’s time trial at this year’s Vuelta al País Vasco.

Anthony Roux (FDJ) won the fourth stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe and took over the race leader’s jersey at the French race.

Stage

• 1. Anthony ROUX, (FRA) Française des Jeux, at 4:26:33
• 2. Biel KADRI, (FRA) Ag2r La Mondiale, at s.t.
• 3. Pierrick FEDRIGO, (FRA) Française des Jeux, at s.t.
• 4. Thomas VOECKLER, (FRA) Europcar, at s.t.
• 5. Nicolas VOGONDY, (FRA) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, at s.t.

GC

• 1. Anthony ROUX, (France) Française des Jeux, at 11:50:58
• 2. Biel KADRI, (France) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 5
• 3. David MILLAR, (Great Britain) Garmin-Cervelo, at 9
• 4. Pierrick FEDRIGO, (France) Française des Jeux, at 12
• 5. Alexandre GENIEZ, (France) Skil-Shimano, at 13

"As a team we ended it in second place overall by one second. Who knew second place would be such a hard pill to swallow?"

Following the news of Taylor Phinney missing his start at Paris-Roubaix this week, BMC Racing offered updates on two of its other injured riders. Brent Bookwalter and Karsten Kroon are each recovering from broken collarbones.

At the ripe age of 25, Mark Cavendish has already amassed a wealth of experience at the world’s biggest races. He’s won Tour stages, Giro stages, Milan-San Remo and a host of one-day events. Yet he’s never done Paris-Roubaix.