This Week in Pro Cycling – April 14, 2008

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the latest edition of The Prologue, the weekly summary of news from the world of competitive cycling by your friends at VeloNews.com.

I don’t know what the highlight of your year is, but the middle weekend in April has to be one my favorite spots on the calendar. This year was no disappointment, as 198 riders left Compiègne on Sunday morning, starting that 259.5-kilometer, often-rough road to Roubaix. Broken wheels, crashes and weather would make you think that Paris-Roubaix can be a total crapshoot. What would disabuse that notion, however, is that the three riders to emerge from the field this year were precisely the same men who made the podium in Roubaix two years ago. This time, the victor in Roubaix’s velodrome was the 2005 winner, Tom Boonen.

If you missed the race, take some time to go over our Live Coverage to get a feel for what happened during this year’s Hell of the North.

The wonderful thing about the week is that it highlights a series of great races, which began with last Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, won by Boonen’s teammate Stijn Devolder, and then Wednesday’s Ghent-Wevelgem, the sprinters’ classic, which ended in a massive charge to the line with three-time world champion Oscar Freire emerging the victor.

And it’s not over yet. We still have the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallone, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège coming up

Here in the U.S., we’re coming up on another big event, too, with the Tour de Georgia beginning on Monday, April 20. Be sure to tune into VeloNews.com for Live up-to-the-minute coverage throughout the week.

Meanwhile, the weather is getting better around the country, so we’re hoping you get to do more than just read about cycling.

Have a good week,

Charles Pelkey
Senior Online Editor, VeloNews.com
CPelkey@insideinc.com