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Team Columbia’s Marco Pinotti reached the line in the front group in Wednesday’s Fleche Wallone classic, finishing 40th, 54 seconds behind the winner Davide Rebellin. More importantly however for Pinotti was the sixth-place finish of his teammate, Thomas Lövkvist, who crossed the line just six seconds behind Rebellin.

Team Jamis races Edge tubular mountain bike wheels at Sea Otter

2009 Columbia-Highroad

Instead of racing the Giro d’Italia, a bitter Daryl Impey is returning to his home in South Africa to recover from his horrific crash at the Tour of Turkey last weekend. Barloworld team officials said Impey — the first-year pro landed in the barriers Sunday after contact with track star Theo Bos (Rabobank) in a controversial finish-line crash that’s still creating aftershocks — will have to fly back to his native South Africa lying down in the plane. Two attendants will travel with the Tour of Turkey winner on his trip from London to South Africa.

In an exciting preview of what awaits next month in the Giro d’Italia, some of Italy’s big guns went mano-a-mano in Thursday’s summit finish at Alpi di Pampeago in the Giro del Trentino. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) walked away with neither the stage victory nor the race leader’s jersey, but he put everyone on notice that he could be the man to beat come next month.

Baseball has films such as “Field of Dreams” and “The Natural.” Football has “Rudy” and “Brian's Song.” Basketball has “Hoosiers” and … “White Men Can't Jump?” (okay, there are probably better examples than that last one.)

The Fuji-Servetto team, has been invited to race in next month's Giro d'Italia, the team announced this morning. The team also announced its long team for the event. The team will bring nine riders to the race, chosen from among: Juanjo Cobo, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Eros Capecchi, Ricardo Serrano, Jesus del Nero, Ermanno Capelli, Alberto Benitez, Iker Camano, Hector Gonzalez, Josep Jufre, Javier Megias and Angel Gomez. Other teams for this year's Giro: Organisers published the list of 22 teams for the Giro and Fuji, whose team director is Italian Alvaro Crespi, were included

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Cervélo sprinter Thor Hushovd will skip this year's Giro d'Italia to concentrate fully on his bid for stage wins and another run at the green jersey at the Tour de France in July. Hushovd, a former Tour stage winner and green points jersey recipient, had a solid spring classics season with two third places at Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix and a victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

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Dutchwoman Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) attacked inside of 200 meters remaining on the Mur de Huy and never looked back, sprinting to her third-career victory at the La Flèche Wallonne Femenine, the fourth round of the 2009 UCI World Cup. Vos out-kicked World Cup leader Emma Johanson of Sweden for the win. American Amber Neben (Nürnberger) was the top North American finisher in fourth place.

Andreas Klöden (Astana) is back in the winner’s circle for the second time this season after taking a narrow, one-second victory over teammate Janez Brajkovic in Wednesday’s opening time trial at the Giro del Trentino. Astana went one-two on a mostly flat, but technically challenging 17.5km course near Lago di Garda in northern Italy to open the four-day Trentino tour. Klöden, winner of a time trial at Tirreno-Adriatico in March, covered the course in 18 minutes, 21 seconds (53.292kph) to secure the victory and snatch the overall leader’s jersey.

There’s no secret why Davide Rebellin pointed to his head after winning his third La Flèche Wallonne title on Wednesday. The Italian veteran proved he had the legs to summit the Mur de Huy alongside the other strongmen of the Ardennes races. But it was the cagy Italian’s brains that earned him the winning margin on the slopes of the feared climb. “It might just be the best of my three wins," Rebellin said. “I've been working hard in that respect (climbing)."

Dear Readers,
A bike tech column is going to naturally gravitate toward discussing new equipment. I regularly get letters, however, extolling the virtues of a more sustainable approach with less emphasis on the latest equipment. Given that it’s Earth Day, I thought it a good time to give voice to a couple of these letters. And for Earth Day (and every day), ride your bike and avoid motorized transportation as much as you can.
Lennard

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Kristin Armstrong wants to end her long and successful career this year on a winning note. The ideal scenario would be recapturing the rainbow jersey in the world championships in September in what will be her last major competition of her career. Rather than leave the sport after winning the Olympic gold medal in the individual time trial in Beijing last summer, Armstrong made the commitment to race this year, in part, to help nurture young talent on her Cervélo TestTeam.

All eyes will be on Dutchwoman Marianne Vos at Wednesday’s La Fleche Wallonne Femenine, the women’s component of Fleche-Wallonne. Vos is the two-time defending champion of the women’s race, which this year marks the fourth round of the UCI women’s World Cup. And Vos won the last World Cup, the Ronde van Drenthe, held in her home country on April 13.

Specialized is working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to recall some 2004-era Roubaix road bikes and some 2009 model year mountain bikes. The road bikes are being recalled because a riveted brake cable stop on the frame can come loose. The mountain bikes are being recalled because the handlebars can break. In both cases, the company and the CPSC are advising owners to stop riding the bikes immediately and return them to a Specialized dealer.

The Roubaix recall:

X-rays revealed Tuesday that Tom Boonen suffered a fissure in his right foot during a finish-line pileup at Scheldeprijs last week in Belgium.   Doctors ordered a 10-day rest for the recently crowned Paris-Roubaix champion, but Boonen’s injury couldn’t have come at a better time.   Considering that his first major goals of the season are already in the rear view mirror, Boonen could be philosophical about the setback.  

Price: $50 Sizes: One month supply Web site: www.intelligentendurance.com Intelligent Endurance is a new supplement producer that aims at improving athletic performance through the use their combination of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. Intelligent Endurance believes that their daily serving of ten natural ingredients will help to holistically bring the mind and body together to promote endurance and help the athlete reach his or her full potential.

Price: $60 Weight: 250 to 265 grams Sizes: 700x18-23 and 700x25-32 Colors: Black, white, silver, and carbon Web site: www.sks-germany.com The new SKS Raceblade fender is a wrap-around fender made for frame and fork designs that typically prohibit the use of traditional fenders. The Raceblade mounts tightly to a bicycle's seatstays and fork blades — no eyelets necessary.

Statistics can’t quite illustrate the challenge posed by the Mur de Huy, the final climb of La Fleche Wallonne. Sure, the climb’s average gradient is 9.3 percent. The road soars up 420 feet over the course of three-quarters of a mile. One particularly nasty ramp hits 25 percent. And the climb comes at the tail end of a five-hour race.

Dutch racer Theo Bos says he feels sick about Sunday’s crash in the final kilometer of the Presidential Tour of Turkey. His crash with yellow jersey wearer Daryl Impey (Barloworld) has generated a huge amount of Internet chatter and calls for Bos to be punished for his role in it.

Luxembourg's Frank Schleck has pulled out of Wednesday's Fleche-Wallonne race and is doubtful for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege after his fall in the Amstel Gold Race, his Saxo Bank team revealed on Tuesday. Schleck was taken to hospital after falling spectacularly during the Dutch race on Sunday but was discharged shortly afterward. The 29-year-old had hoped to compete in all three Ardennes classics this season, but his team said the seriousness of his fall prompted them to take extra precautions.

Event organizers are determined to save Philadelphia's one-day classic road race, one of the most important events on the domestic calendar for nearly a quarter century, facing severe financial challenges less than seven weeks before race day. "We’re tough," Dave Chauner told VeloNews. Chauner is the co-founder of the event now titled the TD Bank Philadelphia International Cycling Championships, a race known to most in the cycling community simply as "Philly." The race is scheduled for June 7.

Beer wasn't atop my list of cravings as I inched up the Cauberg, rolled under the jumbotron and crossed the final finish line of the Amstel Gold Race cyclosportive. Pedaling 250 kilometers through Hollands hilly Limberg region had me wanting to get off my bicycle – pronto. The freezing rain that fell for the final two hours also didn't exactly put yours truly in the mood for some chilly suds. And after stuffing waffles and the sugary Euro sports drink Isostar down my pie hole for 10 hours, I craved something salty: corn chips, popcorn or frites.

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No longer a Hamilton fan

View flash animation panorama of the Sea Otter Tech Expo

The 2010 Tour of Italy is to start from Amsterdam, the Dutch news agency ANP reported on Monday, quoting a spokeswoman for the city authorities who added a further announcement is due to be made at a news conference on Thursday. The Netherlands is already to host the start of the 2010 Tour of Spain from Assen in August and likewise Rotterdam is to host the start of next year's Tour de France.