Gent - Wevelgem 2012

Boonen wins Gent-Wevelgem

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/gent-wevelgem-2012/results)

Tom Boonen was on song again at Gent-Wevelgem, showing prime form and fortune ahead of the Tour of Flanders by out-sprinting Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Matti Breschel (Rabobank).

In a somewhat messy sprint marred by a crash from a Saxo Bank rider who took down JJ Rojas (Movistar) and Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Boonen sped away ahead of the fall and had plenty of power to hold off young Sagan.

"I've found back my sprint. I'm not the fastest man in the peloton – that's probably Mark Cavendish – but if everybody is tired then I'm one of the best. I wasn't fully recovered from Friday's race and I wasn't the best in the race but we decided straight away that we would try to get a sprint. The Kemmelberg is too far from the finish to try something there," Boonen said.

Runner-up Sagan wasted some energy in a breakaway attempt together with Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) at 25km from the finish in Wevelgem but they were caught back by a large group led by the Omega Pharma-QuickStep troops.

After 235km of racing Sagan lacked the punch to finish ahead of Boonen. "After the last climb of the Kemmelberg I was in a breakaway with Cancellara. I felt good but that was already the case in the Tirreno. It's better to try something then to do nothing at all. In the sprint Boonen was stronger," Sagan said.

Just before the breakaway attempt from Sagan there was a demonstration from Matti Breschel on the Kemmelberg. The Dane left the peloton behind on the steep cobbled climb. "I couldn't go any slower," Breschel joked. "I got beaten by two guys who, right now, are better than me. I felt good today but Boonen is the best right now," Breschel stated.

A nine-rider group stayed away much of the race, but the real story was a split in the field with about 35 km to go. World champion Mark Cavendish (Sky) was left behind in a chasing group and tried to bridge the gap on his own, but never saw the front of the race again.

The breakaway started early in the day with seven riders taking the initiative: Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Koen Barbé (Landbouwkrediet-Euphony), Thomas Bertolini (Farnese Vini – Selle Italia), Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha), Anders Lund (Saxo Bank), Stijn Neirynck (Topsport Vlaanderen – Mercator) and Kevin Van Melsen (Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s).

Julien Fouchard (Cofidis, le crédit en ligne) and Yuriy Krivtsov (Lampre – ISD) were able to bridge up with these seven to form the nine-man group which colored the first half of the race.

The nine gathered a lead of up to ten minutes while riding towards the North Sea. When turning away from the sea the headwind tortured the breakaway group and when riding through the north of France the gap quickly dropped down to seven minutes.

By the time they reached the foot of the often crucial Kemmelberg, the lead for the breakaway was down to 2:15, and Lund and Insausti attacked the rest of the breakaway group. On the second ascent of the Kemmelberg Rabobank's Breschel put on an impressive show, his powerful surge opening a gap in the peloton.

On the following Monteberg, the last climb of the day, riders including Luca Paolini (Katusha), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and Steve Chainel (FDJ) attempted to break away, but when Fabian Cancellara came to the front with Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), the duo quickly caught up with the remains of the early breakaway. With 30 km to go they trailed the two leaders by 1:15 with a following peloton of about 40 riders. Behind, a group including sprinters like Mark Cavendish (Sky), André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) was quickly losing ground.

With 16km to go the breakaway and the two front groups were all together, but the second half of the peloton with Cavendish was still trailing by 45 seconds. The fast men in front were Boonen, Matthew Goss (GreenEdge), Daniele Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek), José Joaquin Rojas Gil (Movistar) and Oscar Freire (Katusha).

That gap only grew, and it soon became clear that it could not be closed.  Cavendish did his best to bridge up, but it was not to be.

The pace stayed high as the group went into the finale. Oscar Freire of Katusha opened the sprint, but Boonen is on a roll and proved once again to have the fastest legs.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	5:32:44
2	Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
3	Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
4	Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
5	Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
6	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Radioshack-Nissan
7	Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
8	Steve Chainel (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
9	Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Farnese Vini - Selle Italia
10	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team

Motorcycle vs. Car

Motorcycle accident interrupts Volta a Catalunya

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/motorcycle-accident-interrupts-volta-a-catalunya)

Stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya was delayed for 38 minutes after a collision between a police motorcycle and another car.

The incident occurred while the race was 70km into the 169.4km stage from Sant Fruitós de Bages to Badalona, at a time when a breakaway containing Mikael Cherel (AG2R-La Mondiale), Cédric Pineau (FDJ-Big Mat) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis) had a three minute lead on the peloton.

Both the motorcycle driver and the occupant of the car were injured in the head-on crash, and the race was stopped while the medics could attend to the motorcycle driver.

The race officials re-established the gap once racing was safe to resume, and the finish was 45 minutes behind schedule when Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) claimed the stage victory.

There has been no word on the condition of either victim of the incident.

Can't He Get A Break?

...And I don't mean literally!

Dean collides with parked car at Catalunya, breaks leg

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dean-collides-with-parked-car-at-catalunya-breaks-leg)

Julian Dean (GreenEdge) is facing an uncertain future after he crashed into a parked car on Stage 3 of the Volta a Catalunya on Wednesday, breaking his leg.

The stage race was Dean's first back following a fractured shoulder suffered at the GreeEdge training camp in the Australian Alps in early December. The 36-year-old had been due to return to racing at the Tour of Sardinia which was cancelled.

Wednesday's accident took place just 10 kilometres into the shortened queen stage. Dean was swerving to avoid riders who had crashed ahead of him on the slippery road, following horrific weather conditions in the Pyrenees, when he collided with a parked car.

"We are especially distraught about this loss," GreenEdge sports director Neil Stephens explained on the team website. "From a sporting perspective, it's terrible to lose a rider to a crash. From a personal perspective, we really feel for him. He has a lot of bad luck this year, and Catalunya was his first race back after a previous injury.

"The race took a really nervous start because of a hard climb in the opening kilometres. We went around a slippery right-hand corner, and some guys crashed in front of Julian. In an attempt to avoid them, Julian swerved and he hit a parked car."

Dean was transported by ambulance from Barcelona to his Valencia base, accompanied by GreenEdge sports director Vittorio Algeri.

"I have spoken to him and what I do know is that it's a severe break, it's going to need an operation which will possibly be plates, and therefore three to six months," Dean's wife Carole told Fairfax Media.

"Three months being the very happy end of the scale and six being crap, so basically it's the season."

The sprint veteran was eyeing a fifth Olympic Games in London and an eighth Tour de France.

"He's pretty tenacious and he doesn't sit on his bum and do nothing," Carole Dean continued. "He pushes his body through rehab, so it might be four months if we're lucky.

"The best case scenario I can think of is that he'll be ready to start the Tour of Spain. That might be a good starting point, but certainly the Giro and the Tour are out."

Dean signed a one-year deal with GreenEdge at the end of 2011, non-committal to his cycling future beyond 2012, saying "I am just looking one year at a time, and there are no specific plans to race in 2013. But you never say 'never'."

My Rabbit Is Named After Him

I'm not kidding. Meet Snickers Alejandro:

And, I think it would be awesome if Alejandro Valverde could win the 2012 Tour de France.

Valverde believes he can win the Tour de France

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/valverde-believes-he-can-win-the-tour-de-france)

Having come back to racing this year after a doping suspension, Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) is also back to winning ways. With four victories and a podium spot at the Tour Down Under as well as Paris-Nice in his pocket, the Spaniard's balance sheet in late March is more than promising in view of his real targets this year, the Ardennes Classics and the Tour de France.

Valverde did not expect such a successful return to competition, but he told L'Equipe that he trained as hard during the last year as when he was competing. "I knew I had good shape as I had trained well at home, but I didn't think I would be able to do such a good season start. But during the suspension, I did exactly what I did before. I trained regularly, and I had two peaks of form during the year. I trained as though I was competing, but without competing."

Turning his attention towards the Classics season, Valverde admitted that Philippe Gilbert (BMC) would be the man to beat after what the Belgian showed last season. "To me, Gilbert was the best rider in the world last year," the Spaniard continued. "I would love to be able to deliver a grand duel against him in the Ardennes Classics. I'm sure this would also be great for the spectators."

On top of his other prestigious victories, Valverde won Liège-Bastogne-Liège twice in his career, and the Flèche Wallonne once. Gilbert took all three Ardennes Classics last year, on top of his first victory of the Amstel Gold Race in 2010.

But Valverde, who also has the overall 2009 Vuelta a Espana to his account, sees himself as a contender for the Tour de France this year. Even though the 2012 parcours has widely been branded as one for the better time triallists, the Movistar rider believes in his chances to take the yellow jersey.

"My idea is to fight for the general classification," said the 31-year-old, who already has two top ten results in the Tour to his name (in 2007 and 2008). "It's clear that the amount of time trial kilometres favours those riders who are specialists against the clock, like Wiggins or Evans. But the Tour is the Tour, it is very long and anything can happen, it can be over at any day. So I will do my utmost to be there, to do the best I can, even if, to me, the favourite is Andy Schleck.

"He wants to win it, but so do I. In the time trial, we are about on the same level. I think the Tour 2012 will be very open."

To Sum Up Milan-San Remo

10 conclusions from Milan-San Remo

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-conclusions-from-milan-san-remo)

1. Fabian Cancellara's (RadioShack-Nissan) racing style has skirted the thin line between bravery and folly in the big classics over the past two seasons, and Milan-San Remo was no exception. Once again, he won hearts and minds with his wholehearted attacking, and once again, he found himself thwarted by a cannier rider at the death.

There was something Sisyphean about Cancellara's plunge into San Remo, with Simon Gerrans and Vincenzo Nibali scrambling for his back wheel. Even though he surely knew that his weakness in the sprint would be exposed, he persisted in his labours nonetheless. But was simply attempting to blast riders of the caliber of Gerrans and Nibali off his wheel a glorious failure or an act of arrogance?

Cancellara triumphed at San Remo in 2008 by patiently biding his time before making one decisive attack inside the final 2km. In contrast to that clinical display, on Saturday he seemed to try and bludgeon his way to victory with repeated blows, and the result was rather less tidy.

That said, one can never step in the same river twice, and the circumstances of this year's race were different to four years ago. Once Cancellara made the decision to bridge to Gerrans and Nibali, and once it was apparent that they would not collaborate, he perhaps had little option but to attempt to burn them off his wheel. Besides, had Cancellara held his fire on the Poggio, he may well have been forced to take up the reins of the pursuit behind in any case, such is his lofty reputation.

At the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, the Swiss rider will have tougher terrain at his disposal to make the difference in the finale, although it remains to be seen if he will show his hand as early and as often as he did in 2011.

2. Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) didn't bat an eyelid when it was put to him in the winner's press conference that his had been a stolen victory, and with good reason. He had a cast-iron alibi in the chase group in the shape of last year's winner Matt Goss, and instead the Australian cleverly maintained the lead group's momentum with a fleeting turn on the front approaching the final kilometre.

Laudable though Cancellara's strength was, cycling would be an altogether poorer spectacle if victories were decided simply by watts produced. Tactical cunning and sheer sangfroid are just as important a part of a classic winner's make up as raw power, as Gerrans demonstrated on Saturday.

3. With Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Sagan in its ranks, Liquigas-Cannondale had two potential race-winners with contrasting styles at its disposal on Saturday, and the team set out its stall in three phases. Their first aim was to shed the peloton of the pure sprinters, and then Nibali was to go on the attack on the Poggio, while Sagan kept his powder dry for the sprint from a reduced group behind.

In the event, Liquigas succeeded in following the playbook but failed to come away with the win. Cavendish was duly shed on Le Manie, and Nibali forced the winning move on the Poggio, while Sagan took the sprint behind for fourth.
Given the ease with which Sagan held off John Degenkolb, it's tempting to suggest that Nibali should not have attacked and Liquigas should simply have ridden to set up Sagan for the sprint. However, after Valerio Agnoli swung off midway up the Poggio, Daniel Oss was the only other Liquigas rider in the front group. Would that have been enough to pull back a rampant Cancallara?

4. Marcel Kittel may be the marquee young German sprint talent at Project 1t4i, but he has some high quality company in the shape of John Degenkolb. The former HTC-Highroad rider enjoyed a fine Milan-San Remo debut. Just 23 years of age and in only his second season at the top level, Degenkolb dealt admirably with the 300km of racing and finished second in the group sprint just behind the winning break. His victor, of course, was the even more precocious Peter Sagan. Expect to see both men back at the business end of La Primavera in the years to come.

5. While the likes of Liquigas-Cannondale were always going to try and make life difficult for Mark Cavendish (Sky), it was a surprise to see the world champion eliminated from contention on Le Manie with over 90km still to race. As ever, there will be much conjecture over the true state of Cavendish's early-season fitness, but given his solid start to life in the rainbow jersey, it may simply be that he endured an off day at the most inopportune time. Certainly, it would be no surprise if he were to make a forceful response at Gent-Wevelgem next weekend – Cavendish is rarely more dangerous than when stung by perceived slights.

6. Bubbling under in the lead-up to Milan-San Remo after early season wins in Australia and Spain, Oscar Freire was quietly fancied by a number of observers to take his fourth win at La Classicissima, and when Katusha led the charge behind Cancellara, it looked as though he would conjure up a big win from nothing all over again. Instead, the chasers fell just shy of making the juncture, while Freire himself had to give best to Sagan, Degenkolb and Pippo Pozzato in the sprint for fourth. In what may be his final season as a professional, one wonders if Freire will manage to work the oracle one more time before his exits the stage.

7. Filippo Pozzato brooked his share of criticism during his final season at Katusha, but the man from Vicenza has carried himself with a renewed verve since he signed with Farnese Vini-Selle Italia ahead of the 2012 season. Training under the watchful gaze of Luca Scinto all winter, Pozzato set himself the target of slugging it out with the big hitters at San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix.

A broken collarbone at the Tour of Qatar threatened to derail his campaign, but remarkably he was back racing within a week of his operation, so desperate was he not to miss out on racing miles ahead of the classics. The gamble looked to have paid dividends on Saturday as he rode to a solid 6th place in San Remo. While it's worth noting that he finished 5th last year before the wheels came off his Katusha career in Belgium, Pozzato seems altogether more assured under Scinto's guidance, and it will be fascinating to see if he can recover his form of 2009 on the cobbles this April.

8. BMC's travails continued at Milan-San Remo, and remarkably the expensively-assembled outfit has yet to pick up a single win in 2012. Their Classicissima challenge was dented early in the week when Thor Hushovd was forced out of the race with illness, and the Norwegian was perhaps always likely to be their best chance of success. Philippe Gilbert, too, was stricken by fever and dental problems in the week before the race, and a crash over the top of the Cipressa ended his challenge before it was possible to draw any real conclusions as to his actual state of form.

Greg Van Avermaet was also a faller and it was left to Alessandro Ballan to keep their end up with an 8th place finish. While there were mitigating circumstances aplenty for their low-key showing on the road to San Remo, the galacticos will be expected to start making a telling impact on races at the very least as the focus switches to the cobbles.

9. Given his twin talents of endurance and speed, it seems almost an aberration that Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has never triumphed at Milan-San Remo. In fine form at Paris-Nice last week, no less a figure than Michele Bartoli had tipped Boonen for the win on Saturday and the Belgian appeared comfortable throughout. Caught behind a crash on the descent of the Poggio, however, Boonen lost sight of the leaders and his challenge ended. Still, his season is as ever defined by the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, where the signs are he will renew his rivalry with Fabian Cancellara.

10. A 300km classic from Milan to San Remo is perhaps something of an anachronism, a throwback to the early years of organised racing. Certainly, one does not envisage that any new additions to the WorldTour calendar would ever feature such a lengthy point-to-point race. That said, throughout its history, the organisers have often updated the race by tweaking its format slightly, adding the Poggio (1960), Cipressa (1982) and Le Manie (2009).

Change may be afoot again as soon as next year, with rumours of a steeper route to the top of the Cipressa and a finish line closer to the Poggio. The idea to give attackers more of a chance to finish alone, but as has been the case since 1907, it's the riders rather than the route that will be the making of the race.

Milan - San Remo: Gerrans vs. Cancellara

Cancellara pipped at Milan-San Remo

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-pipped-at-milan-san-remo)

Another classic, another pyrrhic victory for Fabian Cancellara. The RadioShack-Nissan rider made all the running in the final, frantic kilometres of Milan-San Remo on Saturday, but he comes away from the Riviera laden with compliments rather than prizes after he finished second behind Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge).

Second in Milan-San Remo last year, third in the Tour of Flanders, second in Paris-Roubaix and now second again in La Classicissima, Cancellara’s recent run of classics results has been as frustrating as it has been remarkable. From monument to monument, the sequence of events has seemed to follow a set formula: Cancellara wins the strongest man contest but somebody else rides off with the race itself.

On this occasion it was Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) who sparked the winning move when he forged clear on the Poggio with Gerrans for company, but approaching the summit, it was Cancellara who muscled his way to the front and powered the trio down into San Remo.

Such was the intensity of his effort that Gerrans later admitted that he was struggling to keep up as Cancellara accelerated out of the corners that litter the famous descent of the Poggio. Indeed, at times Cancellara seemed to ride as though he were utterly unaware that he had two such high-quality rivals sitting (albeit not always comfortably) on his back wheel.

He eventually waved Gerrans through to take a rather cursory turn on the front in the streets of San Remo, but Cancellara again took up sole responsibility in the final kilometre, fearful of the chase group behind. A Milan-San Remo victor must know how to gamble; perhaps mindful of his weakness in the sprint, Cancellara opted to play the percentages and ensure at least a podium place for his troubles.

“In the end I took the risk,” he said afterwards. “I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. I felt that they were coming behind quickly, so for that reason I said to myself: ‘all in.’

“In the end, I risked it, but I still took a second place at Milan-San Remo, which is of great value. It’s a great race. I wanted to do well today, I had it in mind to try something on the Poggio today and make the difference. In the end I did what I could. The others were on my wheel.

Gerrans gave me two turns. I had to launch the sprint too as they were coming up behind us.”

The chasers included the precocious Peter Sagan, who comfortably took the sprint for fourth place. His presence behind meant that Cancellara could understood why Sagan’s teammate Nibali did not contribute to the lead group’s efforts.

“I spoke with Vincenzo. He said it was clear that he couldn’t pull as he had Sagan behind. I knew that in theory Vincenzo and Gerrans are quicker than me, but after 300km things can be different, so I gave my all.”

Ultimately, however, there was an almost disarming familiarity about the way Gerrans came around Cancellara, and one was reminded of his defeat in Flanders last season. Cancellara admitted that he was running close to empty by the time he reached the Lungomare Italo Calvino.

“I had lactic acid coming out my ears too,” he said with a rueful smile. “If you go from the top of the Poggio to the finish full on, it’s clear that at the end the gas runs out.”

Turning to the cobbles

Cancellara has had more practice in the role of gracious classics runner-up than he could ever have wished for in recent times, and he did his best to put a positive spin on what must have been a bitterly disappointing afternoon. Moral victors have been the subject of some of the richest chapters of cycling lore, but the record books do not note their achievements.

“In the end I’m still going home from Italy with some nice things in my pocket. I won Strade Bianche and the time trial at Tirreno,” Cancellara pointed out, and he now turns his attentions to the northern classics, where his rear wheel will be both a precious commodity and feared sight.

“The second place today will give me a lot of satisfaction and morale and the certainty that I’m going well. That gives me confidence for what is to come.”

Throughout its history, the vanquished at Milan-San Remo have called for additional climbs to be added to the route, and Cancellara wryly joined the chorus as he pondered what might have been.

“It would have been better if there had been another climb,” he said. “The race was fast but in the end it wasn’t hard as there wasn’t a lot of intensity. Everybody knew 300km was a lot, and everybody wanted their legs for the end. I hope that the northern classics will be a little bit more intense so I can make the difference a little bit more.”

Gerrans: I can’t deny Cancellara was the strongest

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gerrans-i-cant-deny-cancellara-was-the-strongest)

It takes the head and the legs to win bike races, and never was the old adage more pertinent than on the Lungomare Italo Calvino on Saturday afternoon, as Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge) zipped past Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) to win Milan-San Remo.

It was Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) who sparked the winning break with an attack on the Poggio, but it was Cancellara who grabbed a firm hold of the reins on the descent, and his efforts on the sinuous plunge down into San Remo ensured that the trio stayed just clear of the chasers to divide the spoils among them.

But in an echo of last spring’s monuments, while Cancellara’s show of force produced plenty of shock and awe, the winner’s bouquet went to the rider who best engaged his grey matter in the finale.

Gerrans took two turns on the front. The first, before the top of the Poggio, added momentum to Nibali’s attack. The second, in the streets of San Remo, seemed merely a token effort to appease Cancellara’s signal for help.

“Without question Fabian was the strongest, I can’t deny him that. He was going like a motorbike,” Gerrans admitted in the post-race press conference. “Really, he followed Nibali and myself on the Poggio and then he drove it across the top. He’s one of the best descenders in the peloton and he drove it down the descent. I was losing the wheel coming out of the corners each time.”

Last year, Cancellara famously warned his classics rivals that they would have to fasten their seatbelts such was the ferocity of his attacking. Gerrans and Nibali duly buckled up as the road flattened out over the top of the Poggio, but the Australian already had designs on nudging Cancellara out of the driving seat at the last.

“He was really committed to driving the break to the finish line. I was able to give him one short turn with a little over a kilometre to go and then he came past me again like a motorbike,” Gerrans said. “I was confident the break was going to go but to the finish and I knew what I had to do to finish the hard work off and just come past him in the final.”

A stolen win?

One journalist wondered aloud if Gerrans had stolen Cancellara’s victory, but the frenetic finale of a La Classicissima was hardly the place to ponder such moral dilemmas. In any case, with teammate and defending champion Matt Goss sitting in the chase group behind, Gerrans had a strong alibi, as did Nibali, whose teammate Sagan won the sprint for fourth.

“That was my role in the team. We had the defending champion in Matt Goss and if it came back for a sprint, Goss was going to be the main guy. My position was to follow the breakaways,” Gerrans said. “Obviously I wasn’t as strong as Fabian, I’d be the first to admit that. But it’s not always the strongest guy who wins the race. You have to play a little smart and be there.”

Gerrans explained that he and Goss had scarcely spoken during the race, but such was the simplicity of the GreenEdge tactic that there was no need. While Goss kept his powder dry behind, Gerrans was assigned to follow the moves on the Cipressa and Poggio.

“I was quite surprised because we didn’t race the Cipressa or the beginning of the Poggio at a fast pace. So I thought there was a good chance the group would come back together if there were attacks. I was surprised we were able to go to the finish line, but that was courtesy of Fabian.”

Gerrans may not be the most prolific of winners, but there is little argument about the quality of a palmares that includes stage victories in each of the three grand tours.

“I’m pretty good at analysing the situation and making the most of what I have,” Gerrans said by way of explanation. “I know I’m not the biggest engine in the peloton, but I have some all round abilities and every now and then I get to race for the win and I try and make the most of that situation.”

And what of Cancellara? Did the Swiss locomotive overestimate its own capacity?

“He was very much racing for the victory, but maybe he underestimated me a bit in the final,” Gerrans said. “By driving and doing so much work on the front of the group, he was committed to get the break to the final but he also thought he had enough to get the win.”

Hushovd out of Milan-San Remo

Hushovd out of Milan-San Remo with fever

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/hushovd-out-of-milan-san-remo-with-fever)

Thor Hushovd will not participate in this weekend's Milan-San Remo after falling victim to a fever, his team announced today.

The Norwegian, twice a podium finisher in the race (2005, 2009), was looking to be the team's protected sprinter on the BMC team for La Classicissima, but was sidelined by the same bug which brought Philippe Gilbert's Tirreno-Adriatico to a premature end.

"Monday night I woke up with fever and was cold and sweating," Hushovd said. "I have felt bad for two days now so there's no chance to race on Saturday. I am really disappointed because it was obviously one of my first goals of the year."

BMC expects Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet, who has been struggling with a foot injury, to be back to nearly full strength for the weekend's Monument. "They are still not 100 percent, but we have two days to go. We are still pretty confident that we have a good team with good experience."

Gilbert has been training and is beginning to feel better but he is hoping to ease into the 300km long race. "I have been riding easy in training and I hope to have a race that's easier at first, maybe with a headwind or something," Gilbert said. "I'll try to be smart and ride in a good position.

"Milan-San Remo can be a very strange race where anything can happen. If it's not for me in the final, maybe it will be Alessandro Ballan or Greg Van Avermaet or someone else on our team. I think we have a good team and we aren't feeling pressure because we know we can be competitive."

Ballan is one rider on the team who hasn't been ill, and has shown that his form is strong. "I can do something good there," Ballan said of the race. "I worked hard in Tirreno-Adriatico, even if I didn't make a result there and I am in optimal condition right now. I think we can be one of the teams that takes charge of the race."

BMC for Milan-San Remo: Alessandro Ballan (Ita), Marcus Burghardt (Ger), Philippe Gilbert (Bel), George Hincapie (USA), Taylor Phinney (USA), Manuel Quinziato (Ita), Michael Schär (Swi), Greg Van Avermaet (Bel).

This just isn't a good week for Team Sky

Flecha breaks hand in training accident

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/flecha-breaks-hand-in-training-accident)

Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) has revealed that he had minor surgery on his hand last week after breaking it in a training accident near his home. The 34-year-old Spaniard, who has enjoyed a consistent start to 2012 after securing third place finishes at the Tour of Qatar and at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, is already looking ahead to getting back in the saddle and to making it to the start line of his favourite race – Paris-Roubaix on April 8.

“I broke a metacarpal in my hand while out training last week,” he told Team Sky’s official website. “The fracture was smooth and I was even able to ride home after I’d done it. I went into surgery on Thursday and they re-aligned the bone before fixing it with a couple of screws.

“In the time between picking up the injury and surgery I was able to keep working on the turbo and do core work in the gym, but since then I’ve not been able to do that as we didn’t want to risk stretching the wound, or getting it infected with sweat under the bandage. My bandage is coming off on Tuesday and I’ll be able to start my rehabilitation again straight after that.”

Flecha stated that his immediate race plans are up in the air and much will rest on his rehabilitation over the coming days. But in his own mind everything is still pointing towards Paris-Roubaix, where he has enjoyed consistent success over the years despite never actually winning the race. Flecha was a runner-up there in 2007, and has two third places to his name along with several other top ten finishes. Back in January he told Cyclingnews that it is the classic that he most wants to win before he hangs up his wheels.

"If everything goes well I should be able to make my return at Waregem [March 21], but obviously that’s dependent on what the doctor says," he said.

“I want to return there but it’s obviously dependent on my recovery. If things are not going well, riding the cobbles might not be the best idea right away, so we could even look at doing a race like the Criterium International [March 24-25] instead. I don’t think I will be at my peak condition at Flanders [April 1], but I will still give it my all, and then by the time Roubaix comes around I’ll be back to my best and able to give it a really good go.”

Froome hits pedestrian in Italian training accident

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/froome-hits-pedestrian-in-italian-training-accident)

Chris Froome of Team Sky has hit and seriously injured a 72-year-old pedestrian in a training accident in Italy, according to the Italian media. Both were taken to hospital, with Froome found only to have scrapes and bruises.

The elderly man is said to have suffered head injuries as well as facial contusions and abrasions.  While his life is not endangered, he is expected to be helicopered to another hospital for further treatment.

Police are looking into the accident to determine what happened and whether either party is at fault. Froome was training alone on Sunday morning when he hit the man, accoridng to sanremonews.it. He immediately called emergency services, and both were taken to hospital.

Froome, 26, opened his season at the Volta ao Algarve but had to abandon with a chest infection after the third stage.  He had been scheduled to start Paris-Nice, but had to miss it due to continued illness. He is not scheduled to ride in Saturday's Milan-San Remo.



So who will be the RSNT Leader?

As much as I love Andy Schleck, he hasn't proven himself yet this year. However, Chris Horner has! In his first race back from his TdF crash last year! How is RadioShack-Nissan-Trek going to build a Tour de France team around a rider who has had a crappy season thus far? Thankfully there are quite a few more races to go yet.

Horner makes triumphant return to racing at Tirreno-Adriatico

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/horner-makes-triumphant-return-to-racing-at-tirreno-adriatico)

It's been approximately eight months since Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan) last turned his pedals in anger in competition, but the 40-year-old American has shown he's made a full recovery from a serious crash at the 2011 Tour de France by taking the overall lead today at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Horner suffered a broken nose, cracked ribs, concussion and a blood clot in the lung as a result of his crash on stage 7 of the Tour last year, and was forced to bring both his race and his season to a premature halt. The ongoing Tirreno-Adriatico, which began on March 7, would be Horner's first race since last year's Tour and his performance through the first four stages has indicated a return to form.

His RadioShack-Nissan team opened their Tirreno-Adriatico account with a second place finish in the team time trial, and Horner was well-positioned on general classification heading into today's decisive stage 4, culminating with an arduous climb to the finish in Chieti.

Horner finished in fifth place with the same time as stage winner Peter Sagan as part of the five-man group which escaped in the finale to contest the victory. Horner took over the race lead from Matt Goss (GreenEdge) and holds a seven second advantage over stage 4 runner-up Roman Kreuziger (Astana) and a 13-second lead on third-placed Cameron Meyer (GreenEdge).

"I'm sure many people doubted my fitness after my embolism but it shows today that it didn't effect my form," Horner said. "The team asked which races I wanted to do this year. I told [directeur sportif)] Dirk Demol that Tirreno-Adriatico would be a big objective and he supported me. "

Horner had targeted today's stage as one crucial to his overall ambitions and his assessment proved to be correct.

"Before the race today I thought for sure I might have the leader's jersey at the end of the day," Horner said on his team's website. "After the team time trial on Sunday, Fabian Cancellara and all the big riders on my team did a fantastic job, so today they protected me from the wind and brought me to the front at the bottom of the climb. Cancellara got me in position and then I knew to follow the moves from the best riders on the day."

Horner followed an attack by Danilo Di Luca (Acqua & Sapone) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) on the finishing climb's steepest pitch and thought that would be the final selection for the stage, but a general classification rival made his presence known in the finale.

"Roman Kreuziger came along and threw an attack in on the three of us and I had to bridge that," said Horner. "He was the biggest threat to us on GC so I had to respond in order to take the jersey."

Sagan's teammate Vincenzo Nibali would also make the juncture and the five-man group would sprint for victory, although a mistake by Horner hampered his finishing effort.

"In the final to the line I accidentally shifted from the big chain ring to the small one and my hands were cramping up so I couldn't get it back up to do the sprint, leaving me to just spin the cranks at 130rpms to the finish, all the while losing ground," said Horner with a laugh. "Even if I could've shifted back I wouldn't have won the sprint, but maybe I would have been up a little further."

Horner still faces three more stages at Tirreno-Adriatico before he can claim a final overall victory, but his and the team's morale is high and he feels up to the challenge.

"Kreuziger is close on time and we both time trial pretty evenly, so it's going to be a fight," said Horner. "My legs are feeling very good, so certainly I have a shot at winning the overall."

A British Win...

Wiggins bridges 45-year gap at Paris-Nice

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-bridges-45-year-gap-at-paris-nice)

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) bridged a 45-year gap to become the second British rider to win Paris-Nice after he triumphed in the Col d’Eze time trial on Sunday.

The late Tom Simpson was the only other British rider to sample Paris-Nice success, riding to overall victory in 1967, the year of his death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France.

“I know my cycling history and this is an enormous achievement," Wiggins said, according to Reuters. "It's an honour to be up there with Tom Simpson."

Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) briefly threatened to ruin Wiggins’ day when he posted the quickest time at the midway point of the stage, but the Englishman summoned up a winning response to take the stage win and secure his yellow jersey.

After Westra’s surprise stage win at Mende on Thursday, Wiggins understood that the Dutchman would be the danger man on the Col d’Eze. “I knew that Westra was very strong after he'd won that stage midweek," he admitted.

In spite of his narrow six-second advantage coming into the stage, Wiggins said that he was confident that he would secure overall victory. “In terms of pressure it was nothing compared to an Olympic track final,” he said. "You can enjoy the moment, I was confident of my ability and today I rode it perfect."

Wiggins’ victory means that he has now won both of France’s premier week-long stage races, having already triumphed in the Critérium du Dauphiné last June. Given the assured nature with which he carried the yellow jersey over the past six days, and with over 100km of time trialling on the menu this July, Wiggins will enter the Tour de France as a genuine threat for top honours.

“I don't know if I'm a favourite but I'm one of maybe five riders who can do something there this summer," Wiggins said of the Tour.

Fourth in the Tour in 2009 and third overall at last season’s Vuelta a España, 2012 is set to be a pivotal year in Wiggins’ career. Overall victory at Paris-Nice completes a fine start to his campaign, but the Sky rider sees his win as just that.

"I said Paris-Nice was a stepping stone, no disrespect for Paris-Nice. But I must continue that progression to July,” he said.

Three Crashes in One Stage

Poor Levi...

Leipheimer's hopes for Paris-Nice victory dashed with one stage remaining

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/leipheimers-hopes-for-paris-nice-victory-dashed-with-one-stage-remaining)

Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) started stage 7 at Paris-Nice in third overall, just 10 seconds down on leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky), but by the finish a trio of crashes had eliminated any hope of overall victory with only tomorrow's Col d'Èze time trial remaining. The 38-year-old American, accompanied by three of his teammates, crossed the finish line 16:50 down on solo stage winner Thomas De Gendt and more than nine minutes in arrears of the peloton which contained all of Leipheimer's general classification rivals.

Leipheimer suffered bruises on his right knee, hip and arm while his teammate Dries Devenyns was forced to abandon following the third and most harrowing incident, involving a collision with a parked motorcycle on a blind turn.

"On the first crash, there was a corner with gravel and I dropped my vest into my front wheel because everybody reacted," Leipheimer said. "I was holding my vest but had to let go to brake and it went in the front wheel. By the time I crashed I was going slow so it was not such a big deal. I hit my wrist, which is swollen, but it was OK.

"I got on my spare bike, but I did the Col de Vence climb and wasn't feeling as good on my bike. I wanted to get back on my other bike, back on the first bike. On the downhill, I was right there at the front with Bradley Wiggins and Alejandro Valverde. I was fine, I was paying attention, but someone from behind wasn't and they hit me hard and broke my bike at the same time as Movistar attacked."

As Leipheimer was making his way back to the peloton once again, paced by four of his teammates, it would be the third and final crash which proved to be most serious.

"Stijn Vandenbergh, Kevin de Weert, Dries Devenyns and Tony Martin waited for me, but we were really close to the bunch," said Leipheimer. "We arrived close to the group, but in the right corner there was a motorbike protecting someone from Lampre who crashed. We couldn't avoid them. I think everyone passed except Dries and I couldn't avoid it, and I crashed into him. It's easy for me to say I could have done this or that tomorrow, but that's part of the race. It was just bad luck."

Omega Pharma-Quickstep directeur sportif Brian Holm was pragmatic in his assessment of the day's unfortunate series of crashes.

"First of all you have to look at the positives," said Holm. "The third crash downhill, that was not fun. Going into something standing still you can really hurt yourself. I saw them hurt themselves badly, but don't think anybody broke anything.

"My first thought was 'shoot, arms and legs were broken.' Levi, he is made of chocolate. You know, third time down, to get back on your bike, you have to be very strong. I am just glad no one broke their bones. The team waited for Levi. Everybody waited for the captain. he goes down, everyone goes down. That's what they have to do.

The Belgian ProTour squad's only remaining rider high on general classification is French champion Sylvain Chavanel who remained in the peloton while his teammates went back to assist Leipheimer.

"Sylvain [Chavanel] was in the top nine so he did what he had to do," said Holm. "Stuff happens."

Sponsorship Problems...

This could suck:

Logo row threatens Euskaltel sponsorship deal

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/logo-row-threatens-euskaltel-sponsorship-deal)

An odd dispute over the colour and case of a word on the Euskaltel team jersey could lead to the squad losing a significant amount of financial backing from the Basque government. The row has blown up over the word 'Euskadi', which has long featured in green upper and lower case lettering below the name of principal sponsor Euskaltel.

This green-lettered logo belongs to the Euskadi Foundation that set up the team 20 years ago and still runs it. However, the Basque government's Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, which is providing the team with €400,000 this season, is insisting that the logo be substituted with their own version in white and upper case lettering. The ministry's logo is used to promote tourism within the Basque Country.

According to reports in the Spanish press, the ministry made a request in January for the logo to be changed in April to coincide with the running of the Tour of the Basque Country. The ministry stated: "In the case of this not happening, the contract will be terminated without the right to any compensation."

The ministry has also asked for the words 'Pays Basque', which appear on the jersey when the team races in France, to be clarified by the addition of the word 'Espagne' in order to prevent unwitting promotion of the French Basque Country.

Similarly, the ministry wants the team's jersey to bear the words 'Paese Baschi Spagna' when it is racing in Italy, 'Baskenland Spanien' when in Germany and 'Basque Country Spain' when in other countries.

However, the requests came after the team's 2012 kit had already been branded. Consequently, Euskaltel team boss and Euskadi Foundation president Miguel Madariaga has said that he won't change make the change. "It's not that we don't want to, it's simply down to the fact that they asked us to do this in January when everything had already been manufactured and we couldn't change the clothing," he told El País. "It would require a significant investment because we would also have to repaint 15 vehicles, including cars, buses, camper vans and trucks. If they pay for the cost of this, we will do it."

Madariaga estimates it will take "€90-100,000" to cover the work. However, he added that even if the money were to be made available, he would still be reluctant to make the change because a number of other provincial bodies within the Basque Country that have long provided significant financial backing identify with the existing Euskadi logo.

Madariaga is due to meet with the representatives from the ministry on March 22. Asked about the ministry's threat to pull all backing this year and next, amounting to €900,000 in total, he pointed out that he doesn't even know yet whether the team will continue next season as discussions with key backers are still ongoing.

This debate provides Madariaga with another headache as he attempts to prolong his squad's life. He has already admitted that he is contemplating relaxing the rule on hiring only Basque or Basque-schooled riders in order to strengthen the line-up and open up new avenues of sponsorship.

What's with everyone getting sick????

Illness sweeps through Paris-Nice peloton

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/illness-sweeps-through-paris-nice-peloton)

Andy Schleck (RadioShack - Nissan) was the first man down with a stomach bug at Paris-Nice, but plenty of others have now followed suit with five riders unable to start Stage 4 on Wednesday.

RadioShack-Nissan is now severely depleted with Jan Bakelants and Joost Posthuma forced to abandon. According to the team website, Bakelants was ill throughout Tuesday evening and it was never a consideration for him to begin the stage. Posthuma was in the same boat however his condition appeared to improve at breakfast and wanted to be on the start line. His condition then deteriorated en route to the stage depart.

American Taylor Phinney (BMC) was also forced out while teammate Thor Hushovd was able to continue despite also having a bad stomach.

"Woke up at 2:30am and threw up everything I ate yesterday... Seems to be a stomach bug going around at this race," Phinney said on Twitter.

Lotto-Belisol rallied impressively after losing both Adam Hansen and Olivier Kaisen with Gianni Meersman claiming the stage win. Hansen is suffering from a bronchial infection with the Australian expressing his frustration to be leaving the race with Milan – San Remo on the horizon.

"Ive gone from bad 2 worse," he said via his Twitter feed. "This isnt good @ all. Im actually really disappointed. Must be in top form on the 17th next week."

Kaisen was just as frustrated, saying: "It's really not my habit to give up but there it was no longer much point in continuing."

Boonen's 100th Win

Congrats to Tom Boonen on 100th career win!!!

100th career win for Boonen at Paris-Nice

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/100th-career-win-for-boonen-at-paris-nice)

The second stage of Paris-Nice yielded several triumphs for the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team: not only was it Tom Boonen's 100th career victory, excluding criteriums and team time trials, but also the first WorldTour win for the revamped Belgian squad. In addition, American Levi Leipheimer is now poised for a top result overall, sitting just six seconds behind race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling).

Boonen's other victories include a world road race title from 2005, three wins in Paris-Nice, two in Tour of Flanders, two in Gent-Wevelgem, six stages of the Tour de France and one green jersey (2007) and two stages of the Vuelta a España.

"I'm really not interested in stats. But on the other hand I'm happy," Boonen said in a team press release. "Not a lot of riders can reach this goal. The race was also important for the GC. Levi and Sylvain [Chavanel] made a good step ahead and we are really motivated for the next stages."

The team had to go on the defensive when the peloton split in the crosswinds at the feed zone just halfway through the stage, and worked to successfully regain the front of the race as other contenders like Andy Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan), Richie Porte (Sky) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) all missed the split. They then had the numbers in the front group, and drove the pace to the finish, putting 2:29 into the next group on the road.

"To be honest we had to suffer to enter in the breakaway. We were a little bit behind because of a roundabout," Boonen said. "I had to pass two groups before entering in the first group. Then the race was really hard. Everybody was interested in riding and taking some time from the GC. It was also cold and windy and in the last kilometers it began raining. I really couldn't feel my hands."

The only downside for the team was the absence of defending Paris-Nice champion Tony Martin from the lead group, but directeur sportif Brian Holm said it won't change the team's tactics.

"It's still a bit of the same," Holm said. "It will be a bit more hilly tomorrow at the finish, but Tom is still pretty good there. Chavanel will be close in the GC without an accident or crash, and Leipheimer is looking pretty confident also. We are a strong team, everybody knows that."

The truth or an excuse?

Schleck: Paris-Nice time trial was too early and too short

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/schleck-paris-nice-time-trial-was-too-early-and-too-short)

Andy Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) lost over a minute in the opening time trial of Paris-Nice, but the Luxembourg rider claimed that the 9.4km test was too short and too early in the season to offer a reliable indicator of his progress against the watch.

Time trialling has long been the glaring Achilles heel in Schleck’s armoury and he lost the yellow jersey in the penultimate day time trial of last year’s Tour de France. In spite of his insistence that he has trained assiduously on his time trial bike since the arrival of Johan Bruyneel as manager, the fruits of their labour were not in evidence in Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse on Sunday.

“I didn’t have such a good feeling in my legs today but don’t take this as a reference,” Schleck told his team’s website. “This is my first big competition of the season.”

Schleck finished the day in 142nd place, 1:01 down on winner Gustav Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM). The 26-year-old explained that he began well on the course’s early climb, but struggled to keep a big gear turning over thereafter.

“On the top of the climb I had same time as Maxime [Monfort, who was 15th – ed.] but then I didn’t have the forces to push the big gear. This was a TT for the big engines. This is not a real test for me. The distance was too short and it’s too, too early.”

Schleck’s brother Fränk fared little better, coming home 54 seconds down in 121st place. Their teammate Andreas Klöden was among the last riders to start, just as the rain began to fall, and he took few risks in the treacherous conditions to finish 36 seconds behind Larsson.

Nonetheless, Bradley Wiggins (Sky) also had to perform on rain-soaked roads, but the Briton put in a fine showing to finish just one second off Larsson’s winning time. RadioShack-Nissan directeur sportif Alain Gallopin expects Wiggins to be the man to beat over the remainder of the week.

“Wiggins showed that he is the big favourite of the race,” he said. “Without the rain he would have won by 15-20 seconds.”

Paris-Nice, Stage 1

March 4, Stage 1: Dampierre-en-Yvelines - Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse 9.4km

Paris-Nice: Gustav Erik Larsson takes opening stage

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/paris-nice-2012/stage-1/results)

Gustav Erik Larsson (Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling) won the opening stage of the 2012 Paris-Nice with a time of 11:19 in the 9.4km time trial from Dampierre-en-Yvelines to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse.

The Swedish national time trial champion beat Sky’s Bradley Wiggins by one second with Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) finishing four seconds back. World time trial champion and last year’s winner of Paris-Nice, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), lacked his usual cutting edge and finished in 28th place, 25 seconds down on Larsson.

"Of course I am very happy with the win," said Larrson. "It was a great course and the season started well for me. A great bonus when winning a prologue are all the jerseys and the lead in the general classification. I will work hard to defend that lead."

Vacansoleil-DCM directeur sportif Hilaire Van Der Schueren was pleased with Larrson's performance, noting that for the second straight year his team has won the opening stage at Paris-Nice. "I am really happy with this win after a lot of second places in the early season. Due to the weather we divided our time trial specialists over the schedule and that worked out fine. Last year it was De Gendt with his first win for his new team and now Larsson rewards the confidence of the team with a great win."

Alexandre Geniez (Project 1t4i) was the first rider out of the start house, kicking off the 70th edition of Paris-Nice. But the first significant time was posted by Thomas De Gendt, who rocketed up the 3rd category climb of the Côte des Dix-sept Tournants. The Belgian’s time was so impressive on the climb that he will wear the king of the mountains jersey on stage 2.

The likes of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Ivan Basso (Liquigas Cannondale) all came through the finish line without disturbing the leading names but it was Larrson who eventually dislodged De Gendt from the leaderboard, wit the Belgian falling to fifth by the end of the stage.

Wiggins, Martin and the evergreen Andreas Kloden were yet to start but just as all three began their march to the start house the heavens began to open. It was far from torrential but Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) were the last significant challengers to make it home before the road conditions were effected.

Wiggins started his effort conservatively, reaching the climb five seconds down on De Gendt but one second ahead of Larsson, and five ahead of Tony Martin.

The Brit pulled even further ahead of Martin in the second half of the undulating course, as the German faded on the slick roads.

But Larrson, the silver medal in the Worlds TT in 2009, had done enough. A combination of dry roads and fine riding, enough to secure his first win for his new team.

Full Results

1	Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM	0:11:19
2	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:01
3	Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quick Step	0:00:04
4	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:09
5	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM	0:00:12
6	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
7	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:13
8	Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
9	Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Bigmat	0:00:15
10	Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur-Sojasun