Happy Birthday Frank!!

The first photo was taken from http://www.schleck.nl/ ,a very nice website (Thanks Rina for pointing it out!!),while the second one comes from Eurosport.

Paris-Roubaix:Boonen!!!!

So,here I am again.Lots of things have happened in the last few days,and in this post I'm going to talk about Paris-Roubaix,Vuelta al Paìs Vasco and Klasika Primavera.

First of all,on Sunday there was Paris-Roubaix,the queen of the classics.And in P-R,just like in Tour of Flanders,this year’s winner was the same winner of last year.And last year’s Roubaix’s winner was mr.Tom Boonen.
In my opinion,good and bad luck played a very important role in yesterday’s race.For example, Big George Hincapie’s chances were ruined by a flat tyre,while Martin Maaskant fell in the forest of Arenberg (fortunately he managed to finish the race).
But good luck (or bad luck,it depends on the point of view) was really evident (in my opinion) on Le Carrefour de l'Arbre,one of the last pavé’s sectors.Before of that,some of the strongest riders (Quinziato,Haussler,Fab Cancellara) had already been dropped by a 6 men group formed by Hoste,Van Summeren, Flecha, Boonen, Hushovd and,for Sansen’s joy,Pozzato.But,right on Le Carrefour de l'Arbre,“Van der Flecha”,Hoste and Van Summeren crashed.After few seconds,also Thor Hushovd crashed and so Tornado Tom found himself alone at the front of the race and gave his best to make Pozzato stay behind.After a great effort,Tom Boonen arrived in Roubaix's velodrome and was able to win his 3rd Paris-Roubaix.Chapeau.
Second came Pozzato,while third was Hushovd.Best SB’s rider was Matti Breschel,10th.
Now,you won’t believe it but,during the final kms of the race,I was really worried about what Miss Sansen would have said if HGS had won the race.Because if HGS had won the race,I would have had to post a photo of him,and writing his name on Google just to look at his photos would have been pretty frightening for me.
Btw,I must admit that Pozzato raced well yesterday.Or,at least,he raced better than usual.And then he didn’t blame anyone for his second place.Perhaps he's really getting better.
Keeping on talking about yeserday's race,you might have heard that a motorbike driven by a man of the organisation ran over 16 supporters.Fortunately,none of them needs to undergo any operation and they're all fine (even if a girl of 4 year-old broke a collarbone).
Btw,here’s the GC:
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step 6.15.53 (42.343 km/h)
2 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha 0.47
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 1.17
4 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence-Lotto
5 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Silence-Lotto 1.22
6 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Rabobank 2.14
7 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 3.13
8 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 3.15
9 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 5.00
10 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank 5.29
16 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Saxo Bank
17 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Team Milram
30 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team Saxo Bank
32 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
38 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence-Lotto
44 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - Highroad
45 Lars Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank
48 Kasper Klostergaard (Den) Team Saxo Bank 6.45
49 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 6.48
55 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 11.11
62 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia - Highroad
84 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank
92 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas
94 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 17.46
98 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream

Let's now talk about Vuelta al Paìs Vasco: the GC of the race was won by Contador,just like the last stage (that was a TT).
Frank Schleck had to retire because he had a light cold and didn’t want things to get worse.
Anyway,the nicest thing about this race (in my not-very-important opinion) was Pinotti’s win.He's a rider I really do like,he comes from my same area,writes articles for the local newspaper during the Giro,pays a lot of attention to ecology,has a degree and speaks Italian,English and German (and probably also a bit of our local dialect :D).Btw he's not a “too serious guy”.In fact,he loves the books about shopping (and shopaholics!) written by Sophie Kinsella! In few words,he's a very nice guy.
Klasika Primavera::this race was finally won by Valverde,but the thing who I care more about is Andy Schleck's retire.In fact Andy got retired and,absolutely worrying thing,I can’t understand why!!!! On SB’s team there isn’t any news at all,on Cyclingnews “idem”.Now,my suppositions (is this a word?) are:
1.he was cold (it was raining) and didn’t want to go on (even if that’s not typic of Andy).
2.he was cold and had a light cold so decided to retire because he didn’t want things to go worse.
3.the most worring case:his knee (or his Achilles tendine or whatever else) is still giving him problems.
Have you got any other suppositions??

NB:pretty photos of the Schlecks on these links:
Frank: http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/primavera09/fschleck
Andy: http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/primavera09/andyschleck
Is this Frank or Andy?:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos.php?id=/photos/2009/apr09/primavera09/andyschleckumbrella

(Photos by Gazzetta-Ap,Ap,Reuters).

Gand Wevelgem: Boasson-Hagen!

Well,finally I'm on holiday.And being on holiday during the Classics' period is a really nice thing.That's why yesterday,as soon as I came home (and after having eaten a good dish of pasta...) I placed myself in front of the television in order to watch Gand-Wevelgem.
The big favourite of the race was Cavendish,but he was out of games after a few kms.In fact just 10 kms after the start of the race,a group formed by about 30 men gained advantadge on the other riders. In the front group there was also Fab Fab,who punctured and lost contact from the other 30 riders.He eventually arrived 85th,10 minutes after the winner.
During the second passage on the Kemmelberg,Kuschinsky attacked and was then joined by peloton pretty Edvald Boasson-Hagen.The two riders managed to arrive at the finish line alone and the winner was decided by a two men sprint.Sprint that was won by the young norwegian rider.
Third came SB's rider Matthew Goss,who arrived at the finish line together with Matthew Hayman and Andreas Klier.The other men who formed the front group arrived at the finish line 2 minutes after the winner.Between them there was also Matti Breschel,who got 15th.

99 riders got retired because of the wind and of the rain.Between them there was also Hair Stallion Gel.In fact humidity can cause damages to hair and so HGS (Hair Gel Stallion) has proably decided to retire in order to preserve his amazing hair and,maybe,he's also been able to go to the hairdresser as soon as he arrived in the hotel.Other riders like Boonen,Cavendish and Fab Fab instead concluded the race (and were very nice to do that,in my opinion).

I must say I was really happy about yesterday's podium because: 1.Boasson Hagen is a very talented and young rider,and I really like seeing young riders win important races. 2.As soon as he crossed the finish line,Kuschinsky said he really wanted to win the race in order to dedicate the victory to people of Abruzzo (Italy).In fact,as you may know,in Abruzzo there was a very strong earthquake that killed more than 250 people (and that left many many other people without a home).I think it was very nice of him to think about what happened. 3.I like Matthew Goss because he's young and talented (and also has nice blue eyes).

Btw,let's now talk about Paris-Roubaix: personally I hope that on Sunday it will be raining on Roubaix's streets.In fact, cobblestone + rain + cycling = spectacular race.And,between the people who hope that on Sunday it will rain,there aren't just Bulbarelli,Cassani,my uncle and I,but also a certain Fabian Cancellara...And,according to Italian chronists (Bulbarelli and Cassani),on Sunday it SHOULD rain.

Vuelta al Paìs Vasco:Contador won yesterday's stage and also took the leader jersey.Frank got 16th while Andy was 31st.Best SB rider was Jakob Fuglsang (13th).

Kirchen's last prediction: "They (the Schleck brothers) will not finish in the top 10 at the Tour":

I'm a bit in a hurry,so I'll just write a few lines.I've just read an interview with Kim Kirchen (http://www.dailypeloton.com/displayarticle.asp?pk=14503 ) in which KK (Kim Kirchen,not King Kong) talks about different things.For example,he says that when he was racing in De Nardi team (just like Frank) he used to live in Treviso (Does anybody know if he and Frank used to live together?).
Btw,the thing that I noticed the most was KK's answer to a question about Frank's chances to win this year's Tour: "Frank is not that good in the time-trial and will probably lose a bit of time there. They (the question actually involved the only Frank,so I can't understand why KK says "they") will not finish in the top ten. They will lose maybe a minute behind Contador and Armstrong so it will be very difficult for them".
Well,I know that both the Schleck brothers aren't very good in TT,but I can't understand the "they will not finish in the top ten" sentence.Perhaps KK should look back at last year,where Frank did much better than he in TdF's GC...

NB:Today's stage at Vuelta al Paìs Vasco was won by Yuri Trofimov.Andy came 31st while Frank was 39th.They both ended in the main group together with all the other big names of the race (and all the other Saxo Bank riders).

The Schleck brothers about Pays Basque:

A day after Devolder's wonderful victory,here I am again writing a post.Today starts the Vuelta al Paìs Vasco and so I've found a little article in German (http://www.wort.lu/wort/web/sport/artikel/14489/test-der-tour-favoriten.php) with some statements of the Schleck brothers about that race.I've translated it "ohne Worterbuech",das heisst "without vocabulary",but I think my translation should be decent.Here it is:

6 stages,34 climbs and great riders.Today starts the 49. Edition of Vuelta al Paìs Vasco.The two Schleck brothers are taking part in the race together with other top riders like Alberto Contador (last year’s winner),Samuel Sanchez,Luis Leon Sanchez,Carlos Sastre,Antonio Colom,Vladimir Karpets,Damiano Cunego,Robert Gesink,David Zabriskie (!),Cadel Evans,Thomas Dekker,Linus Gerdeman and Juan José Cobo.
Also the names of the Schleck brothers are on the starting list,but if they’ll be able (and if they'll want) to win the GC,that’s written in some other place.The thoughts of the brothers in fact are all about the Ardenne’s classics-Amstel Gold Race,Fleche Wallone and Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi.
“You have to wait to see how the situation here at Paìs Vasco evolves.On paper,winning the race this year seems harder than in the past.Anyway the race is actually suitable to climbers,and we have some skills too in that area.”,says Frank Schleck.
After Criterium International,he said: “In the past I’ve showed that my placement in the GC of Paìs Vasco gets better day after day and I’ve never been very distant from winning.If I have the chance to get a top result,I’ll try catching it.This race is perfect if you want to arrive in good form at the Ardenne’s classics.You have to struggle and your form surely improves".
And his younger brother Andy continues: “Vuelta al Paìs Vasco will be useful to build my form.I’ll test myself and I hope to gain some confidence for the Ardenne’s classics.Maybe I can get a win or some other good result there”.

Saxo Bank's team for Vuelta al Paìs Vasco: A.Schleck,F.Schleck,C.A.Sorensen,N.Sorensen,Larsson,Fuglsang,Kolobnev,Van Goolen.

(Photo by Serge Waldbillig).

Tour of Flanders:Devolder!!!!!

So,the first of the Northern Classics,Tour of Flanders,has come and gone.And the winner wasn’t Pozzato.At a certain point of the race he made a good attack on a wall,and so I said to myself:”This time you’ll really have to put a photo of him on your blog,dear (It may sound silly,but this was my first thought) so you'd better get ready to do that!".Fortunately for me,I could avoid to search Pozzato's photos through the Internet thanks to Stijn Devolder,who won the race for the second time in his career.I really do like that rider and his team,Quick Step,made a simply perfect race.Everybody thought Boonen would have been the team’s leader,and instead Devolder was free to trace his way on to his second consecutive winning of this great classic.Chapeau.
When I turned my television on,there was a breakaway with Hoste,Guesdon (who won a Paris-Roubaix some years ago),Chavanel,Quinziato and Bandiera.Sooner or later,I’d love to see Hoste winning the Tour of Flanders.In fact I think that arriving second at the Tour of Flanders for three times must be very annoying (especially for a Belgian rider).
Anyway,at a certain point Chavanel and Quinziato left all the others behind and,after some kms,they were joined by Devolder.Then,on the Grammont,the Quick Step rider attacked and dropped his two companions and managed to arrive alone on the finish,just like he did in 2008.

The chasing trio (formed by Quinziato,Chavanel and a surprising Van Hecke) was then reeled by the peloton (I would have liked to see Quinziato on the podium,so I wasn’t really happy),that sprinted for second place.Haussler anticipated everyone and came second (just like in Milan-Sanremo),while third came Gilbert.During the sprint there was a bad crash that involved Gregory Rast and Greg Van Avermaet.4th came Maaskant (yep!) while Pozzato arrived 5th.
The first rider of SB,Breschel,arrived 6th.Fabian Cancellara's chances for the day ended when he broke his chain.First, he walked up the rest of the hill,then he turned around and rode halfway back down to collect his chain,which he hung around his neck as a sort of souvenir.Hopefully he’ll be luckier in the rest of the season.

What the riders said after the race:
Devolder: “ This is unbelievable. I've lived up to this race for so long and I encountered a lot of bad luck.I worked hard with all the people that kept believing in me. said I would win and I did it.It was very weird race. I was able to join [Tom] Boonen and [Filippo] Pozzato after the Berendries,and then I pulled through toward the leaders.I recovered,and on the Muur, played my last card.I'm planning to stay focused on this race during the next few years as the Ronde van Vlaanderen remains the most important race of the year for me.While crossing the finish line,I pointed a finger to the sky.It’s for Frederik (Nolf):I promised this to him,his death changed my way to see life.In one minute you can lose everything.”
Haussler:"I didn't have the legs today.In the end I was going to ride for Thor, but he told me to attack, so I went."
Boonen:“Pozzato was my shadow.Everybody saw that we were killing each other. I couldn't drop him, and he couldn't drop me. When we attacked, we distanced everybody, but he didn't want to continue. So for me, the door was closed, but it opened the door for Stijn and Sylvain (Chavanel)."
Pozzato: “Boonen was the strongest, compliments to the Quick Step team.I felt well,but not as well as in La Panne.I tried to take Boonen as a reference point,he was the strongest. Unfortunately it didn’t work.”

Classification:
1 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step 6.01.04 (43,455 km/h)
2 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Cervelo Test Team 0.59
3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Silence-Lotto
4 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Slipstream
5 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha
6 Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank
7 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia - Highroad
8 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team
9 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale
10 Bert De Waele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet - Colnago
14 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank
20 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
27 Leif Hoste (Bel) Silence-Lotto
31 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 1.08
32 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas 1.11
33 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Rabobank 1.14
34 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - Highroad 1.44
35 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence-Lotto 3.02
57 Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto 6.45
66 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Team Columbia - Highroad
67 Matthew Goss (Aus) Team Saxo Bank
92 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team Saxo Bank 13.53
109 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team Saxo Bank
110 Kasper Klostergaard Larsen (Den) Team Saxo Bank

Links:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/apr09/rvv09/?id=results :report,results and a video of the race’s finish.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009/apr09/rvv09/?id=/riders/2009/interviews/stijn_devolder_rvv09 :interview post-race with Devolder.

NB:Tomorrow starts the Tour du Pays Basque,with Frank,Andy,Contador and many other riders.On Saturday Andy arrived 28th in GP Indurain,while Frank arrived 30th.The race was won by De La Fuente in front of Kolobnev.

Pozzato winning two races,Tour of Flanders' starting list,interview with Jens Voigt and other random things:

So,here's a random post abut some random things...Hope you enjoy it!
First of all,Pozzato won the first stage of Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde (is this the correct name?) and E3 Prijs Vlaanderen.Will he manage to win the Tour of Flanders this year? Well,if he does I'll probably have to post a photo of him here on this blog,so you'd better prepare yourself to what could happen on Sunday ;)

And then,talking about Tour of Flanders,here's a little start list taken from Cyclingnews's website:
Quick Step:Devolder,Boonen,S.Chavanel,Tosatto (strong team,isn't it?)

AG2R La Mondiale:Elmiger,Pineau,Rosseau,Hinault (isn't it funny to read those last 3 names one after the other?)
Astana:Bazayev,Iglinsky,Rast.
Silence-Lotto:Gilbert,Hoste,Lang,Van Avermaet,Van Summeren (pretty strong team as well).
Bouygues Telecom:Pichot.
Caisse d'Epargne:Garcia Acosta,Ivan Gutierrez,Lastras,Rojas Gil.
Cofidis:Duque,Usov,Duclos-Lassalle.
Euskaltel:Koldo Fernandez,Andoni Lafuente.
Francais des Jeux:Geslin,Sulzberger.
Fuji-Servetto: Capelli (Yip de do da day!!),Nardello.
Garmin-Slipstream: Cozza,Farrar,Frischkorn,Maaskant (watch out!),Sutton,Tuft.
TEAM SAXO BANK:Arvesen,Bak,Breschel,Cancellara,Hoj,Kroon, Klostergaard,Ljungqvist.
Colnago: Bert De Waele (is he a relative of Tim?).
Topsport Vlaanderen: Goddaert,Kristof Van De Walle.
Barloworld:Caccia,Calcagni,Hunter,Longo Borghini,Scognamiglio.
Cervélo:Haussler,Hushovd,KlierLancaster.
Skill-Shimano:Lemoine.
Vacansoleil:Cooke,Leukemans.
Vorarlberg.
Will Hair Gel Man win sunday's race or will someone beat him? We'll discover it between some days...(me hopes in a surprise by Capelli,Langeveld or Maaskant...Your hopes?)

Funny interview with Jens Voigt:
Recently I've found this interview with Jens Voigt.I think it's a very strange one and that some questions would be perfect to be asked to Pozzato,but not to Herr Voigt of Voigtland.To encourage you to read this interview,here's the first (I'm not joking,it's really the first) question that the interviewer asked to the winner of 5 Criterium International:
At the AMGEN Tour of California, one thing that I noticed is that your skin just glows from your fitness. You don’t look like the usual 37 year old, you look like you are about 25.The thing is, I have been riding for forty years and my skin shows a lot of premature skin aging. I wonder what you put on your skin to protect yourself. You are out in the sun 6-7 hours a day, what is it that you guys do?
If you'd like to read the rest of this interview,here's the link: http://uscyclingreport.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1422&Itemid=1 .The second part of the interview is on this other link (and is ALL about AMGEN Tour of California): http://uscyclingreport.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1425&Itemid=38 .

News about Saxo Bank:Talking again about Saxo Bank:Karsten Kroon will be the leader in Ronde van Vlaanderen.In fact Fab Fab is not in good form yet and so Kroon will be the sole leader at the race."We have to count on Karsten Kroon in the Ronde," said ds Michaelsen. "Matti Breschel is not yet on his best form. Kurt-Asle Arvesen won last year in Harelbeke, but now it's a little different. He'll be turning his wheels to get some racing kilometres into his legs, I think."About Fab Fab:"He knows the course and can add a ton of experience to the team. He is a rider who looks beyond his own ambitions. If he's not great, he hasn't got a problem putting himself at the service of a teammate who has a winning chance. Like two years ago in Paris-Roubaix, where [Stuart] O'Grady won." And here's what Kroon said: "I can dream of victory, although I know that it will be immensely difficult. If I'm on the podium in Meerbeke I will be overjoyed. The amount of spectators and their enthusiasm make it the most beautiful course! There is nothing that matches climbing the Kapelmuur with the best. It gives you goose bumps on your arms. Even if it rains and the wind blows – it makes the whole thing just more heroic.Last year, we had the wind in our sails. It just flowed, from Tirreno to the Tour to the Olympic Games. You have to know when to enjoy it, but also realise that it can't always be like that.I think it's great that Bjarne Riis reacts very calmly now that it's not going so well. I don't understand Silence-Lotto at all. Already after Kuurne [on March 1 - ed.] they panicked. That's not the way to go with a team."
"The difference with last season is big," Michaelsen said. "We're not so happy with it, but that's just the way it goes in life sometimes. ... Patience is the word of order..."

Again about SB: here's an article http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=/tech/2009/news/03-30 about the bikes that the riders will be using during the Northern Classic.

Latest doping news: CONI has requested a 2 years ban for Valverde.
Photos: 1st and 3rd photos by AFP;photo 2 (Voigt) by Celia Cole.