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Addressing comments HTC-Columbia star sprinter Mark Cavendish made last week about his teammate Andre Greipel, team owner Bob Stapleton told VeloNews “they’ll handle it personally.”

Standing outside the HTC-Columbia team bus at the Paris-Roubaix start line in Compiegne, Bob Stapleton told VeloNews he’d spoken with both men after Cavendish’s comments ran in The Guardian last week.

Cavendish had choice words about his teammate, the German sprinter who has expressed displeasure about being overlooked for the team’s Tour de France squad, which he has never started. Among Cav’s statements were, “me on bad form is still better than him,” and “there’s no chance whatsoever that he’s coming to a bike race that I’m in.”

Stapleton clearly wasn’t happy about the infighting. “These are competitive guys, and I think they should focus their attention on the bike,” he said. “I think any ambitions they’ve got, they’ll handle it personally.”

From 2008 to 2009, Greipel won 34 races. Only Cavendish had more, with 40.

Greipel started the 2008 season with an overall win at the Tour Down Under and finished the season with 14 wins. His 2009 season began with a shoulder injury at the Tour Down Under, but he went on to take 20 wins in just 76 days of racing. This year “Andre the Giant” has won stages at the Tour Down Under and Volta a Algarve; on Sunday he won the prologue of the Tour of Turkey, and on Monday he won the opening stage’s field sprint.

After a promising 2008 season, Cavendish emerged in 2009 as the top sprinter in the sport, winning Milan-San Remo and six Tour stages. But his 2010 season has been marred by a tooth infection that kept him off the bike. He went uncharacteristically winless in his season debut at Ruta del Sol, and lost to Theo Bos at the Clásica de Almería. In March he withdrew from the Vuelta Catalunya after taking his first win of the season. Cavendish crashed twice at Milan-San Remo in March, and did not finish the Tour of Flanders after a crash damaged his bike.

Stapleton acknowledged that in Cavendish and Greipel he’s got two of the sport’s top sprinters on his squad, adding that both are world-class athletes accustomed to winning.

“You’ve got guys who are trying to do things. Mark wants to get back in shape, he’s super competitive, and sometimes that shows up in ways that are less desirable,” Stapleton said. “He’s said it himself: ‘When I’ve got my helmet on, don’t listen to me.’ So I’d kind of put it in that camp.”

So far this season, the two men have not raced together. Looking ahead, Greipel is slated to ride the Giro d’Italia, while Cavendish, against his desires, has been pegged for the Amgen Tour of California.

Team management hasn’t announced its Tour de France long list, but after Cav’s six stage wins and run at the green jersey last year, it’s a no-brainer that the Manx Missile will be on the start line in Rotterdam in July. Given Cav’s statements, Greipel’s inclusion isn’t so certain.

Asked if, as Cavendish said, the two sprinters would not race together, Stapleton answered: “They’re going to race as teammates whenever they’re called upon to do that. It doesn’t make sense for us to put two top sprinters together in a lot of cases. We’ve got multiple races to do, that we plan to win.

“If we see them together, I’m sure they’ll work together, but I do think it’s unlikely; most of the time we have multiple races, multiple calendars, and I think it makes the most sense to go and win both of those races. We’ve got two of the winningest guys in the sport.”

Stapleton acknowledged that Greipel’s contract with the team ends this year. Asked if he’d like to keep Greipel on the squad given the growing rift between the two sprinters, Stapleton answered, “We’d like to keep all of our quality riders, and Andre is a guy we’ve had for a few years, he’s grown well in the program. I think very highly of him.”

As for Greipel’s expressed sentiment that he has been appointed second fiddle to Cavendish, Stapleton said: “I think people pump that up a lot. Andre likes to win, and he gets good team support.

“He had good support at the Tour Down Under, a race he’s very popular at, and he did very well. He’s going to have good team support at the Giro, and I think he’ll do very well there. He had good support at the Vuelta where he did very well. So I think we are a big enough and strong enough team to support multiple races and multiple riders. If we can’t do that, then the management hasn’t done a very good job.”

Fabian Cancellara wants to savor his history Flanders-Roubaix double, but Saxo Bank boss Bjarne Riis says Spartacus should keep on truckin’ toward Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Cancellara roared into the history books Sunday, becoming just the 10^th rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year. After a heavy spring racing schedule, Cancellara wanted nothing more than to have a party and take a break.

Riis, however, says Cancellara shouldn’t walk away from an historic opportunity.

“Fabian is on the form of his life and I think he should race at Amstel and Liège,” Riis said Sunday. “I think he could win Liège.”

Riis said he will not force Cancellara to race the Ardennes classics, but left the option on the table for his prolific Swiss rider.

“Fabian is a special rider and I’ve never worked with a rider like him before,” Riis said. “He has tremendous capacity and there’s still a lot he can do. Some day he will do the hour record, but nothing is set for now. Why not Liège? He can get up hills like that because he is so powerful.”

Cancellara has mentioned that he’d like to win all five of cycling’s so-called monuments. He’s already bagged three, with victories in Milan-San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix. Liège and Giro di Lombardia, two races that favor skinnier climbers, are all that remain to complete the rare quintet.

Cancellara is scheduled to take a short break before returning for the Tour of California.

Saxo Bank, meanwhile, has a strong arsenal waiting in the wings for the Ardennes classics, led by the Schleck brothers and a powerful team to back them up in the hilly classics.

Cancellara did not want to hear anything about the Ardennes, at least not on Sunday, in the post-Roubaix euphoria that came in the wake of his second cobblestone trophy.

“I just want to relax right now and enjoy this moment. I have to take some time to realize what I have achieved,” Cancellara said. “It’s been a long three weeks (since Milan-San Remo) and I want to do now is celebrate this victory with my teammates. It’s a special group of guys for the cobblestone races and we’ve been working together for a long time for this. At Amstel and Liège, it’s a different group of riders and a different feeling.”

Cancellara vows one day to make a run for the Ardennes with special preparation and training, but Riis says he shouldn’t shut the door on the best form of his career.

The cycling world will see how good Riis’s persuasive powers are later this week.

11-Apr-2010: Cervélo TestTeam’s Thor Hushovd (NOR) finished second today in the 108th edition of Paris Roubaix. Teammate Roger Hammond (GBR) came in fourth. The winner, Swiss champion Fabian Cancellera (Saxo Bank) rode solo into the velodrome at Roubaix finishing two minutes ahead of Hushovd and Juan Flecha (ESP-Team Sky), who took third.

“In the team meeting we agreed we needed someone in the break,” explained Roger Hammond. “There were four of our guys jumping around and they did a great job and then Jeremy Hunt (GBR) got in the break and we were nice and relaxed except in the back of my mind this means we’re with the big guys and we have to go when they go. Fortunately with the help of all the other guys we were protected and that meant Thor and I were able to follow when they really went.

“Then I was hoping to open up the race early and make Boonen and Cancellera commit. But Cancellera was isolated, he was on his own basically in the front so I started attacking early but they also started following me really early. Cancellera was unbelievable, he was on a different planet, and we realized we had to ride for second directly. So we started racing for second once he was on his own. I mean to get second and fourth is not bad really, if you take Cancellera out of the equation we got first and third.”

“I think we cancelled the bad luck that we had last month and it as really nice to see the team performing like we know they can,” said Jean-Paul van Poppel, sport director. “We were already good at Milan–San Remo. We had three targets for the classics, Milan San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix, and if I can be honest, though the team performed in all of them super well, I think this is the race that fits us best. Even without Andreas (GER-Klier) and Heinrich (Ger-Haussler) here, we still had a great team today. Everything went according to plan. What can you do about Cancellera? He had a super day again we saw him like this in the world championships time trial and other times and we expected him but we still are focused on the long race.

“At the start we wanted someone in the breakaway who could wait at the end and get these guys up and work with them, that was Jeremy, he is fantastic, he has a nose for this. He went with nineteen riders in the forest of Arenburg and is still with the nine that are left and after that he waited for our riders and helped them when they needed it. In the deep final we just had Thor and Roger and from Roger we had a great performance. Thor we knew he was coming. The past week was a bit unlucky but today he was there. I think he is almost 100% and second is a good place to get, I think he is happy with it. And you can see Roger got 4th, Jeremy got 18th and overall that makes us the most dominant team in the race and that makes us really proud.”

“I feel like I’m getting back to my old self,” said Thor Hushovd after today’s race. “ Roger and Jeremy Hunt (GBR), the whole team did a fantastic job today keeping pace at the front. I was really, really tired at the end but I managed to edge out Flecha.”

108th Paris-Roubaix: Compiègne – Roubaix 259km

1 Fabian Cancellara (SUI) Saxo Bank
2 Thor Hushovd (NOR) Cervélo TestTeam
3 Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) Sky Professional Cycling Team
4 Roger Hammond (GBR) Cervélo TestTeam

Prior to Tyler Farrar’s win at the G.P. Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, VeloNews had a seat in the Garmin-Transitions car riding along with the team’s director, Australian Matt White. Over the squawk of race radio we talked about the team’s squad for Paris-Roubaix, Farrar’s development as a world-class sprinter, and White’s role in developing a pipeline for Australian riders to enter the ProTour ranks. Here’s a listen.

VeloNews: Did you ever compete in this race (G.P. Scheldeprijs) as a professional?

Matt White: Nope, this was actually my first time to Antwerp. Nice city.

VN: How do you rate the team’s performance over the past week — going back first to Three Days of De Panne and then to the Tour of Flanders?

MW: Well obviously we couldn’t be happier with De Panne. We won the overall, and had a stage win for David Millar and a stage win for Tyler Farrar. It was a good way to prepare for Flanders. Dave had a good ride at Flanders and was a bit unlucky to not come away with any results for himself, but once he was caught he jumped in and helped out and led Tyler to a fifth-place finish. I couldn’t be happier with how Flanders went; Tyler was the best of the rest, winning the bunch sprint, and Dave figured in the crucial parts of the race.

VN: Before the race you said Martijn Maaskant and Johan Van Summeren were the team’s cards to play.

MW: It’s always good to have a bit of depth. When you’re looking at the form after De Panne, Tyler was always going to be there, it was a matter of just how big of a group would he be sprinting against. Last year it was sprinting for third, this year it was sprinting for fifth.

VN: The team took some lumps during the race — Martijn, Tyler, Svein Tuft and Steven Cozza all hit the deck. What were the injuries like?

MW: Yeah, we had a few guys touch down. Martijn hit a crack in the middle of the road while he was talking to the team car and lost control; he took three stitches to his elbow. Tyler went crashed twice, the second time into the back of a car, and thought about throwing in the towel. Svein crashed and had a concussion. Cozza  … I’m not sure what happened with him, but it wasn’t too bad. But yeah, half of our original Paris-Roubaix team is gone. Matt Wilson has some fractured ribs from Ghent-Wevelgem. He didn’t know they were fractured until he hit the cobbles at Flanders. He went home and trained on good roads and didn’t know he’d broken his ribs until he hit the cobbles and everything locked up and he started having trouble breathing. Robbie Hunter has an Achilles’ problem. Murillo Fischer crashed at Milan-San Remo and broke his collarbone. And Svein has a concussion.

VN: Svein also crashed and hit his head at the Amgen Tour of California last year and had recurring headaches and dizziness. How much of a concern was this concussion?

MW: I think he’s okay. Of course every time a rider hits his head it’s a concern. For now we’ll just play it week by week.

VN: So which riders were called up for Roubaix?

MW: Danny Pate, Ricardo van der Velde and Julian — he wasn’t originally doing it.

VN: Ricardo van der Velde? He’s pretty young (23), and he’s pretty light (6-foot, 148 pounds).

MW: Yeah, that’s true, but he was also the Dutch national (junior) cyclocross champion. He won’t have any problem with the cobbles. He rode Ghent-Wevelgem with us, and he got through it. He’s only done four competition days with us this year, so he needs to race.

VN: I always thought of Matt Wilson as more of a stage racer.

MW: Nah, he can do anything. He’s ridden Paris-Roubaix five times.

VN: And Tyler’s okay? After Flanders he said he expected he’d be hurting pretty badly the next day.

MW: He’s fine. He crashed twice but he’s fine. The second time he didn’t think he would make it back to the bunch. He told the mechanic to put his bike on the rack. I said ‘What are you thinking man?’ It wasn’t a hard part of the race, and he was able to get back on. I think he feels more recovered now than he did after De Panne.

VN: So the team’s hopes still lie with Martijn and Johan for Roubaix?

MW: I think Millar and Tyler will be good for Roubaix. I expect all four guys to be in the mix Sunday. How much in the mix, time will tell.

VN: What did you think about Fabian’s ride at Flanders?

MW: Yeah, that was one of the most impressive rides I’ve seen in a while at Flanders, certainly in this current generation. He clearly had more left in the tank than Boonen, and was putting time into a 15-man chase group. He was a well-deserved winner.

VN: Were you surprised to see the two big favorites get away on the Molenberg like that?

MW: No one could react. If you aren’t on the wheel with those guys, good luck trying to get them back. I don’t think it will be too different this weekend. Flanders is a different, challenging course, but I think it will come down at Roubaix to when those guys go. And unless you are on the wheel, they’re gone. Paris-Roubaix is a different style of race — being on the wheel helps more, and some guys ride the cobbles better than others at races like Paris-Roubaix. And you can have a lot more bad luck at Paris-Roubaix.

VN: What about Filippo Pozzato? He’ll be back and should still be on good form.

MW: I expect Pozatto to be there, which is good for Boonen. Look at the ride Pozatto did at the E3 Prijs; he chased Boonen and Cancellara for 20km and held them at 20 seconds.

VN: When will we see your young Australian talent racing in Europe?

MW: Jack Bobridge and Travis Meyer start racing next week in Belgium. Cam Meyer is going to start with Liege-Bastogne-Liege. That’s not an easy one to start with. It’s one of the hardest one-day races on the calendar.

VN: At the world track championships last month, Cameron Meyer won three gold medals, in the points race, team pursuit and Madison. For those who don’t fully appreciate track racing, after just how big of a talent is he?

MW: Well, at the age of 22 he’s pretty much achieved all that you can on the track, at least at the worlds. He can’t do all that at the Olympics because they’ve taken so many events away. He’s spent the last three months on the track, now he can focus on the road. He’ll race the Giro with us.

VN: So you see him developing into a stage racer?

MW: Oh he’s definitely a GC rider. He can time trial and climb, and he’s very consistent. We’re definitely grooming him into a GC rider. He was already third overall at the Tour of Oman this year, behind Boason Hagen and Cancellara. Whether he’s the kind of guy that can win a stage race in Switzerland, France or Italy, who knows? He’s a special guy. At worlds, he won the points race not as sprinter, he just wins by being the most aggressive. He took a lap on the bunch with four guys, rested, then took another lap on his own.

VN: We all know that Fly V Australia wants to be the first Australian ProTour team, but for now, Garmin has the Australian talent pipeline.

MW: Yeah sure, obviously we’re further down the track than Fly V, and all the young kids want to be involved with a ProTour team. And we’ve got an agreement with Australian Cycling; I look after the guys, and they’re free to go back to their track commitments whenever they need to.

VN: May is important month for the team, with the Giro d’Italia and the Amgen Tour of California. What are the team’s goals at the Giro?

MW: To put Tyler in the leader’s jersey. Also to win the team time trial and some sprint stages. It starts with a prologue, which is probably better for a guy like David Millar or Bradley Wiggins, but Tyler can ride a pretty strong prologue. Then there are some sprints, the team time trial, and some more sprints. If Tyler can win a stage, and we can win the team time trial, it should put him in the jersey.

VN: And what about for California?

MW: Dave Zabriskie, for the GC. A podium for Dave at California is very realistic.

VN: Which riders are assured for which races?

MW: Ryder Hesjedal, Tom Danielson and Dave Zabriskie for California; Millar, Tyler and Christian Vande Velde for the Giro.

VN: How has Tyler’s confidence changed over the past year?

MW: Yeah, it’s really been about that long, since he took that win against Mark Cavendish at Tirreno-Adriatico. Twelve months ago he was a different athlete. I think the relationship with him and Julian has been a big part of it. He’s been coming up against the fastest men in the world. This year has been kind of a weird start, there have not been too many normal sprints; there’s always a finish circuit with a climb, or there hasn’t been a whole field at the final, besides Qatar and Oman. But Tyler has been super consistent, he’s just not been involved in some sprints, or he’s run second or third. I think with Het Volk, Flanders and Ghent-Wevelgem he’s shown he’s one of the fittest sprinters around. I think going into the Giro and the Tour with Julian, and more than likely with Robbie Hunter — he should be back in action for Romandie — it should be a good group we’ve got together.

VN: Any other news coming out of this year’s squad?

MW: One of the biggest revelations has been Michel Kreder. He was seventh at the Vuelta Catalunya, and third at the GP Miguel Indurain. That was a very impressive ride for 21-year old. It seems like at every race he’s bopping around places everywhere. He was the best young rider at Haut Var. He came from the Rabobank Pro Continental team. His younger brother rides for our U23 team. He’s a special one — he can climb, but he’s quite fast for a little guy.

Cute bit of fun from Cyclosm:

“The are no races,” Jacques Anquetil once quipped, “only lotteries.” And nowhere is that more true than this Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Broken steerer tubes, rogue freight trains, cartwheeling Norwegians—in an increasingly calculated sport, it’s a welcome change to see chance play such a prominent role.

See the game rules here and play along!

The legendary one day race takes place Sunday, April 11.

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1. Cyclocross
2. Charlotte mountain bike race
3. La Primavera – Milan San Remo

Led by RadioShack, Saxo Bank, Garmin-Transitions and HTC-Columbia, a total of 16 teams make up this year’s California peloton

The list of 16 teams attending the Amgen Tour of California is now final.

In all seven ProTour teams, two Pro Continental teams and seven Continental teams make up this year’s California peloton. Nine of the teams are registered in the U.S, while seven are foreign. This year’s race begins in Nevada City on Sunday, May 16, and ends just north of Los Angeles on Sunday, May 23.

As expected, three-time champion and Santa Rosa, California, resident Levi Leipheimer will look to defend the Golden State title that has come to help define his career. Leipheimer will enjoy the support of RadioShack teammates Lance Armstrong and Chris Horner, all racing on American soil for the first time in the colors of their new-for-2010 American sponsor. Armstrong finished the race seventh overall last year in his first road race in North America since announcing his retirement at the 2005 Tour de Georgia.

RadioShack will likely face its stiffest competition for the overall title from ProTour teams Saxo Bank, Garmin-Transitions and HTC-Columbia.

Saxo Bank brings reigning Olympic and world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara to California, as well as 2009 Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and veteran Jens Voigt, who finished second at the 2007 California race.

Five-time national time-trial champion Dave Zabriskie, winner of the 2009 Tour of Missouri, will lead the Garmin-Transitions squad. Zabriskie, who now makes his home in Los Angeles, has twice finished second overall in California, in 2006 and 2009. Top American Garmin riders Christian Vande Velde and Tyler Farrar are not expected; Vande Velde will race the overlapping Giro d’Italia, while Farrar will be recovering from a spring classics campaign and preparing for the Tour de France.

HTC-Columbia, owned by San Luis Obispo-based Bob Stapleton, brings top sprinter Mark Cavendish, winner of two stages in California last year, as well as blossoming German TT specialist Tony Martin and three-time world time-trial champion Michael Rogers, who finished seventh overall in 2007 and third overall in 2009.

Another rider contending for the overall is Liquigas rider Vincenzo Nibali, however the strength of his team support will be in question as his Italian squad focuses on rallying behind Ivan Basso at the Giro d’Italia. (more below)

Three-time U.S. national road champion George Hincapie, also a three-time stage winner in California, will lead the American-registered BMC Racing team. The team’s other marquee riders, world champion Cadel Evans and 2008 world champion Alessandro Ballan, will race in Italy.

Top sprinters from the European peloton include Quick Step’s Tom Boonen and Cervelo’s Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler. Hushovd won the first field sprint of last year’s edition; Boonen won a field sprint in California in 2008 and finished second to Cavendish twice last year.

Rabobank will bring recent Paris-Nice prologue winner Lars Boom as well as Juan Manuel Garate, winner of the Mont Ventoux stage of last year’s Tour de France. Three-time California best young rider Robert Gesink will not return in 2010, opting instead to prepare for the Tour de France at a training camp with 2009 Giro champ Denis Menchov. Rabobank’s three-time world champion and recent Milan-San Remo winner Oscar Freire is also not expected to return to California; the Spaniard raced in California in 2009 but was abandoned after a crash on stage 4 from Merced to Clovis.

A pair of UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis riders that once rode for Rabobank’s Pro Continental team, Rory Sutherland and Marc de Maar, may represent the best chance for a domestic Continental team to bring home a stage win. Sutherland has been close in California in the past, finishing second on stage 7 in 2008 and fourth on stage 8 last year; de Maar has not yet raced at the California tour.

Other U.S.-based domestic teams attending the race include Kelly Benefit Strategies, Team Type 1, Bissell and Jelly Belly-Kenda.

International teams that spend the bulk of their season racing in the U.S. that hope to make a mark on the race include the Australian team Fly V Australia, led by sprinters Jonathan Cantwell and Bernie Sulzberger, and the Canadian team SpiderTech-Planet Energy, led by sprinters Martin Gilbert and Ryan Roth.

Notable domestic teams that did not receive invitations include Jamis-Sutter Home, the top team on USA Cycling’s 2009 National Calendar Rankings, and Bahati Foundation, home to 2006 California winner Floyd Landis as well as Nathan O’Neill, who finished fifth overall that year.

Team	UCI Designation	Country	Keynote Riders
Saxo Bank	ProTour	Denmark	Andy Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt
Rabobank	ProTour	Netherlands	Lars Boom, Juan Manuel Garate
HTC-Columbia	ProTour	USA	Mark Cavendish, Michael Rogers, Tony Martin
Garmin-Transitions	ProTour	USA	David Zabriskie
RadioShack	ProTour	USA	Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner
Quick Step	ProTour	Belgium	Tom Boonen
Liquigas-Doimo	ProTour	Italy	Vincenzo Nibali
BMC Racing	Pro Continental	USA	George Hincapie
Cervelo TestTeam	Pro Continental	Switzerland	Thor Hushovd, Heinrich Haussler
UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis	Continental	USA	Rory Sutherland, Marc de Maar
SpiderTech-Planet Energy	Continental	Canada	Martin Gilbert, Ryan Roth
Fly V Australia	Continental	Australia	Jonathan Cantwell, Bernie Sulzberger
Jelly Belly-Kenda	Continental	USA	Brad Huff, Mike Friedman
Bissell	Continental	USA	Ben Jacques-Maynes, Jeremy Vennell
Team Type 1	Continental	USA	Javier Megias, Thomas Rabou, Aldo Ino Ilesic
Kelly Benefit Strategies	Continental	USA	Scott Zwizanksi, Andy Bajadali, Zach Bell

MEERBEKE, Belgium, April 4, 2010 (AFP) – Saxo Bank rider Fabian Cancellara ended Switzerland’s long wait for victory in the Tour of Flanders one-day classic Sunday with a superb solo attack 15km from the finish.

Belgium’s two-time winner Tom Boonen, of Quick Step, finished runner-up in the 261.5km epic at over a minute behind after being dropped on the steep pitches of the Grammont, the race’s penultimate cobbled climb.

Boonen Climbing With A Passion

Cancellara, only the second Swiss to win the biggest one-day race in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium after Henry Suter in 1923, thus claims his third cycling ‘Monument’ – of which only five exist – after his Milan SanRemo win in 2006 and his Paris-Roubaix triumph in 2008.

“When you win a race like Flanders, it’s history you’re making,” said the Swiss, who had time to pay tribute to his watching family by brandishing an Easter Sunday trinket to the television cameras three kilometers from the line.

Cancellara Wins Flanders 2010

Once again the 29-year-old showed that, apart from the major Tours and the toughest of the one-week stages races, there could be no limit to his winning potential.

The Olympic time trial champion and Boonen, the 2005 world road race champion, had the race virtually sewn up as they raced side by side with less than 20km to go and several pelotons well adrift in their wake.

However, Boonen’s reputation for being a faster sprinter condemned Cancellara into attacking before they made it to the home straight.

Boonen Working To Bring Back Spartacus

Early on the Grammont Cancellara looked to be feigning a brief bout of fatigue, only to hammer past Boonen. As Cancellara powered ahead sitting in the saddle, a dancing Boonen looked to be on the limit.

Cancellara’s time trial skills did the rest and soon had him well in front with only one climb, the Bosberg, to negotiate.

“With three kilometers to go, I knew the victory was in the bag,” said Cancellara, the reigning Swiss champion who is known, rather ominously for his rivals, as ‘Spartacus’ for his gladiator-like style on the bike.

Boonen, 29, fought valiantly but his deficit grew steadily and with only four kilometers to race he was already a minute behind.

He came over the finish line 1min 15sec in arrears to claim his second successive runner-up place in a one-day classic after he was beaten to victory in Milan-SanRemo by Spaniard Oscar Freire two weeks ago.

Boonen, who will be looking to go one better than his recent runner-up places at next week’s Paris-Roubaix, which he has won three times, was gracious in defeat.

“I was racing after him at 55 km/h, and he took a minute off me. What can I say? He was the strongest,” said the Belgian.

Belgian Philippe Gilbert finished third, the same as last year, with compatriot Bjorn Leukemans in fourth.

A first chasing peloton crossed the finish line over two minutes behind Cancellara.

Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, used the race to get a feel for the cobbles ahead of racing on similar terrain in July’s Tour de France.

Armstrong Staying Strong And Out Of Trouble

The American stayed out of danger in the notoriously treacherous roads to finish among a big peloton at 2:35.

1. Fabian Cancellara (SUI) Saxo Bank 6hr 25min 32sec
2. Tom Boonen (BEL/QST) at 1:15
3. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 2:11
4. Bjorn Leukemans (BEL/VAC) 2:15
5. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 2:35
6. George Hincapie (USA/BMC) 2:35
7. Roger Hammond (GBR/CTT) 2:35
8. Maxim Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 2:35
9. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 2:35
10. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 2:35
11. Johnny Hoogerland (NED/VAC) 2:35
12. Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL/KAT) 2:35
13. Mathew Hayman (AUS/SKY) 2:35
14. Lloyd Mondory (FRA/ALM) 2:35
15. Matti Breschel (DEN/SAX) 2:35
16. Bernhard Eisel (AUT/THR) 2:35
17. Steve Chainel (FRA/BTL) 2:35
18. Frederic Guesdon (FRA/FDJ) 2:35
19. Maarten Wynants (BEL/QST) 2:35
20. Marcus Burghardt (GER/BMC) 2:35
Selected:
25. Stijn Devolder (BEL/QST) 2:35.
27. Lance Armstrong (USA/RSH) 2:35.
29. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 2:35.
32. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 2:35.
34. Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP/SKY) 2:35.
35. Alessandro Ballan (ITA/BMC) 2:48.
57. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 5:13.
77. Lars Boom (NED/RAB) 13:20.
78. Michael Barry (CAN/SKY) 13:20.
91. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 13:20.
Note: 198 started, 95 finished.

Photos by: CorVos Pro

 Après Paris - Roubaix (2006) et Milan - San Remo (2008), Fabian Cancellara a ajouté dimanche un nouveau monument du...

If Fabian Cancellara is letting the pressure that comes with being named the favorite for the Tour of Flanders — one of the few one-day races the Swiss star has set out to win but not yet accomplished — he’s keeping the stress to himself.

The three-time world time trial champion, nicknamed “Spartacus” for his bold, gladiator style of racing, has wowed cycling fans over the past five seasons not just with his supernatural feats against the clock but also by attacking from select groups in the final kilometers of major races, repeatedly staving off his rivals to cross the finish line first, and alone.

It’s how the Saxo Bank rider won the 2008 Milan-San Remo, stage 3 of the 2007 Tour de France (in Compiegne, while wearing the maillot jaune), a pair of stages at the 2008 Tour de Susisse, and most recently the March 27 E3 Prijs Vlaanderen-Harelbeke. Cancellara also won Paris-Roubaix in 2006 on a late-race solo attack, launching out at 17km from the line.

His performance at the E3 Prijs, where he powered away from Tom Boonen and Juan Antonio Flecha in the final kilometer, has earned the current Swiss national champion the rare distinction of being anointed a heavy race favorite — ranked ahead of three men racing Sunday who have won Flanders.

Cancellara strolled into a press conference Friday evening at Saxo Bank’s hotel in Kortijk looking calm, cool and relaxed, pragmatic about his chances and confident in his team’s strength, while never once denying that he is a big favorite Sunday.

“For sure we will take responsibility of the race,” Cancellara said. “We won the two races here before the Ronde (the E3 Prijs and Matti Breschel’s win at the March 24 Dwars door Vlaanderen-Waregem) and I think it’s almost impossible to say ‘No, we’re not going to ride.’ But the when and how, that all depends on the wind, and the weather, and the situation of the race.”

Given Breschel’s win at Dwars door Vlaanderen-Waregem, and his stellar performance at Ghent-Wevelgem before puncturing out of the lead group in the final 10km, it’s natural that Cancellara is relaxed heading into Flanders. Boonen and his Quick Step teammate, defending champion Stijn Devolder, will shoulder the weight of the nation on their shoulders along with Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Philippe Gilbert and Leif Hoste. Cancellara has the option to send Breschel on the offensive, knowing full well the Belgian teams will have to react.

Cancellara said that if his rivals plan on marking him, assuming he’ll simply try another late-race solo attack, they should think again.

“If they think I will drop them all off the wheels, I think that’s wrong,” Cancellara said. “If you want to race this race, and win this race, you have to race it as a normal race, and not only looking at me or at Tom. Tom is strong right now, and he’s a favorite as many other riders, it’s always a long list that can win this race. Our advantage for sure is that we have two cards to play. Many other teams have one, one and a half real cards. But what we’re going to play, we’re going to see.”

Breschel, the team’s second card, confirmed that he is enjoying some of the best form of his young career, but that Cancellara is the team’s leader until told otherwise.

“I had a good week last week, so hopefully I can be there in the final,” Breschel said. “Then we’ll just have to talk, me and Fabian. And if I’m not having a good day, of course I’ll be there for Fabian. That’s for sure.”

Reacting to a quote from Boonen that Cancellara laid down the most powerful attacks at Harelbeke — but that Boonen put down stronger attacks on the climbs — Cancellara said that sort of knowledge can be used to his advantage.

“For sure Tom was attacking really strong on the climbs,” Cancellara said. “In Harelbeke I was thinking what am I going to do? Tom is stronger in the sprint than me. But there are a few things to remember — I am feeling better than in other years, and what I did in Harelbeke was for me something special. Its not many races were you can drop riders like that. But if he is better than me on the climbs, than it’s good for me, because I knew it, and I knew what I have to do, to follow, and attack on the flat. There are millions of scenarios, but in the end, what counts is that I need to be really careful, and get the best out of that.”

Asked if he was nervous about one of the most important races of his season, Cancellara answered, “A little bit, yeah, but I think that’s normal. Especially when you get on the bus in the morning, and you go to (the medieval Market Square) in Bruges, and it’s like an arena. The presentation of the race, up to the (sign-in) on the stage, then down, then you wait. Then they let out the animals… I’m always a bit nervous, that’s normal, but I think that’s good.”

When another journalist chimed in — “Wasn’t Spartacus fighting animals in the arena?” — Cancellara just laughed.

Whether or not he’ll be laughing again at a press conference on Sunday remains to be seen.

Two-time Ronde van Vlaanderen champion Tom Boonen has broken with one of his annual traditions as he bids Sunday to join an elite club of three-time winners on Sunday.

Flanders is the biggest one-day classic in Flemish-speaking Belgium and the second “monument” of the season after Milan-San Remo.

While tradition normally dictates participating in the Three Days of De Panne midweek, after seeing the rain Boonen decided on another plan of attack.

His race form still brimming over following an impressive second place finish in Milan-San Remo, Boonen’s five-hour training session on Wednesday allowed him to get up close to the 15 hellingen on the course, many of which are cobbled and pepper the second half of the 262km course.

“I had almost forgotten what some of the sections of the race looked like! I really think that if you’ve not taken the time to go out and preview the course it will be a major disadvantage,” said Boonen.

Given that at least one rival, Filippo Pozzato, retired sick with flu-like symptoms on the first stage at La Panne, Boonen said he did not regret his decision.

“If the weather’s good, it gives your form a boost for Flanders,” he said. “But it’s not a good idea if the weather’s bad.”

Boonen’s fellow Quick Step rider Stijn Devolder has won the race the past two seasons, benefiting, to some extent, to the close marking of his teammate in the closing stages.

But this year Boonen, whose two prior wins came in 2005 and 2006, will be hoping Devolder plays the loyal teammate and allows him the chance to join an elite club of three-time winners first.

Going on the recent form of Dane Matti Breschel, Boonen’s tactical sense could be tested to the full by a Saxo Bank team which also boasts Fabian Cancellara.

At Dwars door Vlanderen last week, a 204km semi-classic which features 12 steep climbs, Breschel attacked a front group containing all the favorites. With Cancellara sitting on Boonen’s wheel, the Belgian was trapped, and Breschel went on to win.

Asked how he would feel in a finale with Breschel, Boonen was defiant.

“Honestly, I don’t fear anyone,” he added. “I’m not the kind who gets nervous. And I’d be even less inclined to be so given my form at the moment.”

But the Belgian all but admitted he will be hoping as many teammates as possible are at his side in the crucial closing stages to help counter attacks and ward off aggressors.

“I think it will be really tactical this year, with a difficult finale where a few of the big favorites will be paying close attention to each other,” added Boonen.

Much like the Paris-Roubaix, which will be raced next weekend, the 262km Tour of Flanders is a race riders love and hate in equal measure.

“Looking back, you get a bit nostalgic, but from a competitive point of view, Flanders was one of the most horrible races to ride but one of the greatest races to win,” said Irish racing legend Sean Kelly, who came close, but never won the “Ronde.”