Road News and Results – March 31, 2009

March 31st, 2009 by Al Fresco View Comments

Here’s the latest bicycle racing news for the day:

Today’s Results:

LPR won the team time trail at the Settimanna Lombarda.
Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) took the first stage of the Three Days of De Panne.

Today’s News:

Jose de Cauwer says that Silence-Lotto is “lost”. “Nobody is sick, no one is overtrained. They are looking for something that is not there, or what they still have not found.”
Saxo Bank is a little off of its’ game when compared to last year as well, but Jens Voigt did win the Criterium International and Frank Schleck was second in Paris-Nice.
The Kemmelberg climb is back in the Three Days of De Panne. The descent of the mountain has typically been responsible for many crashes.
Fabian Cancellara will take a pass on De Panne, but will be back in action at Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. His spring has been marked by illness and injuries. He acknowledges that he will be at the race to help his teammates, not go for the win.
Ivan Basso and the Liquigas team will be at the 12th Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie – Coppa Carlo Papà, April 18th in Italy. Basso likes to train in the area around the course and is well loved by cycling fans in the region.
The organizers of Gent-Wevelgem would like to move the race to a Sunday. Right now it falls on a Wednesday between the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix.
Andreas Kloden is making the Tour de France his sole focus. He dropped out of Sunday’s Criterium International and will not return to racing until the Circuit de la Sarthe, April 7 to 10.
Rabobank’s Oscar Freire is still suffering some pain in his ribs, but will be back in competition at the Tour of the Basque Country, April 6 to 11.
Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez believes that his compatriot Alberto Contador will ultimately benefit from the media circus surrounding Lance Armstrong. He thinks that it will take pressure off of him and allow him to relax and concentrate on preparing for the Tour de France. For his part, Sanchez would like to win the Worlds this year.
The Settimanna Lombarda will open today with an 18.7 km team trial in Brignano Gera d’Adda. Katusha will be the first team down the ramp.
Rudy Pevenage, one time advisor of Jan Ullrich and now DS for Rock Racing cautions anti doping authorities that they should not focus all of their time on Operation Puerto doc Eufemanio Fuentes. He claims that there are at least five other doctors that were performing similar services to athletes and that none have been discovered so far.
George Hincapie says that he is feeling “stronger than ever” and feels confident for a podium placing at Flanders and Roubaix. Hincapie has often been named as the American most likely able to win a spring classic.
Stefan Matschiner, the manager of Bernhard Kohl and Michael Rasmussen has been arrested for trafficking in doping products. The arrest was made in conjunction with last week’s arrest of Austrian skiing coach Walter Mayer. Matschiner has, of course, denied all doping allegations. Since the arrest takes place after Austria has put new anti-doping laws into place, he could serve up to five years of jail time if convicted.
The Swiss team Franco Marvulli and Tristan Marquet leads after the first day of the Six Days of Brabant.