All of your cycling news: March 26, 2010

In today’s news, notes from the Criterium International, Gent-Wevelgem and E3 Prijs; Keisse worse than originally thought; Cavendish out of Catalonia; Sagan to ride Paris-Roubiax and more…

Criterium International:

• This weekend will see the battle of the Tour de France big boys, with Lance Armstrong (Radio Shack), Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) and Alberto Contador (Astana) lining up against each other in the 2 day race. BMC DS John Lelangue sees the race as a warmup for the Giro and the Tour. “The big day will be the mountain stage on Saturday,” said the Belgian.  “There are two nice climbs up and another to the finish. I think everybody wants to test himself on such a slope. It’s clear why Cadel will attend, and why Alberto Contador has changed his plans and will start – just like Lance Armstrong.”
• Alberto Contador dismissed the threat of Lance Armstrong at the race, their first competitive encounter since last year’s Tour de France. Contador said he is wary of other riders, such as Evans, but of Armstrong he said, “Other riders are in better shape than he is right now.” He earlier called Armstrong “a rider like any other” in comments on the race’s Web site.
• RadioShack sports DS Alain Gallopin says that Armstrong knows what he’s doing. “The big favorites tomorrow are Alberto Contador, (Luis Leon) Sanchez (of Spain), and Cadel Evans. They are today a notch above Lance,” Gallopin said. “Lance is taking a slower approach to his objective,” added Gallopin. “Lance isn’t stupid, he knows what his level is, and in any case, this a two-day race: His strength is a three-week race.”
• Contador insists that his participation is “No message. I come here only because it’s best for my preparation and (not to) send any message to anyone. Paris-Nice was a tough race. After that, the Tour of Catalonia was seven days of racing with a term not very good for my characteristics. The Criterium is only two days with a good run for me.”

E3 Prijs:

• 24 teams will be participating in the race, 12 of which are from the Pro Tour. The teams are: ProTour: Katusha, Quick Step, Ag2r-La Mondiale, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Footon-Servetto, Française des Jeux, Lampre, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Rabobank, Team Sky, RadioShack, Saxo Bank; Professional Continental teams: Acqua Sapone, Bbox Bouygues Telecom, BMC Racing, Cervelo, Cofidis, Crédit Agricole, Skil-Shimano, Topsport Vlaanderen, Vacansoleil, Xacobeo; Continental teams: An Post-Sean Kelly, Veranda’s Willems

Gent-Wevelgem:

• Alessandro Petacchi will pass on the race after coming down with a viral infection. He hopes to recover in time to defend his Scheldeprijs title on April 7th.
• HTC-Columbia’s Bernhard Eisel says that he has “never felt so strong” in the build-up to the race. “My condition is really good, better than it’s ever been for this time of year, and I’m certainly ready to put in a great ride on Sunday,” Eisel said.  “There have been a few changes to the route, with some extra early climbs and a slightly longer course, and that should make it less chaotic than usual in the first hour or so.  But with the double ascent of the Kemmelberg [climb] still as the main feature, we can expect things to be pretty much the same as ever at the end of Ghent-Wevelgem, and to have the same top Classics riders at the finish.”

Other Racing News:

• Iljo Keisse is in worst shape than originally thought. In his fall Monday training for the the World Cup at the Ballerup velodrome, he not only broke his collarbone, but also tore the ligaments off the bone. That was not discovered until doctors started operating on Wednesday. The discovery means that Keisse’s recovery will be longer than originally anticipated.
• Giovanni Visconti (ISD) dropped out of the Coppi and Bartali as he was still suffering pain from a fall in Tirreno-Adriatico. He’ll have and MRI and a few days of rest before returning for the Tour of Turkey.
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) abandoned the Tour of Catalonia during Friday’s fifth stage after coming down with flu three days after his first win of the season. The most prolific winner of 2009, with 24 victories, quit 80 kilometres into the 181.2-km stage won by Italian Davide Malacarne. “I’ve been feeling ill for the last couple of days and today was worse,” Cavendish told Reuters.
• Fabian Cancellara says that Saxo Bank’s riders should worry more about results than finding a sponsor. If they get the wins, the sponsors will come.
• Ex-Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich could still face legal proceedings over the 2006 doping scandal which led to his retirement from cycling, the sport’s governing body the UCI said Thursday. A UCI spokesman has confirmed to German sports agency SID they have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the Swiss Olympic Committee’s decision last month to halt the investigation into Ullrich’s past.
• Young Slovakian racer Peter Sagan (Liquigas), who won two stages in Paris-Nice, will participate in Paris-Roubaix next month. Initially, Sagan was to compete in the Tour of Turkey, but given his recent performance, the Liquigas team decided to modify his program to test him in The Hell of the North.
• The cycling career of Wim van Huffel seems over. The former Silence-Lotto rider has enlisted in the army. On April 12, Van Huffel will begin 13 weeks of training. He is especially pleased to finally have clarity about its future, he told Het Nieuwsblad.

Tags: alberto contador, Alessandro Petacchi, Bernhard Eisel, cadel evans, Criterium International, Fabian Cancellara, Gent-Wevelgem, Giovanni Visconti, Iljo Keisse, Jan Ullrich, Lance Armstrong, Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan, Tour of Turkey