2010 Fleche Wallonne: News and Notes

Post race news from the 2010 Fleche Wallonne, other race news and results from the Tour of Mexico and the women’s Fleche Wallonne:

• Before the race, Alberto Contador played down his chances, saying that he was unfairly being called a favorite when other specialists such as Philippe Gilbert, Sergei Ivanov, Damiano Cunego and Alejandro Valverde were more suited for the race.
• Cadel Evans jumped in the last 100 meters for his first victory of the year and the first Australian win at the Fleche Wallonne. “I’m happy because this is one of the most beautiful and fascinating races of the world,” he said. “I was calm, I never did get the urge to overdo it and I think I had a great final.”
• Pictures show Evans just stream by Contador, who is looking back for help with a grimace on his face.
• Contador says that he is more suited to longer climbs than short steep climbs like the Huy.
• “Director Sportif John Lelangue took us out for reconnaissance and I saw the climb from a different perspective,” Evans said. “I realized I had always raced it with the wrong tactic. Today I had good position right from the start, but waited until the last 100 meters. That was the way to do it.”
• Contador was happy with his result, and liked his form in advance of Sunday’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
• Phillipe Gilbert was satisified with his Top 10 placing, saying “Being in the top ten is a good result. To argue before the race that I was the favorite, it was not fair. Faced with pure climber in the final climb, I have less advantage. I made a good climb, but it was not enough.”
• Evans’ teammate Karsten Kroon was involved in a crash with 70km to go. He was able to walk away from the crash, but had to drop out of the race. Kroon suffered multiple fractures (broken nose and broken cheekbone) but no head trauma. He was to be treated and released but will not compete Sunday in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
• BMC Racing Team President Jim Ochowicz said the win was a special one. “We’re beyond excited about this victory today because it’s the first one of the year with our new team and it’s a big victory for the organization as a whole,” Ochowicz said. “The team definitely rode well for Cadel today, as they have since the beginning of the year. It was finally our chance to win a race.”
• Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) says that he was holding back for fear of the stomach troubles he had during Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, saying “If I dared, I would have disputed Cadel’s victory. But kudos to him.”
• 8th place finisher Alejandro Valverde was off his game today. “I felt neither good nor evil. I had some weird feelings earlier in the race. I do not know what caused it. I do not want to blame our long car trip to get here because I think I had completely recovered. I felt better and better as time goes by. In the last climb, I felt much better but not enough to play to win. I gradually recovered and, if I thought a bit more in me, I could probably have come to play the fourth place. Today I had no rhythm in (my) legs and the fact of not having raced the Amstel Gold Race is for something.”

Other Racing News:

• Adrian Pinto, a young rider with VC Savigny-sur-Orge, died Sunday after being hit by a car in Montdidier (Somme). A vehicle driven by an intoxicated man collided with a car following Pinto, which then crashed into him. The drunk driver who caused this tragedy has been indicted for murder and imprisoned.
• Adam Little, team manager for the Subaru Gary Fisher Road Cycling Team, from Charlotte, NC, was killed while commuting to work on March 17, 2010. Little was riding on the right hand shoulder of a two-lane divided road. Apparently the vehicle that hit Little veered onto the shoulder, and he was struck from behind by the vehicle.
• Bradley Wiggins has decided to race the Tour of Britain instead of the Vuelta a Espana.
• Germany’s cycling federation has taken back Olaf Pollack’s points race and Madison titles from the 2009 German national championships. Pollack tested positive for DynEPO in September of last year.
• Milram team manager Gerry van Gerwen is still holding hope that the team will be able to find a new sponsor for 2011. He says that negotiations are going “better than expected”.
• The USA Cycling Professional Tour kicked off its fourth season with the Tour of the Battenkill in Cambridge, N.Y. on Sunday, April 18. The UCI 2.1-rated contest opened the only U.S. cycling calendar comprised solely of professional racers and teams. Former USA Cycling Development Program rider Caleb Fairly rode to victory ahead of Floyd Landis and Robert Thompson in the muddy, 200-kilometer affair.
• RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney will race as Team Mellow Johnny’s at the SRAM Tour of the Gila in New Mexico.

Other Results:

• Mexican Ignacio Sarabia (Rock Racing) won the third stage of the Vuelta a Mexico. Spaniard Francisco Mancebo retains the leader jersey in a race that has so far seen the Rock Racing dominate on all fronts.
• Britain’s Emma Pooley (Cervelo Test Team) won the women’s Flèche Wallonne Wednesday solo, just a few hours before the men’s race. She edged her compatriot Nicole Cooke by 8″ and Sweden’s Emma Johansson came in third.

Tags: alberto contador, Alejandro Valverde, amstel gold race, BMC Racing, BMC Racing Team, Bradley Wiggins, cadel evans, cervelo test team, Damiano Cunego, Emma Johansson, Emma Pooley, Fleche Wallonne, floyd landis, Francisco Mancebo, jason mccartney, Joaquin Rodriguez, Karsten Kroon, katusha, Levi Leipheimer, liege-bastogne-liege, nicole cooke, Olaf Pollack, Philippe Gilbert, Phillipe Gilbert, Racing News, Sergei Ivanov, tour of britain, tour of mexico, tour of the battenkill, Vuelta a Espana