UCI must pay Keisse 100,000 Euros, Belgian court rules

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A Belgian court has ordered the UCI to pay Iljo Keisse 100,000 euros for unjustly prohibiting him from racing. It is only the latest step in a long and complicated legal case for Keisse, now with Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
Keisse tested positive at the Six Days of Gent in November 2008, and the Belgian federation banned him for two years.  The federation lifted that ban end of 2009 and he resumed racing. The UCI  appealed that decision, and the CAS overturned it, confirming that Keisse was to ride his sit out his entire ban. He was allowed to ride in all areas other than Belgium as of August 2011, but was only allowed to ride in Belgium against as of January 27, 2012.
The Belgian court has now ruled that the UCI unfairly prohibited Kesse from riding from December 2010 and May 2011. He will also be allowed to retain the second place finish in the Rotterdam Six Day race from January 2011.

So near but so far for Pozzato at Tour of Flanders

Just 300 metres in length, the final helling of the Ronde kicks up to a ferocious 20 percent gradient near its summit, and it was here that Pozzato's forcing looked to have put Boonen into significant difficulty. To the horror of the Flemish faithful gathered on the hillside, the Italian pair of Pozzato and Alessandro Ballan (BMC) opened a small gap over a Boonen, who was clearly struggling to keep his gear turning over.
The Belgian fought gamely to limit his losses, however, and stayed just about within reaching distance of Ballan's back wheel as the road levelled out again. Speaking to Cyclingnews afterwards, Farnese Vini-Selle Italia manager Luca Scinto lamented that the road hadn't gone upwards just that little bit further.
"It's a pity that the Paterberg wasn't 20 metres longer," Scinto said, shaking his head. "I think Boonen was on the limit. With that extra 20 metres, Pippo would have been able to drop Boonen, and the race might have had a very different finale."
Amid the tumult of the natural amphitheatre of the Paterberg, which the race crossed three times, Pozzato did not appear to be fully aware of how close he had come to shedding Boonen from the winning break. "I went to the front on a couple of climbs in the finale, and to tell the truth, I had the impression that Boonen was a little bit in difficulty, but there was nothing to do," Pozzato said as he waited to mount the podium.
Fabian Cancellara was forced to abandon the race after he crashed with 60 kilometres to go, and Pozzato explained that the Swiss rider's absence in the finale contributed to his decision to seize the initiative on the Paterberg. "Fabian's crash changed the course of the race," Pozzato said. "Without him, we had to take the I head on That's why I went to the front on a couple of climbs in the finale."
Once over the top, and with just 20 seconds in hand over the chasing Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), the leaders quickly put their swords back in their scabbards and became allies of circumstance to ensure that the Slovak didn't get back on. As the kilometres counted down towards Oudenaarde and it became clear that it was a three-man race, however, Pozzato reached a more explicit agreement with his friend and sometime training partner Ballan in a bid to stack the cards in their favour.
"Ale and I tried to wear out Boonen. I said that if he attacked, I wouldn't go and follow him, and that's the way it was, but Boonen was the still the strongest," Pozzato said.
Each time Ballan jumped, Boonen was promptly on his wheel to snuff out the danger, but with each effort, a little more of the venom was being drawn from the Belgian's sprint. With that in mind, Pozzato opted to play his hand in the finishing straight rather than attempt a surprise move himself, but the cagey nature of the final kilometre ultimately played against him.
"I tried to win, I did everything that I could, but unfortunately I struggled with the kind of sprint that it was in the end. It was from an almost standing start and Tom showed that he was the most explosive," said Pozzato.
Pozzato still had all of Flanders on tenterhooks in the final metres of the race, as he threatened to come around Boonen and take a famous victory. An eerie hush fell over Oudenaarde as the leaders approached the line, and the raucous roar that broke the silence confirmed that the home team had won.
"In the sprint, I took his wheel and then I tried to go past him but he didn't even lose a centimetre. Congratulations to him, he deserved to win," said Pozzato, who now turns his attentions to Paris-Roubaix. "We're going on to Roubaix very motivated, which is a different race and one where I can do well."

Cummings to return at Pais Vasco

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BMC rider Steven Cummings will make his return to competitive action on Monday at Paris Vasco. The British rider has been sidelined since he was brought down in stage three of the Volta ao Algarve on February 17, a crash that resulted in a broken pelvis.
The Volta ao Algarve had previously been a happy hunting ground for the 31-year-old from the Wirral, Merseyside, who came second in last season's Tour of Britain in the colours of Team Sky. In 2011 he led for much of the race in Portugal, up until the final time trial, and finished in seventh place overall. This year's edition was memorable for all the wrong reasons though.
Now Cummings is ready to return to the road at Pais Vasco, which is known to English speaking cycling fans as the Tour of the Basque Country. The six-stage race is one of the oldest on the calendar, dating back to 1924, and received the go-ahead recently after concerns about the faltering Spanish economy. It is known for its tough mountain stages.
"I think I'm at a level now where I can survive the race and do work for the team," Cummings said. "I was off the bike for three weeks and then the first week or so was very painful because the fracture was where I sat on the saddle."

Low-key build-up to Tour of Flanders for Team Sky

Flecha was in fine form in February, finishing third at the Tour of Qatar and the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but a broken hand sustained in training has kept him away from competitive action since. He makes his return on Sunday, and he admitted that he did not know what kind of performance he would be able to deliver in a race where he finished on the podium in 2008.
“I just want to do the best I can,” Flecha said on Friday evening. “Of course I haven’t been racing for a while but there’s nothing more that I can do to try to be 100% for Sunday. That’s the only thing that I expect from myself.”
A small pocket of journalists attended a rather sombre Sky press conference in Kortrijk, where Flecha was reticent to give anything away about the set-up of his team for De Ronde. “The tactics will be whatever the plan is,” he said. “I can’t tell you yet, because we haven’t done any team meeting yet, but whatever the DS asks me I will do.”
Flecha was a little more expansive when asked about how much the team would miss Geraint Thomas in Flanders. The Welshman was one of the revelations of last year’s cobbled campaign, but he has opted to focus his attentions on the track world championships this spring, as he builds towards the London 2012 Olympics.
“He’s a great rider and he showed already last year that he can do really good on these races,” Flecha said. “Of course we miss him, but the Olympics is one time every four years. Having the Olympics in your own country is something unique. The classics are every year, so he can do really well here many times.”
One young rider who is on the Sky team for Flanders is the quietly-spoken Edvald Boasson Hagen. The multi-talented Norwegian took 5th place in the sprint at Gent-Wevelgem last Sunday, but he has yet to make a significant impact at De Ronde. “I’m not really struggling with any pressure. I just put on my own pressure. There’s always some expectation from the press, but I don’t think a lot about that,” he said.
Boasson Hagen was typically concise when assessing the new route of the Tour of Flanders, which sees the Muur and Bosberg finale removed in favour of three ascensions of the Kwaremont and Paterbeg. “It’s really hard and up and down and the new climbs are going to make changes. It’s the same for everyone,” he said. “We all have to do it and get over the climbs. The Kwaremont and Paterberg is the main patch where it’s going to be really hard.”
For his part, directeur sportif Steven De Jongh anticipated that the selection would be gradual one as the difficulty of the new circuit takes its toll, particularly if weather conditions turn inclement. “There won’t be big groups in the finale, because it’s all hard from there. It’s going to be an elimination race I think, especially when they forecast rain even if maybe in the afternoon it’s going to be dry.”
And Sky’s hopes? “For all the teams, they’re going into the unknown but that also gives some chances. If it’s hard I’m sure you will have strong riders in the finale, but if our guys are good and are with that select group over those climbs, it will be easier for them to get in a good position for the other climbs

Crucial weekend for Britain's Olympic hopefuls

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With four spots up for grabs on the Team GB squad for the women's road race at the London 2012 Olympics this summer, tomorrow's Women's Tour of Flanders is set to provide a host of clues as to which women are making the early running to for selection. Five of the six riders who are looking to make the grade for the summer will be on the start line: AA Drink–leontien.nl teammates Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley, Lucy Martin and Sharon Laws; and Faren Honda's Nicole Cooke.
Armitstead has enjoyed a successful start to the season by claiming victories at Omloop van het Hageland and Gent-Wevelgem and has described tomorrow's race as her main early season target. Relations between her and Cooke had not been the most cordial since their spat in the wake of Team GB's below-par showing at the 2011 road world championships in Copenhagen, but the women buried the hatchet at a training camp last month.
National coach Chris Newton is confident that the focus will be on the road this weekend and that although there is still months of work to be done ahead of the summer, tomorrow's race is important as a fact-finding exercise.
“The riders are coming through from their winter training and early season prep and going into the racing season," Newton said. "We won’t have everyone on song straight away which is understandable. To be fair what we want is everyone to be on song come July and it will be a bit of a wave pattern – some riders going better than others at certain times but it will eventually become a peak for July.
“I’m out there at Tour of Flanders this weekend to oversee the race and get a bit more insight to them and to see how things are going - technically, tactically, on form, see how races are going and how riders are contributing to that – whether they are forcing it, reacting to it.”

Cavendish to start charitable scholarship scheme

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Great Britain's reigning world road race champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) used Thursday night's Isle of Man Sportsperson of the Year Awards to announce that he will be funding a new scholarship scheme to help the development of some of the island's brightest sporting prospects. Cavendish hails from the island off England's north west coast and he revealed that his own struggles were a motivating factor in his decision to start up the scheme, which will provide annual assistance for three youngsters.
"This island is great at producing sportspeople across all sports and the youngsters deserve the opportunity to get away and show it off," he said, after collecting his award for Sportsman of the Year for the eighth consecutive year.
"I love this island and I really love coming back here, but I know first-hand how difficult it can be to get off it every weekend - both financially and practically. I thought 'now I'm in a position to help people who are in the same position that I was in.'"
"Part of Mark's donation will be used each year to ensure we can send riders to British Cycling's regional school of racing and they will go as members of Cavendish Racing Isle of Man," said Geoff Karran, the island's chairman for sport. "This is a fantastic bequest and gives a fantastic opportunity to young cyclists

Bartoli regrets Muur absence

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Michele Bartoli has voiced his disappointment at the absence of the Muur van Geraardsbergen from the route of this year’s edition of the Tour of Flanders. The Italian has found memories of the Muur, after soloing clear on its slopes to win De Ronde in 1996, but the legendary helling has been removed from the course as the race now finishes in Oudenaarde rather than in Meerbeke.

“It’s worse than taking the Poggio from Milan-San Remo,” Bartoli told Gazzetta dello Sport. “For me, the Muur is a piece of the history of the Tour of Flanders, it’s a huge loss. I mean, if I had attacked at another place [in 1996], it wouldn’t be remembered so readily now.”

While the Muur and the Bosberg have consigned to the history books, the finale of the race now features three ascensions of the Oude Kwaremont and the Paterberg. On paper, the new route is more difficult, but Bartoli pointed out that it would all depend on the approach of the riders.

“The Oude Kwaremont isn’t very hard, but it’s long and disjointed. It’s also a bit anomalous in that there’s a stretch of flat pavé afterwards that can hurt. The Paterberg is short but it goes up at 20%, a real wall,” he said. “I couldn’t say if Flanders will be harder because it depends on the riders, but at its key points, the roads are very narrow, and technical ability will be fundamental.”

Bartoli reckons positioning ahead of the first ascension of the Kwaremont with 70km to go could prove essential, but he was loathe to pick a favourite out of Tom Boonen or Fabian Cancellara. “It’s hard for Boonen to drop Cancellara, but the opposite could happen. Although if it doesn’t, then Tom would be at a real advantage in the sprint

US 24-hour mountain bike nationals awarded to Gallup

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USA Cycling have awarded the 2013 and 2014 24-Hour Mountain Bike National Championships to Gallup, New Mexico. The event will be held on the third Sunday in June in each year in the Zuni Mountains in conjunction with the established 24 Hours in the Enchanted Forest race.

The 16-mile course is nearly entirely singletrack. It starts at 7,850 feet of elevation and reaches as high as 8,350 feet of elevation, featuring 1,344 feet of climbing.

"There are a lot of great endurance races and experienced race directors out there," Director of Zia Rides Lindsay Mapes said. "I've been thinking about nationals for a few years. We thought we had a shot - New Mexico has never hosted this event, Gallup is poised as a mountain bike destination, our team of organizers is seasoned, and we have a solid course. We're honored to have been selected and stoked about hosting in 2013-14!"

The two-year agreement between USA Cycling, the sport's national governing body, and Zia Rides is expected to bring approximately 300 of the country's best endurance mountain bike riders to New Mexico.

"We're looking forward to bringing the 2013 and 2014 USA Cycling Mountain Bike 24-Hour National Championships to Gallup," National Events Director Kelli Lusk said. "The course in the Zuni Mountains featuring so much singletrack and climbing will certainly challenge the best endurance riders in the country."

USA Cycling has already identified other locations for its 2013 and 2014 national championships. Cross country nationals will be held in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. Marathon nationals will be in Sun Valley, Idaho, and gravity nationals will be at Angel Fire Resort in New Mexico.

Sick Vos pulls out of Women's Tour of Flanders

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Pre-race favourite Marianne Vos will not be present on the start line at tomorrow's Women's Tour of Flanders after falling ill, her Rabobank team hasconfirmed. Vos will be replaced in her team's ranks by Germany's Sarah Duster, and the 2008 Olympic gold medallist faces a race against time to be fit for the Energiewacht Tour, which starts on Wednesday. Earlier in the year she celebrated an incredible fourth consecutive cyclo-cross world championship and had made a pleasing start to the road season by winning the Ronde van Drenthe and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

“It’s really unfortunate for Marianne,” said Rabobank sporting director Jeroen Blijlevens. “The Tour of Flanders was one of her biggest targets of the spring. We hope that she is fit again soon.”

Blijlevens can take comfort in the fact that in spite of the absence of Vos his team are still blessed with lots of talent at their disposal for tomorrow's race, including France's rising star Pauline Ferrand Prevot and Annemiek van Vleuten and Tatiana Antoshina - who finished first and second at Flanders last year. They are set for an intriguing battle on the cobbles tomorrow with AA Drink–leontien.nl, whose lineup includes the in-form Lizzie Armitstead.

Hughes becomes Canadian National Development Coach

The Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) hired Ian Hughes as its Mountain Bike National Development Coach. From now on, the former Quebec Team Head Mountain Bike Coach will work within the National Team programs.
Hughes will be tasked to develop a national strategy aiming at facilitating the athletes' arrival on the international scene. This facilitating process will notably be through training camps and competition projects. In addition, Hughes will also have to elaborate talent detection tools, as well as contribute to the expansion of the mountain bike athletes' pool.
In his new functions, Hughes will work with provincial cycling associations, and in particular with regards to the implantation of the Long Term Athlete Development model (LTAD). In addition, he will pursue his implication in the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) and closely collaborate with all provincial and personal coaches. Finally, he will assist the National Team Head Mountain Bike Coach in order to establish fluid transitions between Development and High Performance programs.
"We are very happy to have Ian among us. We are also grateful to the Quebec Cycling Federation (FQSC) for having allowed us to use Ian's services as Mountain Bike National Development Coach. Because of his experience in mountain bike, his teaching approach and his training methodology, Ian is a great addition to our National Coaches team," said Jacques Landry, High Performance Director and Head Coach at the Canadian Cycling Association.
"I am extremely happy about the challenges this new job will provide. It was an opportunity I had to seize," said Hughes.

Evans and George fight back for Cape Epic stage win

With over 2000 metres of vertical ascent to conquer, George and Evans went on the attack at the base of the first major climb. Stander and Sauser initially left it up to the other teams to defend the minor podium places being threatened by Nedbank 360Life, but later Stander and Sauser decided to break clear themselves and pursue Evans and George.

“In order to win the stage and get back up to second on general classification, we knew we had to put on the pressure as early as possible. We have a lot of frustration built up from the last few days, but today we used it as our motivation. We had everything to gain,” said George. “The support of the crowds was incredible. We feel honoured to have such support.”

George and Evans experienced delays due to cut tyres on stages 1 and 5, losing significant time and the possibility of challenging Sauser and Stander for the overall win. On Saturday they charged straight through both water points on their way to victory.

“The first water point was quite early on at the top of the first big climb. We had a good rhythm and enough supplements in our bottles so decided to just keep going,” explained Evans. “I thought the second water point was 10km from the finish, so didn’t want to stop there. But it turns out it was about 20km from the finish! That was a hard, but rewarding effort today.”

Evans and George extended their lead in the African team competition, while Stander and Sauser still hold a substantial lead of 25 minutes and 57 seconds over Evans and George in the general classification, making Sunday’s short final stage virtually a victory procession