Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne

The second major Belgian race of the weekend took place today in horrendous conditions with heavy rain and strong winds. The race was split into pieces early on and a three man lead group eventually formed consisting of Bobbie Traksel, Rick Flens and Ian Stannard of Sky. Three men, Thor Hushovd, Jeremy Hunt and Hayden Roulston escaped from the chase group of around 12 to try and close the gap.

However the leaders were working well and when Jeremy Hunt had to abandon the race and Hushovd started to suffer, it became clear that the leading three would decide the race between them. Stannard and Flens both made several attempts to escape their companions in the closing kilometres. They suffered for their efforts however as it was only Bobbie Traksel who had any energy left for a sprint finish.




Result
1. Bobbie Traksel - Vacansoleil
2. Rick Flens - Rabobank
3. Ian Stannard - Sky +2"

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Juan Antonio Flecha has given Sky their first major victory in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. He was in the leading group of five from which Phillipe Gilbert attacked on the cobbled section with 20km to go. Flecha went with him and then sensed his chance in the crosswinds and attacked Gilbert, immediately getting a gap which he would increase to around 40 seconds. From then on the victory for Flecha was never in doubt.

The Spaniard crossed the line giving his famous bow and arrow salute and dedicated his win to Frank Vandenbroucke. The sprint for second place was won by Heinrich Haussler ahead of Tyler Farrar and Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Result
1. Juan Antonio Flecha - Sky
2. Heinrich Haussler - Cervélo Test Team +10"
3. Tyler Farrar - Garmin-Transitions +10"

A busy weekend ahead ...

The Belgian season starts on Saturday with the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and then Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne on Sunday. Russell Downing and Ian Stannard will take part in both races supporting Edvald Boasson Hagen. Roger Hammond, Jeremy Hunt and David Millar will also be in both races for Cervélo Test Team and Garmin-Transitions while Dan Lloyd and Mark McNally will just compete in the Omloop.

In Switzerland Chris Froome, Peter Kennaugh and Ben Swift will compete in the GP dell'Insubria and GP Lugano for Sky. The Clasica de Almeria is Spain will feature Mark Cavendish in his second race of the season and Steve Cummings.

More Middle East racing

The Tour of Oman started on Sunday evening with a race around the streets of Muscat. The sprint finish was won by Jimmy Casper from Edvald Boasson Hagen. The second stage saw a long breakaway by four cyclists including Britain's Alex Dowsett riding for Trek-Livestrong. However the sprinter's teams brought them back with 15km to go. This led to a sprint won by Daniele Bennati ahead of Tyler Farrar and Boasson Hagen.

Endura at the Tour Méditerranéen

The newly expanded Endura Racing had a tough time in the Tour Méditerranéen last week. The race took place in freezing conditions and featured plenty of attacking riding.Francesco Masciarelli won the final stage up Mont Faron while behind him Alejandro Valverde took the overall win after coming second on the climb.

Ian Wilkinson and Evan Oliphant were the only two Endura riders to be classified in 70th and 71st places respectively.

Read Evan Oliphant's thoughts here ...

Metcalfe stays with Palmeiras Resort

Portuguese team Palmeiras Resort-Prio-Tavira have announced their 12 man squad for the 2010 season. British rider Tomas Swift Metcalfe will remain with the team for a third successive year. Metcalfe was also named in the squad for the Volta ao Algarve later this month.

Sprint finishes in Qatar

The final four stages of the Tour of Qatar end in sprint finishes. Tom Boonen and Francesco Chicchi claimed two wins each. The Cervélo riders Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt featured prominently while working for Heinrich Haussler and Theo Bos.

The two escapees from stage two finished first and second overall. Boonen's sprint victories moved him up to third place in the general classification but Wouter Mol and Geert Steurs advantage was too much to claw back. The top British riders were Hammond in 13th and Hunt in 16th postion. Ian Stannard was the best placed Sky rider in 35th place.

Overall Result
1. Wouter Mol - Vacansoleil
2. Geert Steurs - Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator +35"
3. Tom Boonen - Quick Step +1'45"

Meanwhile in Mallorca ...

The Challenge Ciclista a Mallorca races have been taking place on the Spanish island. The series of five day races cover a variety of terrain. The first two events finished as sprints won by Robbie McEwen and Oscar Freire respectively.

Adam Blythe and Charlie Wegelius having been racing for Omega Pharma-Lotto, while Tom Faiers made his professional debut today for Footon-Servetto.

Winds split the field in Qatar

A two man breakaway defeated the peloton in stage 2 in the Tour of Qatar. Geert Steurs and Wouter Mol stayed away for 145km with Steurs of Topsport Vlaanderen taking the stage win and Mols the overall lead.

Meanwhile Cervélo and Quickstep were attacking the main field as the race turned and was affected by strong crosswinds. Sky and most of the rest of the peloton were caught out and gaps quickly opened. In the front group were many of the big names including Tom Boonen, Phillipe Gilbert and Heinrich Haussler. Also there were British Cervélo riders Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt.

Both Hammond and Haussler attacked the group to split it further and to try and recover the minute received in penalties yesterday. They were unable however to shake off Boonen, Gilbert and Marcus Burghardt amongst others who are now well placed for the general classification.

Ian Stannard was the best placed Sky cyclist three-and-half minutes back. Previous race leader Edvald Boasson Hagen finished over nine minutes back on a day to forget for the Sky team.

Result
1. Geert Steurs - Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator
2. Wouter Mol - Vacansoleil
3. Roger Kluge - Milram +1'51

Etoile de Bessèges final stage

A mass outbreak of gastroenteritis meant that many riders did not start the final stage of the Etoile de Bessèges today. These included the race leader Arnaud Molmy and British riders Steve Cummings, Peter Kennaugh and Mark McNally.

The stage itself ended in an another sprint finsih which was won by 39-year-old Nico Eeckhout, ahead of Kazakh rider Valentin Iglinskiy. Samuel Dumoulin took the overall win due to the withdrawal of Molmy.

Stage Result
1. Nico Eeckhout - An Post-Sean Kelly Team
2. Valentin Iglinskiy - Astana
3. Hans Dekkers - Landbouwkrediet

Overall Result
1. Samuel Dumoulin - Cofidis
2. Matthieu Ladagnous - Française des Jeux +3"
3. Pieter Ghyllebert - An Post-Sean Kelly Team +4"

Sky win Qatar time trial

Sky have won the team time trial, the opening stage of the Tour of Qatar. The team featuring Bradley Wiggins, Russell Downing, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas were the strongest over the short distance finishing with an 8 second advantage. Edvald Boasson Hagen will wear the yellow jersey tomorrow after leading the team across the line.

Cervelo Test Team with a line-up including Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt finished second with Garmin-Transitions third, also 8 seconds behind. The team of Alex Dowsett - Trek-Livestrong - finished in 16th and last place in their first ProTour race.

*Cervélo Test Team heve been penalised 1 minute for pushing

Result
1. Sky
2. Garmin-Transitions +8"
3. Saxo Bank +13"

Etoile de Bessèges stage 4

Arnaud Molmy took the win on the fourth day of the Etoile de Bessèges after being in the top three on two previous stages. The victory is his first as a professional. Samuel Dumoulin had crossed the line first but was declassified from the results for short-cutting the course in the final kilometre.

Result
1. Arnaud Molmy - Roubaix-Lille Metropole
2. Matthieu Ladagnous - Française des Jeux
3. Pieter Ghyllebert - An Post-Sean Kelly Team

Tour of Qatar preview

The Tour of Qatar begins on Sunday with an 8.2km team time trial. The Tour consists of 6 stages on which the main challenge is expected to come from strong cross-winds. Bradley Wiggins will be making his debut for Sky after his controversial transfer from Garmin-Transitions.

The other British cyclists competing for Sky will be Russell Downing, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas. Alongside them will be the three Norwegians - Kurt Asle Arvesen, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Lars Petter Nordhaug - and Juan Antonio Flecha.

Alex Dowsett will be making his debut for the under-23 team Trek-Livestrong in the race. Also competing are Jeremy Hunt and Roger Hammond for Cervélo Test Team. Mark Cavendish was planning to compete but has put back his season debut after having an operation on a tooth abcess.

Last year the race was won by Tom Boonen for the third time in its history. British riders Roger Hammond and Dan Lloyd finished in third and fourth places respectively. Mark Cavendish won two stages in the race with Hammond also claiming a victory.

Etoile de Bessèges stage 3

Borut Bozic was prevented from winning a third stage in a row by Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin. Bozic finished second with Tom Veelers in third place.

Result
1. Samuel Dumoulin - Cofidis
2. Borut Bozic - Vacansoleil
3. Tom Veelers - Skil-Shimano

Etoile de Bessèges stage 2

The second stage of the Etoile de Bessèges saw a very similar result to the first. Borut Bozic was again the winner with second and third, Arnaud Molmy and Nico Eeckhout, reversed from the previous day.

Dan Lloyd was a doubt to start the stage but seems to have recovered well after his crash yesterday as he finished in the peloton, along with the three other British riders, on the same time as the winner.

Result
1. Borut Bozic - Vacansoleil
2. Arnaud Molmy - Roubaix-Lille Metropole
3. Nico Eeckhout - An Post-Sean Kelly Team

Etoile de Bessèges stage 1

The first stage of the Etoile de Bessèges took place today with a route from Aigues Mortes to Le Grau du Roi. Sky are fielding the same team as the GP Marseillaise on Sunday including Steve Cummings and Peter Kennaugh. Mark McNally is also staying on in the south of France to compete.

Dan Lloyd was drafted in to replace Thor Hushovd for Cervelo Test Team. However the start to his season did not go well as he crashed and hit a tree. Lloyd was taken to hospital for checks after finishing the stage.

Despite a breakaway gaining nearly 10 minutes on the peloton, the race ended in a sprint finish which was won by Slovenian Borut Bozic who held off veteran cyclist Nico Eeckhout and Arnaud Molmy.

Result
1. Borut Bozic - Vacansoleil
2. Nico Eeckhout - An Post-Sean Kelly Team
3. Arnaud Molmy - Roubaix-Lille Metropole