Driedaagse De Panne stage 2

Driedaagse De Panne stage 1

Two British wins in Corsica

Russell Downing won stage two of the Critérium International on Sunday morning. With no pure sprinters in the lead group, the HTC-Columbia train lead out for Michael Albasini. Downing was able to follow their wheels and come through to beat the Swiss rider to the line. In doing so he recorded the first British victory for Sky. Race leader Pierrick Fedrigo finished third to increase his lead.

In the individual time-trial in the afternoon it was the turn of David Millar. The experienced rider was fastest around the technical 7.7km course, finishing two seconds ahead of Alberto Contador. Fedrigo held on to take the overall win ahead of Michael Rogers and Tiago Machado. Millar finished the event in fifth place on the general classification.



Stage 2 Result
1. Russell Downing - Sky
2. Michael Albasini - HTC-Columbia
3. Pierrick Fedrigo - Bbox-Bouygues Telecom

Stage 3 Result
1. David Millar - Garmin-Transitions
2. Alberto Contador - Astana + 2"
3. Michael Rogers - HTC-Columbia + 4"

Best British results in Spring classics

Gent - Wevelgem

1. Barry Hoban 1974
2, Tom Simpson 1963
2. Sean Yates 1989
2. Roger Hammond 2007

Ronde van Vlaanderen

1. Tom Simpson 1961
3. Tom Simpson 1963
5. Tom Simpson 1962
5. Barry Hoban 1967
5. Max Sciandri 1993

Paris - Roubaix

3. Barry Hoban 1972
3. Roger Hammond 2004
5. Sean Yates 1994

Amstel Gold Race

3. Malcolm Elliott 1987
4. Joey McLoughlin 1986
5. Max Sciandri 1993

La Fleche Wallone

3. Tom Simpson 1965
4. Brian Robinson 1955

Liège-Bastogne-Liège

3. Barry Hoban 1969
3. Robert Millar 1988
5. Michaël Wright 1965
5. Max Sciandri 1997

First win of season for Cavendish

Mark Cavendish has got his first victory of 2010 in the Volta a Catalunya today. Cavendish beat Argentine JJ Haedo in the sprint finish in Banyoles. Cavendish had finished seventh in the prologue prologue just four seconds back on Paul Voss to show his form is improving after a difficult start.

Bradley Wiggins was due to compete in the race but had to withdraw due to a stomach infection. Charlie Wegelius of Omega Pharma-Lotto is riding his first race in over a month since crashing in the Trofeo Mallorca.

Result
1. Mark Cavendish - HTC-Columbia
2. Juan Jose Haedo - Saxo Bank
3. Aitor Galdos - Euskaltel-Euskadi

Freire wins third Milan - San Remo

Oscar Freire took the victory in the Primavera today, his third in the race after 2004 and 2007. Freire held off Tom Boonen and Alessandro Petacchi in the sprint from a group including most of the pre-race favourites.

The race was together until the climb of the Cipressa when the peloton was split in two with Mark Cavendish being one of the casualties who fell behind. However it wasn't until the Poggio that the big names showed their cards. Among those who tried to escape were Michael Rogers, Phillipe Gilbert, Vincenzo Nibali and Filippo Pozzato.

Pozzato managed to get a good lead ahead of the chasers but was brought back primarily by the Liquigas team working for Daniele Bennati. Bennati opened the sprint but Freire had a good position as third in line and no-one had an answer for the acceleration of the Spaniard. Freire ended up taking the win by a comfortable margin.



Result
1. Oscar Freire - Rabobank
2. Tom Boonen - Quick Step
3. Alessandro Petacchi - Lampre-Farnese Vini

Milan - San Remo Preview

Mark Cavendish won Milan - San Remo on his debut in the race last year but it seems doubtful if he will be able to do the same this year. His dental problems earlier in the year mean he is significantly behind in his training and has only competed in two sprints this year. However, if he is there at the finish Cavendish will certainly be a danger to the rest of the field.

Ian Stannard will be racing for Sky who will be looking for Edvald Boasson Hagen to demonstrate his all round ability and his ever improving sprint finish. Roger Hammond and Jeremy Hunt of Cervélo Test Team will also be supporting a Norwegian in the shape of strong sprinter Thor Hushovd.

David Millar is the fifth and final British rider in the race, his Garmin-Transitions team-mate Tyler Farrar will be looking to figure at the finish. The other main contenders include Daniele Bennati, Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Petacchi of Italy, Philippe Gilbert and Tom Boonen from Belgium, Spain's Oscar Freire and of course, Fabian Cancellara.

Best British Results

1. Tom Simpson - Peugeot-BP-Englebert - 1964
1. Mark Cavendish - Columbia-HTC - 2009
3. Brian Robinson - St. Raphael - 1957
3. Max Sciandri - Motorola-Merckx - 1993
4. Max Sciandri - Motorola - 1996

Opie wins again

Chris Opie has concluded Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago's successful trip to Libya with victory in the GP Al Fatah one-day race.

Result
1. Chris Opie - Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago
2. Abdelbasset Hannachi - Algeria
3. Jani Tewolde Weldegaber - Eritrea

Downing wins sprint in Taiwan

Dean Downing has won stage 5 of the Tour de Taiwan. The Rapha Condor rider narrowly defeated Takashi Miyazawa, winner of the two previous stages, at the line. "It was perfect for me and in the last 250 metres," said Downing. "I rode off the rider from CCC and went in for the finish. I thought it wasn't going to be enough but when I saw the line, I knew that I had it."

Irishman David McCann still leads the overall courtesy of the breakaway on the first stage. Downing is now in seventh place in the classification with two stages remaining.

Result
1. Dean Downing - Rapha Condor-Sharp
2. Takashi Miyazawa - Japan
3. Shinri Suzuki - Shimano


tourdetaiwan.org.tw

Success for Pendragon in Libya

Following his second place in stage two, Chris Opie took wins in stages four and five of the Tour of Libya. The final stage was actually awarded as a dead heat between Opie and Abdel Basset Al-Hanachi of Algeria. In the general classification Pendragon's Yanto Barker took fourth place with Dave Clarke in eight place.

Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago are remaining in Libya to take part in the GP Al Fatah on Saturday.

Rapha Condor in Taiwan

The Rapha Condor-Sharp is taking part in the Tour de Taiwan. Dean Downing and Graham Briggs were both up with leaders in the first two stages picking up top ten finishes. On stage three today Downing was part of a successful three man break with two Japanese riders. The trio broke away with 40km to go and held on by just two seconds over the peloton at the line. Takashi Miyazawa riding for the national team took the sprint ahead of compatriot Suzuki and Downing.

Result
1. Takashi Miyazawa - Japan
2. Shinri Suzuki - Shimano
3. Dean Downing - Rapha Condor-Sharp

Pendragon in Libya

British team Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago are taking part in the UCI 2.2 ranked Tour of Libya this week. The team is lead by Yanto Barker and Dave Clarke, winner of the Tour du Cameroun last year. Chris Opie finished second in the second stage from Al Ajaylat to Sbrata behind Algerian cyclist Abdel Basset Al-Hanachi.

Result
1. Abdel Basset Al-Hanachi - Algeria
2. Chris Opie - Pendragon-Le Col-Colnago
3. Bilal Saada - Algeria

Paris-Nice stage 1

The first stage of Paris-Nice looked as though it would be ideal for the sprinters. However the strong winds made it otherwise. The Caisse d'Epargne team of Alejandro Valverde and Luis Leon Sanchez sought to take advantage of the conditions and managed to break the peloton into pieces and take a small group clear in the latter part of the stage.

Prologue winner Lars Boom saw the danger and bridged the gap by himself. The numbers in the front group gradually increased as riders such as David Millar, Nicolas Roche and Jens Voigt made the jump across. By the finish 15 riders had gained 17 seconds on the rest of the field.

Heading up the finishing straight Grega Bole emerged from the group but Greg Henderson was in his wheel and was able to come around him just before the line to take another win for Sky. Millar finished safely in the leading group and is now in third place overall, thirteen seconds behind Lars Boom.



Result
1. Greg Henderson - Sky
2. Grega Bole - Lampre-Farnese Vini
3. Jérémie Galland - Saur-Sojasun

British riders at Continental teams 2010 (updated)

An Post-Sean Kelly Team (BEL)
Mark McNally

Endura Racing (GBR)
Ross Creber
Gary Hand
Rob Hayles
Sandy King
David Lines
James McCallum
James Moss
Evan Oliphant
Robert Partridge
Scott Thwaites
Ian Wilkinson
Callum Wilkinson

Giant Asia Racing Team (TWN)
Alex Coutts

Motorpoint-Marshall's Pasta (GBR)
Ian Bibby
Steven Burke
Ed Clancy
Lee Davis
Malcolm Elliott
Jonathan McEvoy
James Sampson
Andy Tennant
Peter Williams

Palmeiras Resort-Prio-Tavira (POR)
Tomas Swift Metcalfe

Qin Cycling Team (BEL)
James Spragg

Rapha-Condor (GBR)
Graham Briggs
Matt Cronshaw
Dean Downing
Ben Greenwood
Kristian House
Chris Newton
Tom Southam
Jonathan Tiernan-Locke

Sigma Sport-Specialized (GBR)
Stephen Adams
Dan Duguid
Kit Gilham
Tom Last
Gareth Montgomery
Tom Murray
Simon Richardson
Tom Snape
Matt Stephens
James Williamson

Team Sprocket (SWE)
Russell Hampton
Tobyn Horton
Joseph Perrett

Team Raleigh (GBR)
Dale Appleby
Tom Barras
Michael Cumings
Dan Fleeman
Richard Handley
Liam Holohan
Daniel Shand
James Stewart

Trek-Livestrong (USA)
Alex Dowsett