Bad news for the Cobbled Classics peloton:
"It is starting to tickle," said Boonen to Gazet van Antwerpen in regards to his excitement to be back into competition.
IMHO Boonen wore down a bit prematurely last year... yes, he won from February through de Ronde, and occasionally afterwards too. But it's safe to assume his goal was to hold form all the way to the Roubaix velodrome. It's also tempting to write it off to the pressure of the rainbow stripes, which has since been offloaded to his teammate Bettini. I'm guessing we'll see a rejuvenated Tom Boonen this spring... scary prospect considering he's 26 and is coming off a mere 23 wins this year.
Elsewhere...
- Bas Giling to Wiesenhof. Sounds like a step down (out of the Pro Tour), but consider... he's 24; he'll get protection on occasion; he'll have Steffen Wesemann to tutor him; and Wiesenhof can count on their share of major race starts (RVV, everything in Germany, etc.).
- Andre Greipel undergoes the required self-criticism. Whoops, I've been reading about the Cultural Revolution too much.
- Send your good vibes to continental pro Niklas Axelsson, who may have cancer.
- Cycling Revealed has been counting down the Top 20 Classics of all time. Time for another leave of absence...
- Santi Botero staying home.
- Marian (IN) College adds a cycling curriculum. Pretty cool, although computrainers are nothing unusual; you can find Computrainer training centers hither and yon. But investing in a Velotron is much cooler, and combining these tools, plus a velodrome, together for a college to use... for reference, I went to college in a place where we couldn't get outdoors until late April. And we had little resembling a team, just a few guys who communicated by hanging notes on bulletin boards.
- I swear, I know nothing of track, but if you want to follow the World Cup, go here.
- Who the hell was Cayn Theakston? Pez knows, as usual.