- Baden Cooke gave ?.com (nee Unibet) its second win in France in three days, taking today's bunch sprint at stage 2 of the Etoile de Besseges over Seb Chavanel and Andre Greipel, and snatching the overall from stage 1 winner Angelo Furlan.
- Great news for Damiano Cunego fans: he's talking as if he will be gunning for Amstel and Liege, as part of his lead-up to the Giro. CN will shortly post an interview with Alejandro Valverde where he calls Amstel his primary target, and the prospect of Cunego vs. Valverde charging up the Cauberg is too delicious for words. But Amstel is pretty far from Milan, for a serious Giro contender; my hunch is Cunego will be ramping up his form. Liege is a better bet.
- Alberto Loddo's four-day win streak is over in Langkawi, where he couldn't hold on to a break that launched Shinichi Fukushima to victory. Credit Agricole's Anthony Charteau holds a three-minute lead.
- Back to el Imbatido... is Oscar Pereiro a rival of his own teammate? Valverde:
"It is good with Pereiro on the team because both of us can share the responsibility in the Tour. There is less pressure that way so it is better for Oscar, and better for me. We are both very strong riders for that race and for the other contenders, it is more difficult to control when there is two rather than one of us."
Translation: "If I am upright, he's working for me."