CSC's Asle Arveson Conquers E3 Prijs Vlaanderen

Arvesen takes top honors at the E3, derailing Boonen's chances at a fifth straight win in the semi-classic

Tom Boonen came in as one of the major favorites for the Belgian semi-classic E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, but at the end of the day, it was the CSC team and Kurt-Asle Arvesen who took top honors for the one day race. Arvesen had good support from "Tony Sparticus" Fabian Cancellara, who rode with Tom Boonen to try to stay away from the field.


In the end however, it was Arvesen who was abe to get a gap and ride away from Collstrop's David Kopp and Silence-Lotto's Greg Van Avermaet for the win. The CSC team has been a force thus far in the 2008 season, and the Danish juggernaut was able to keep up the good momentum going leading up to the most important race of Flemish Cycling Week, the Tour of Flanders.

Arvesen's win bodes well for team CSC ahead of the Three Day of De Panne stage race and the Tour of Flanders. All of CSC's riders are riding well, and the team should be more than ready to do battle at Flanders and at Paris-Roubaix. Too, team boss Bjarne Riis is working behind the scenes to secure a title sponsor for 2009, and all of the recent wins should help the Danish manager's cause in finding a new source of sponsorship.

The favorites for Flanders seemed to stay in the background, as Hoste finished 13th, Cancellara 16th, Astana's Serguei Ivanov 18th, Italian's Pozzato and Ballan 36th and 38th respectively, and Stuey O'Grady and Juan Antonio Flecha 63rd and 55th. All of the above riders finished together in the trailing group though, showing that all are on decent form ahead of Flanders, the Belgian monument.

After several significant one day races, team CSC looks all but unbeatable as the season progresses. Whether it's Cancellara riding away from a group or another CSC rider on the attack, the red, black, and white squad is a fearsome site in any race they enter. The scariest part of the situation is that last year's Paris-Roubaix winner O'Grady hasn't even chosen to chow himself at the front of the bunch, and both Schleck brothers have kept a low profile this far in the season as well.