Liege-Bastogne-Liege 2010: 5 Burning Questions

Liege-Bastogne-Liege. The oldest of all cycling classics. The epic ending each spring to the classics season. The true measure of a one day hilly classics rider. LBL is all these things and more, but above all it provides one last chance for some of the top one day (and stage racing) threats to vie for victory ahead of the grand tour season. Over 250 kilometers long, LBL is a true test of a rider's classics clout. Looking ahead to the race, we have five questions we can't wait to see the answers to come Sunday.

1. Can Valverde take one more classics victory before facing the music for Puerto?
Alejandro Valverde, year in and year out, is a favorite for LBL and the other two major hilly classics, Amstel Gold and the Fleche Wallonne. This year he was shut out of Amstel due to the volcano with the crazy name and at the Fleche he underwhelmed, managing only 8th place. Heading into Liege, Valverde is surprisingly under the radar as he hunts for his first big win of 2010. Off the bike meanwhile, Valverde is facing a worldwide ban courtesy of his involvement in Operacion Puerto, and as he is already banned in Italy LBL may be the last chance for the Spaniard to gain some individual glory. Valverde is a proven commodity at LBL with two wins, but his off the bike problems may finally be catching up to him. A win on Sunday would silence his critics and mollify his sponsor while another underwhelming ride would see his looming ban overshadow his spring performance.

2. Can Stijn Devolder revive his career with a solid ride at LBL?
Stijn Devolder has worn out his welcome with Quick Step boss Patrick Lefevre and unless he can finish in the top ten at LBL, he may miss out on riding the Tour de France as well. Devolder, after winning the Tour of Flanders is successive seasons in 2008 and 2009, is now at a crossroads in his career. Quick Step management has little faith in Devolder to ride at a high level the rest of the year, but a top ride at Liege would erase most of their doubts and buy the Belgian a ticket to the big dance in July.

3. Which young rider will impress the most at LBL?
There are a handful of young, talented riders for Liege, and each of them will be gunning for a top finish to pad their early season palmares. But who will it be? Dan Martin or Pete Stetina of Garmin? Talented climber Kevin Seeldrayers of Quick Step? Rabobank's ever-maturing grand tour hope Robert Gesink? Columbia's Tony Martin? Of the youngest riders, Gesink seems the most likely to have a top ride, as does Dan Martin. Seeldrayers too is underestimated, and could surprise for Quick Step.

4. Can Chris Horner break through and manage a podium appearance in a classic?
Chris Horner will go down in American cycling history as perhaps its most underrated rider. The now 38 year old can do it all . . . time trial, climb and ride the flats, and although he has been star-crossed at various moments in his career, he has still managed to carve out a respectable palmares while earning universal respect among his fellow competitors and cycling fans. Horner's time to succeed in the classics is NOW, as he has been granted leadership duties for the Radioshack team. After top ten performances at Amstel and Fleche, Horner may be saving it all for one huge effort at Liege. A win would grant him the status he already deserves in the American cycling lexicon: that of Legend.

5. Is Contador playing cat and mouse with the rest of the peloton?
Alberto Contador seems to want everyone to believe that he has no chance at LBL for the win. Is he kidding? One of the best climbers in the world riding with a full team behind him, Contador has a very real shot at winning Liege for his Astana squad. He may not have the sprint of Valverde or Cunego, but on the steeps he has no peers. Expect the Spaniard to attack hard at key moments in the race as he bids for a solo win.

There are other interesting sub-plots yet to play out at LBL, but the above 5 questions should get the conversation going. Meanwhile, why not throw a podium prediction out there for fun? Here's ours: 1. Alberto Contador 2. Chris Horner 3. Andy Schleck

Things Have Changed: Cadel Evans Goes from Underdog to Favorite Behind World's Win

Many great cyclists, on their way to the top of their sport, have a "moment" that is remembered as the time they went from good to great. Christian Vande Velde at the 2008 Tour de France. Brad Wiggins at the 2009 Tour. Tyler Farrar at the 2009 Paris-Tours race. For Cadel Evans, that moment came last year in Mendrisio at the world championships. The Australian, seemingly always a runner-up or suffering bad luck at the biggest races, finally broke through with a huge result and took the rainbow jersey with an audacious attack in the final kilometers of the hilly race. Since then, he has been a transformed rider.

Evans continued his strong riding with an amazing win at the Fleche-Wallonne classic today, riding away from some of the best climbers in the world en route to his first classic win. Having ridden the course the day before, Evans timed his attack to perfection, crossing the line in first place, and instantly vaulting himself up the list of favorites for Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege and May's Giro d'Italia. Confident and content within his new BMC team, all signs point toward a banner season for the 33 year old.

His form clearly on the upswing, Evans looks like he'll be a tough out come May and the Giro, as he aims for his first ever grand tour overall win. And interestingly, providing that he can hold his form for July, he could even be considered an outside threat for a top placing at the Tour de France in July. Either way though his 2010 has already been a success after his Fleche win.

Looking ahead, Evans will likely remain a top threat for the next several years. He is obviously happy at BMC, and as his confidence grows, so too will his results. He has broken through emphatically over the past several months, and anything is possible now that he possesses the confidence to match his talent. If he manages to win the overall in Italy, he'll gain Goliath status within the pro peloton. If not, he still has his Fleche win to console him as he re-loads for July's Tour. Not a bad parlay for a guy who seemed on his last legs less than a year ago at the Tour de France.

Paris-Roubaix Outcome Changed Due to In-Race Radios

A message to all that say race radios don't have an affect on the outcome of a bike races: YOU ARE CATEGORICALLY WRONG. Just a couple of weeks ago at Paris-Roubaix, Fabian Cancellara attacked an inattentive and vulnerable Tom Boonen after being notified by his director, Bjarne Riis, that the Belgian had dropped to the back of the lead group. Cancellara slipped away with his trademark power and Boonen never saw the powerful Swiss again as Cancellara soloed home for his third win of the spring classics season.

When the UCI anounced last year that they were moving forward with a plan to eliminate race radios from the peloton, many cyclists came forward and announced that it was no big deal, that race radios don't play too large a role in the outcomes of races. Cancellara's conquest at Roubaix though would suggest otherwise. Sure, he may have taken a long look back at the precise moment that Boonen dropped back and then attacked, but it was far easier on Cancellara to have Bjarne Riis in his ear letting him know the situation behind him in real time.

Fabian Cancellara's win at Roubaix was not due entirely to Riis' radio help. He had great legs and was clearly the strongest rider on the day. But it cannot be denied that the information that Cancellara received from his team car assisted him in timing his attack to perfection. Without race radios Cancellara still may have won Roubaix, but perhaps he would not have escaped with so many kilometers yet to race.

As race radios are fazed out completely from cycling, the above scenario will become a memory in the past. Riders, as they should be, will have to determine for themselves when the best time to attack in a given race is. That can only be a good thing for the riders and fans of professional cycling.

Cobbled Classic Wrap Up Part 2: Final Thoughts and Perspectives

EP's final thoughts on the first part of the cycling season . . .

The Garmin-Transitions team acquitted themselves nicely after a slow stat to their season. Tyler Farrar was unable to cross the line first until he took top honors in the Scheldeprijs, the sprinter's classic that runs just days before Paris-Roubaix. It was a big win for Farrar and for Garmin, especially considering that they were utterly shut out in Paris-Roubaix. One other highlight for Garmin was the veteran Davi Millar, who rode an impressive Tour of Flanders for the American team. Millar wants another crack at Flanders after his strong 2010 performance, and he'll probably get it in 2011.

Lance Armstrong's Radioshack team has underwhelmed thus far in 2010. Armstrong has changed his race schedule several times as he battles illness and lack of form, while classics hope Gert Steegmans crashed out early in the year and ruined his chances at taking on the cobbled races. If not for Chris Horner's amazing overall victory at this past week's Pais Vasco stage race, Radioshack would have nothing to celebrate for their early season.

The British Sky team exploded onto the International cycling scene behind a huge budget and glitzy team presentation in London. New signing Brad Wiggins was introduced as the team's grand tour hope, but the brash Brit hasn't had big results thus far in 2010, as he tapers for top form in July's Tour. Additionally, Kurt Asle-Arvesen broke his collar bone early in the year, taking him out of contention for he classics. With few other matches to burn in the early season races, Sky seemed without any hopes for the classics. Enter Juan Antonio Flecha. The soft-spoken and humble Spaniard won with panache at the Omloop Het Volk, and fell just short in Paris-Roubaix to an unbeatable Fabian Cancellara. All in all Sky's performance in the first part of the season was a good one, worthy of their big budget and high expectations.

Omega-Pharma, as in previous years, have experienced a disastrous spring campaign. With Robbie McEwen long gone and Cadel Evans at BMC, the other Belgian cycling team has been left only with Philippe Gilbert to ride at the font of races in 2010. Gilbert is a game competitor and rode hard in all of the early spring races, but he is not well-suited to some of the longer cobbled races. Leif Hoste, once a force on the cobbles is well past his prime, and so once again the Omega-Pharma team will head into the second half of the season winless. Gilbert will get his before the season is over, but the grand tour season could be as bleak as the spring for Omega-Pharma.

The Italian Liquigas team seemed well-positioned to contend in many of the season's early races for 2010, but at the end of the first third of the season they have no big wins to lean on. Daniele Benatti, oping for a big comeback after a poor 2009, rode well at Milan-San Remo, but besides that has been unseen. Manual Quinziato, so good at Roubaix in 2009, could manage only 63rd place, more than 14 minutes behind Cancellara. Unlike Omega-Pharma, Liquigas has a potent grand tour line up, and they should excel at both the Giro, Tour de France and Amgen Tour of California. But with no big results thus far in the spring, the pressure will be on for the hilly classics and grand tours.

Cobbled Classics Wrap Up Part 1: Final Thoughts and Perspectives

The first major part of the 2010 cycling season is complete, as the final big cobbled classic, Paris-Roubaix, was won by a rampaging Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team by better than 2 minutes over his closet rival. Now that Roubaix has been run, we head into the middle of the cycling season, which includes the hilly classics and two grand tours, the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France. Below follows EP's wrap on the cobbled classics and first part of the season.

Fabian Cancellara capped an amazing few weeks for his Saxo team, taking wins in three classics, the E3, Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Cancellara not only won these races, but as each week went by the Swiss powerhouse looked better and better. His win at Flanders was impressive, but his victory at Paris-Roubaix was the stuff of legend. Attacking nearly 40 kilometers from the finish alone was unbelievable, and to beat the field that he did in Roubaix by so much is unheard of in the modern era of cycling. Even if he doesn't win another race in 2010, which is highly doubtful, Cancellara should be awarded the rider of the year award for 2010.

Tom Boonen was the second strongest riders throughout the first part of the season, but the Belgian super star has little to show for his efforts. He was unable to thwart Cancellara in any of the early season classics, and he'll head into the grand our season without a major classics win for the first time in six years, and his firs as a professional. Hopefully Boonen will take heart from his three runner-up finishes and keep his confidence and motivation ahead of the grand tour season, instead of falling into his previous bad habits of a heavy party lifestyle. Winning isn't an exact science, and if Boonen stays on the path he's been on thus far in 2010, he's sure to break through with a big win soon.

Heinrich Haussler and Filippo Pozzato all deserve consideration for "star-crossed" cyclist of the spring award. Haussler has not been able to ride at all after suffering a knee injury earlier this season, while Pozzato saw his early season classic hopes destroyed after falling ill with flu-like symptoms. For Haussler things seem to be looking up. He is training pain-free again and is a versatile enough rider to be able to hope for big wins in the grand tours. For Pozzato though it will be an uphill road to glory in the coming months. Neither a sprinter or climber, Pozzato will have to try to get into breakaways for the grand tours and win out of small groups. He is capable of winning stages in the grand tours, but finding yourself in a break that will stay away to the finish line is a rare thing, especially in the current era of race radios and communication from team cars.

If Oscar Freire hadn't won Milan-San Remo for his Rabobank team, their early season would have been considered an absolute debacle. Lars Boom is still young and not strong enough to succeed in long classics, while Nick Nuyens has been shut out of the results column in every early season classic. The former Quick Step rider seems ill-suited to leadership duties, and Rabobank would be well-served to turn him into a domestique or drop him altogether.

Thor Hushovd had a tough early season, beset by illness and bad luck. He finished strong though, with a 2nd place at Paris-Roubaix behind an unbeatable Cancellara. The Cervelo TestTeam star had to shoulder the entire load for his team in the early season, but it may end up helping him later in the year. He is clearly improving by the day, and should be a force at the Tour of California and Tour de France during the middle part of the season. He'll also likely be a top favorite for the world championship in Australia in the fall.

HTC-Columbia's spring season was saved by Bernhard Eisel when the affable veteran took top honors at Ghent-Wevelgem, but last year's winningest team must be nervous about the poor early season form of Mark Cavendish. The Briton has been a shadow of his 2009 self thus far this year, and he'll need a huge summer and fall to live up to the expectations placed on him by his HTC-Columbia management. Add to the mix the fact that he is openly feuding with teammate and fellow fast man Andre Greipel, and Cavendish is having a nightmare start to his 2010 season. Already slated to ride the Amgen Tour of California and Tour d France, Cavendish needs wins at both event to jump start his season.

Heading into the early season classics, BMC looked like a team capable of accomplishing big things in the first year as a high profile team. But with recent revelations and accusations against Alessandro Ballan (some say prematurely) and Mauro Santambrogio, the BMC squad seems rife with turmoil at the mid point of the season. Cadel Evans has been solid thus far for BMC, but besides the world champion no other BMC rider has shown themselves to be up to winning in the early part of the year. George Hincapie, a huge sentimental favorite for the cobbles, was unabel to make a difference at wither Flanders or Roubaix, and despite his classiness he looks a step slower than his younger competition. With the hilly classics approaching the BMC squad will hope Evans or Karsten Kroon can bag a big win, before an assault on the overall classification at July's Tour de France.

Part 2 of our early season wrap tomorrow, where we'll discuss the impact of Garmin-Transitions, Radioshack, Sky, Omega-Pharma and Liquigas.

Tour of the Gila 2010: Amgen Tour of California Prep Race?

The 24th SRAM Tour of the Gila runs from April 28-May 2, and the mid season stage race will afford some tough climbing and technical criterium racing throughout the event. Many of the top domestic American teams are already represented, with United-Healthcare, Bissell, Jamis Sutter Home, Kelly Benefit Strategies, Jelly Belly, Team Type 1 and Mountain Khakis all sending riders to the race. The Fly V team of Phil Zajicek will also be at Gila, along with the composite DZ Nuts squad, composed of Garmin riders Dave Zabriskie, Tom Danielson and Danny Pate all making the trip to New Mexico to compete as well.

With several weeks left until the race, the question now turns to even bigger names and their status of participation. High profile squads like Radioshack and BMC are not allowed to send full teams to Gila due to the race's classification, but providing they race with different uniforms, each team can send three riders. Last year, under the Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop jersey, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner barnstormed the event, putting Leipheimer into the position of overall winner. It would not be a huge surprise to see the trio make the trip again this year.

Not only is the Tour of the Gila a challenging stage race that features great weather, but it is now just weeks before the Amgen Tour of California. Domestic teams like Bissell, KBS, SpiderTech and Team Type 1 are all taking advantage of Gila to hone their form ahead of the AToC, so it is not to much of a stretch to think that riders like Armstrong or BMC's George Hincapie wouldn't have the same idea. Add to those factors the fact that Armstrong has a close relationship with race sponsor SRAM, and the Texan seems more and more likely to participate.

In the coming years it will be interesting to see how the Tour of the Gila develops as a strong stage race ahead of the now well-established and wildly popular Tour of California. Providing that Gila continues to put on a safe and challenging event as they have in previous seasons, it would seem probable that they could assume the role of top prep race for the AToC hopefuls. Further, the Tour of the Gila may want to think about upgrading their standing on the International calendar, in hopes of attracting an International field for future editions.

Tough Luck for Pozzato as Sickness Derails Classics Hopes

Filippo Pozzato's luck turned for the worse at the exact wrong moment several days ago, as the Italian was laid low by by the flu leading up the the E3 Sheldeprijs and Tour of Flanders. Pozzato was on scintillating form and looked like a top favorite for the biggest monuments before falling ill, and although he is planning on starting Paris-Roubaix, it is unlikely that he'll feature in the finale of the final big cobbled classic of 2010.

Perhaps Pozzato's sickness will spur him onward when his conditions improves. In previous seasons he has been unwilling or unable to attack for victory, instead choosing to follow wheels in hopes of conserving his energy for the finish. After seeing many riders win big races solo this season, like Matti Breschel at Dwars door Vlaanderen and Cancellara at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and Tour of Flanders, Pozzato must know now more than ever that to win a big race one must attack. Following wheels will only take you so far.

Now that his early season has been derailed, the only thing for Pozzato to do now is reload for the grand tours and try to salvage the rest of his season moving forward. He'll be a protected rider at both the Giro and Tour de France, as he'll be able to go on the hunt for stage wins throughout both events. If he comes away empty in both grand tours though, expect Pozzato to come under fire from his Katuysha management.

Dominant Cancellara Takes 2010 Tour of Flanders . . . Paris-Roubaix Next?

After another dominating solo win on the cobbles, this time at the Tour of Flanders, Fabian Cancellara has entrenched himself as the strongest favorite for the final big cobbled classic of 2010 this coming Sunday, Paris-Roubaix. The Saxo Bank star looks almost unbeatable right now, despite the best efforts of Tom Boonen and others. He'll roll into Roubaix the number one favorite as he looks to close out a wildly successful classics campaign for himself and his Saxo Bank squad.

Making the difficult look easy, Fabian Cancellara seems to get better and better each year of his career. As a youngster, he was known as a strong time trialist. As the years went on though, he matured into a fearsome one day threat. His race acumen was complimented by his raw power, and by the time he won Milan-San Remo in 2008, the secret was out: Cancellara had become one of the best one day racers in all the world.

Today, there doesn't seem to be any race that he can't win. He has tapered down considerably over the years, and now seems as skinny in his upper body as Andy Schleck. Yet his legs are still huge and so is the power that they emit. His combination of experience and physical prowess makes him very hard to come around, no matter the conditions.

At only 29 years old, Cancellara still has many races to win before his career ends. He wants to win the hilly monuments Leige-Bastogne-Leige and the Giro di Lombardia as well, and in all likelihood he probably will in time. Now, the only remaining question is can he turn himself into a grand tour contender.

Cancellara clearly has the skills to take time from his rivals in the time trial discipline, and although he currently isn't known as a climber, all that could change with some targeted training over the next couple of seasons. If he pours himself into the art of climbing as he has other disciplines, there is no reason to believe that he can't become at least satisfactory in the high mountains. Then, using his time trialing skills, he would be able to make up the time lost to pure climbers at the grand tours.

In the new world of specialized professional cycling, where riders target only specific races, Cancellara remains a true original, a diamond in the rough, capable of success in a variety of conditions. His ceiling has not been reached yet, and it wouldn't be surprising to see him continue to improve over the next several seasons. When all is said and done in his career, Cancellara may find himself mentioned in the same conversation as the true greats of cycling, riders like Merckx and Hinault.

Dope House: New Cycling Reality Show to Unite Past Cheaters

Big news from Fuel TV today as executives have announced plans to launch a new cycling reality show this coming November called "Dope House: Pro Cyclists." An aggressive one hour format on an always controversial topic, "Dope House" already features a strong lineup of stars. Plus, because the show is only planned for a three month run in cycling's off season, from November through the end of January, all of the involved cyclists will be able to participate in the show without disrupting their 2011 race schedule too much.

Already confirmed to live in the house are current professionals Ivan Basso, Michael Rasmussen, Riccardo Ricco, David Millar, Danilo di Luca, Stefan Schumacher, Thomas Dekker and Alexander Vinokourov. But in adding a twist to the show, executives have also signed several ex-pro dopers to live in a separate wing of the house. Those signed on are Jan Ullrich, Tyler Hamilton, Bernhard Kohl, Michele Scarponi, Jorg Jaksche, Roberto Heras, Dario Frigo and Oscar Camenzind.

The show will pit the active pro riders against those that have since retired in various bike disciplines. Over the course of the three month show, riders on both teams will earn points based on how they finish in each race. Among the races planned are road criteriums, circuit races, time trials, mountain bike races (both single track and downhill), BMX races, track races and even "clunker" races, where each bike used must weigh more than 30 pounds.

In a further twist, the ex-pro participants will be given carte blanche to use any drug they choose to enhance their performance, while the current professionals will have to rely only on natural foods and supplements. Already several specialists have been hired by the ex-pros, including Manolo Saiz, Luigi Checcini, Joseba Beloki and Rudy Pevenage. The current pros meanwhile will be subjected to rigorous drug tests to ensure they are not cheating.

"Dope House" promises to be a non-stop action-packed adventure for all cycling fans, and the show features the ultimate prize for the top-ranked team at the end of the show. Whomever comes out victorious will have the honor of starting their own line of bicycles, tagged "Cyko Cycles." Ullrich, already the owner of his own brand of bikes, has nevertheless stated that he'll be gunning for top honors on behalf of the rest of his team. The first episode is scheduled to air on October 1. The location of the house has not been made public.