Thanks for all the bananas. IT really was a relief to finally beat Boonen

Hushovd must hate Boonen by now

This month we have met Jakob Fuglsang (RadioShack - Nissan) for a chat about the season so far and his expectations for the future.


Jakob, you have ridden 16 days this far, but we haven’t seen much of you in the finals


What about the rest of the season?


You don’t seem to pleased about being a Super-domestique…


Could that team be the rising stars in Nordic Cyling Falcon – STARK


Thanks for your time. We hope to see more of you over the season.

Who should The Rear Wheel interview next month, and what should we ask him?


Rider of the month: Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK. Victory in Paris – Nice and Gent – Wevelgem and a bunch of good secondary positions make this a well deserved award.
Young rider of the month, February: Dmitry Mokrov, Itera - Katusha. Dmitry had some solid performances in the last part of Tour de Langkawi.
Nordic rider of the month, February: Jesper Hansen, Falcon – STARK. Hushovd would have been the obvious choice, and Boasson Hagen have also done well, but Jesper Hansen is the Nordic rider who have surprised the most in the last month with KOM in T-A as well as GC-third and youth jersey in Catalunya.

World tour ranking:
1. Thor Hushovd, Falcon - STARK
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Sky
3. Tom Boonen, Rabobank

1. Falcon - STARK
2. Movistar
3. Rabobank
13. Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank

CQ-ranking:
1. Thor Hushovd, Falcon - STARK
2. Tom Boonen, Rabobank
3. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre – ISD
21. Jesper Hansen, Falcon - STARK
68. Kjell Carlström, Falcon - STARK
185. Christofer Stevenson, Falcon - STARK

1. Falcon – STARK (WT)
2. Movistar (WT)
3. Rabobank (WT)
7. AG2R La Mondiale (CNT)
9. Accent Jobs – Willems Veranda’s (CNT)
30. Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
50. Christina Watches – Onfone
66. Joker Merida
NA. Blue Water
NA. Concordia Forsikring
NA. Glud & Marstrand
NA. Svenska Cyklister
NA. Øster Hus

U23 races
The U23 season has begun with Grand Prix de Portugal. 21-year old Dane Brian Steen Matzen won all three stages and obviously the GC.

Reactions:




Bjarne Riis: How do you feel about your team not being the best in Scandinavia at the moment?

No doubt Boonen will be top-motivated for the biggest Cobble-classic in Belgium, but all the best cobblers are here and Tommeke will not get anything for free on this grey and rainy day.

A break with 11 riders with next to no cobble-skill get going early in the race, but is caught as soon as the peloton hit the cobbles. Bak is covering the subsequent breaks, but Accent Jobs keep pulling them in.

With 70 km to go RadioShack and Rabobank take over in leading the 32-rider peloton.
30 km to go and 19 riders left. 11 km and 15 riders left. But then Vansummeren crash taking five other riders with him leaving 9 riders in the battle.

With 5 km to go Ballan attacks and Boonen follows. Hushovd stays on Boonens wheel while Bak is working to keep up the speed to catch Ballan, But the Italian is just too strong today.


1. Alessandro Ballan, BMC Racing Team
2. Thor Hushovd, Falcon - STARK
3. Fabian Cancellara, RadioShack - Nissan
7. Lars Ytting Bak, Falcon - STARK

The Rankings make good reading for the team

And another Great performance from Thor in Belgium

Nice Ronde. Hushovd will smash Paris-Roubaix

Great Ronde! Time to rip it up at P-R

Hushovd 2nd in the Ronde, brilliant!
He's really an excellent rider in the team, bringing in lots of points!

sutty: Sure does. We should be very close to ensure another year on the WT.

Jakstar and hoyle: Lets hope so.

Ian Butler: That's what we signed him for... without him we wouldn't stand a chance on the WT

We are not expecting to be able to match riders like Contador, Basso, Valverde or S. Sanchez, and the race is more to build fitness than anything else for us. But as in every other race we will keep our eyes open for opportunities…

Stage 1
Kjell Carlström find his way to the very large BOTD.
Kjell is struggling on the climbs all day and as Valverde, Purito, Vanendert and Roche come up from behind on the last climb the Finn has to give up. In the final there is plenty of attacking by the favourites with Roche and Vanendert being the most active and Valverde the strongest by far.

Results:
1. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar
2. Wout Poels, Euskaltel - Euskadi
3. Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
26. Kjell Carlström, Falcon – STARK



Stage 2
Philip Lindau tried to join the break, but just wasn’t strong enough to keep up with Basso, Casar and Taaramäe on the hills. Thor Hushovd was placed well in the finish as Valverde attacked. Hushovd goes after him but gets a puncture at the most unlucky time and since all other Falcon rides were too far behind in the peloton we won’t see the team play a role in the finish. Magnus Cort lost contact early on the stage and ended up finishing outside the time limit.

Results:
1. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar
2. Joaquím Rodriguez, Katusha
3. Luis León Sánchez, Movistar
19. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK



Stage 3
Today Lasse Bøchman is covering the break for Falcon – STARK and he has a lot more success than Lindau had yesterday. Among the other seven breakers are Koldo Fernandez and Canadian Champion Svein Tuft. But Bøchman doesn’t have the legs to follow the break all way through either.

Results:
1. Francesco Ginanni, Acqua & Sapone
2. Koldo Fernandez, Garmin - Sharp
3. Gianni Meersman, Lotto Belisol
8. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK



Provisional Standings:
1. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar Team
2. Joaquím Rodríguez, Katusha Team
3. Jelle Vanendert, Lotto Belisol Team
26. Thor Hushovd, Falcon - STARK



Mountains: Zdenek Stybar, Omega Pharma - QuickStep
Points: Alejandro Valverde, Movistar Team
Young rider: Carlos Betancur, Acqua & Sapone
Team: Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank

Nice job in Pais Vasco. Hushovd doing well. Keep it up

A top 10 in a stage, maybe it's the maximum possible at the moment there...

Jakstar: It's hard work, but everyone is really trying their best

Ian Butler: I think it is. We haven't really got any great puncheurs on the team and especially Valverde is looking really strong.

With Hushovd riding Pais Vasco this is the chance for some of the other cobble riders like Lars Bak and Jens Erik Madsen.
Bäckstedt chase the win through the early break, which after struggling to establish builds a decent lead.

Back in the peloton Accent Jobs work hard to wheel in the break and Falcon – STARK is sitting right behind them as the peloton diminishes to only 34 riders with 48 km to go.
With 5 km to go the front group is 32 riders large and both Bak and Madsen are in there. Since Bak would have no chance of winning a sprint he attacks on the 5 km mark while Madsen stay near the Accent Jobs-train waiting for the sprint.

Bak gets caught right under la flame rouge, but the tactic succeeds as Jens Erik Madsen puts in an amazing sprint.



Results:

What a Brilliant victory for Madsen

Stage 4
This looks to be the GC-deciding stage. That means we shouldn’t expect to see much of Falcon – STARK.
In spite of Bøchman putting in a lot of effort no break manage to get a really decisive lead until about 60 km into the stage. Bøchman in in there but with 50 km to go he lose contact with the group, which now has 6’30’’ to the peloton. Guess he used too much energy establishing the break. Now all hopes lie on Hartvig Nielsen, but the young Dane continue his spree of bad form. On the final climb Contador proves to be a level above everyone else.

Results:
1. Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
2. Joaquím Rodriguez, Katusha
3. Alejandro Valverde, Movistar
67. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK



Stage 5
Today a small break lasted all the way, but no Falcons managed to get in there. The favourites were fairly calm today allowing Thor Hushovd a decent finish.

Results:
1. Carlos Barredo, Rabobank
2. Ben Gastauer, AG2R La Mondiale
3. Sergio Mantecón, Andalucía
7. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK



Stage 6 – TT
In this final stage Lasse Bøchman should be Falcon – STARK’s best bid for a decent result, but the TT might just be short enough for Thor to do something as well.
Kreutzfeldt put in a good time by finishing provisional third.
When Bøchman is off Daniel is still best Falcon at 19th 41’’ after Anthony Roux.
Bøchman get a 10th 31’’ slower than Leipheimer, who is now in the lead.
Hushovd surprise everyone by getting a provisional 2nd

Results:
1. Luis León Sánchez, Movistar
2. Tejay Van Garderen, BMC
3. Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
6. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK

Final Standing:

23. Thor Hushovd, Falcon – STARK

Mountain: Sandy Casar, FDJ – BigMat
Points: Alejandro Valverde, Movistar
Young rider: Carlos Betancur, Acqua & Sapone
Team: Movistar

Great win be Madsen. The team did alright In Pais Vasco as well

No Classification jerseys for the Team this time round, but at least they all had a steady ride, What race is up next

Next up: Paris - Roubaix

Time for Thor to capitalize on his good form and realize his big dream of winning the biggest cobble race of the all. And everyone is ready to support him they best they can.
Invigorated by his recent victory Jens Erik Madsen goes in the early break along with Van Keirsbulck and Van Garderen. With 150 km to go the group has more than 6 minutes to the peloton lead by RadioShack’s Hayden Roulston.

100 km to go and Madsen is now alone in front as the others have lost contact on the cobbles. He has 9 minutes to the peloton.

60 km to go and Jens Erik Madsen is now only rider in front of the favourites with a gap of just under 6 minutes. At the moment Garmin – Sharp is doing all the hard work in the peloton, but the big favourites should start to get worried if the victory is slipping out of their hands. And they do. With 45 km to go Boonen take the front of the 26-rider peloton and soon after Cancellara starts helping out as well.

30 km to go 14 riders are trailing by 1’40’’ as Ballan goes on the attack. Cancellara follows and the two join Madsen ahead.

Bak and Boonen does a lot of work to wheel them back in and with 8 km to go four riders are left in the front group: Boonen, Cancellara, Ballan and Hushovd.

Nuyens and Vansummeren catch up with the four in the velodrome. 6 riders for the sprint. Boonen and Cancellara both open the sprint early and Hushovd is the only rider capable of following them.

With 1 km to go Hushovd starts his sprint and rides to a magnificent win!



Results:
1. Thor Hushovd, Falcon - STARK
2. Tom Boonen, Rabobank Cycling Team
3. Fabian Cancellara, RadioShack - Nissan
11. Lars Ytting Bak, Falcon - STARK
13. Jens Erik Madsen, Falcon - STARK