Cooke wins again
In a blistering return to form Nicole Cooke won the GP de Wallonie in Belgium yesterday. This win should see her well marked for Wednesday’s La Flèche Wallonne, the next round of the Women’s World Cup.
A very respectable turn out from UK women saw eight riders from Great Britain finishing in the main group.

1 Nicole Cooke (GBr) Safi – Pasta Zara Manhattan – 2.37.32
2 Katie Brown (Aus) Australia
3 Oenone Wood (Aus) Equipe Nürnberger Versicherung
4 Joanne Kiesanowski (NZl) Nobili Rubinetterie – Menikini – Cogeas
5 Bertine Spijkerman (Ned) @Work
6 Martina Corazza (Ita) A.S. Team F.R.W
7 Lien Verhaeghe (Bel) Lotto
8 Debby Mansveld (Ned) Vlaanderen – Capri Sonne – T Interim
9 Julia Martissova (Rus) P.M.B. Fenixs
10 Suzanne De Goede (Ned) Van Bemmelen – AA Drink

also:
24 Catherine Hare (GBr) Mixte Team Bianchi
25 Leda Cox (GBr) Vitron Wilstra Lorin
30 Jacqui Marshall (GBr) WCRA
39 Charlotte Goldsmith (GBr) Vlaanderen – Capri Sonne – T Interim
63 Emma Davies (GBr) Vlaanderen – Capri Sonne – T Interim
81 Amy Hunt (GBr) WCRA
87 Jeanette Tebbutt (GBr) WCRA
98 Kate Cullen (GBr) WCRA @30 secs

Wegelius on Podium at Veulta a Aragon
With one of the finest time trial performances in a stage race for a very long time, climber (and a long time domestique on the Italian race circuit) Charly Wegelius has come of age with his finest performance to date. His second place on the time trial and 10th place on the final hilly stage sealed the result, and he beat Jan Ullrich in the time trial by a staggering 1′ 30″! Hopefully this could mark a new start for the stage racer and he may have booked a place on the Tour de France with this excellent ride.

1 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Comunitat Valenciana 17.03.24
2 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis 0.22
3 Charly Wegelius (GB) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.26
4 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Barloworld 1.03
5 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Comunitat Valenciana 1.09
6 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros 1.12
7 David Lopez (Spa) Euskaltel 1.15
8 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunitat Valenciana
9 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Kaiku 1.23
10 Felix Cardenas (Col) Barloworld 1.26

Always the bridesmaid…
Danilo Di Luca won another of the hardman’s classics the 40th Amstel Gold race in Holland. However Dutchman and ‘rouleur’ Michael Boogerd, who has won the Amstel Gold once in 1999, was second for the 4th time… Di Luca read it perfectly and won by a length. Bradley Wiggins continues his progress in the pro ranks finishing 2 minutes back in the splitting peloton after a hard and fast race.

1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas – Bianchi – 6.21.07
2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank – s.t.
3 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
5 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems
6 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quickstep
7 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
8 David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) Liberty Seguros – Würth Team
9 Jerome Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
10 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
44th Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Crédit Agricole – @1.58

Believe Tyler?
Whether you do, or don’t the chances are that if Tyler Hamilton is cleared of blood doping today by USADA he could be riding in the Tour of Georgia alongside Lance Armstrong. However the UCI are still after him, so he’s not out of the woods just yet: “The UCI will wait and see what happens in America, with regards to the verdict. If necessary, we will take it to CAS after that,” said a UCI official.

Hoy hits the deck
World Champion Chris Hoy is currently out in Japan riding the Keirin circuit, but he seems to have gotten off lightly from a heavy crash, his bike was a right-off. According to his website

In a rushed phone call early on Saturday morning Chris told us that he had been involved in a fairly major crash on the last day of Keirin School. All riders who want to ride the Keirin must pass the exam which includes a written exam on the rules and regulations of the sport and a practical test including stripping and rebuilding your bike. There are also practice races and Time Trials. Up to today, things were going really well with a 1.06 outdoor Kilo which beat the previous best by almost 2 seconds. He had also had a 1st, two 2nds and a 3rd in his test races. In the last race of the last day, a rider on the inside hooked the rider outside him. The second guy overreacted and swerved up the track taking out the third rider. Chris was coming round the outside and had nowhere to go. He crashed heavily into the fallen rider at about 65kpm. Thankfully, he was wearing full body armour and a motorcycle helmet. The helmet was a write off and his bike was wrecked with the forks sheared and the frame bent. The track is treated with a non-slip surface similar to that used in GB at traffic lights and accident hot-spots. Instead of sliding to a halt, Chris stopped in just two bounces taking the full impact of the crash on his hip and elbow. He was taken to the local hospital for x-ray and examination. Luckily, there is nothing broken and he was allowed back to the hotel after a couple of hours. He has lost remarkably little skin but has some fairly deep bruising to work off over the next few days.

Terry Dolan, who built the special steel frame especially for Chris to ride in Japan, is already working on a replacement frame which will be couriered out to Japan on Monday morning. Chris’ first race is on Friday 22nd in the Kawasaki Velodrome just outside Tokyo and he is confident he will be riding although probably not on full song. Further details of that first race will be posted on Wednesday with details of of the local website where there will be live video-streaming available for you real hard core fans

22-24 April – Kawasaki Velodrome – 17.00 – 21.00
27-29 April – Keiokaku Velodrome – 13.00 – 17.00
4 – 6 May – Aomori Velodrome 13.00 – 17.00
13-15 May – Ogaki Velodrome
21-22 Matsudo Velodrome – 13.00 – 17.00