CyclingFans: Wednesday's Three Days of De Panne Stage 2 departs Zottegem at 11:40am CET (5:40am U.S. Eastern) and is expected at the finish at Koksijde (Oostduinkerke) at around 4:53pm CET (10:53am U.S. Eastern).  3 Days of De Panne live streaming video should get underway at around 2:45pm CET (8:45am U.S. Eastern).

CyclingNews: The USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC), designed to highlight the nation's top criterium events and riders, begins Saturday with the Cigar City Brewing Criterium in Tampa, Florida. The 19-event calendar is the first of its kind for USA Cycling as criterium races were previously part of the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC).

CyclingNews: Anonymous letter writers have threated to strew nails on the course of the Tour of Flanders in protest of the change of route this year. The Mayor of Oudenaarde, where the race will finish this year, received the ominous mail last week.

VeloNation: Slovakian champion takes sprint ahead of much-reduced peloton after an attritional day in the Flemish Ardennes.

CyclingNews: The Bulls 1 team of Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm sprinted to a win at the end of Cape Epic stage 2 in a time of 4:21:13. They were closely followed by Hannes Genze and Andreas Kugler (Multivan Merida Biking) and the winners of the previous two days, Burry Stander and Christoph Sauser (Team 36ONE-Songo-Specialized).

Cape Epic - March 25-April 1 (Races & results),
De Panne-Koksijde - March 27-29 (Stages & results),
Volta a Catalunya - March 19-25 (Stages & results),
Critérium International - March 24-25 (Stages & results),
Tour de Normandie - March 19-25 (Stages & results),
Vuelta Mexico  - March 18-25 (Stages & results),
Gent - Wevelgem - March 25 (Start list),
Trofeo Alfredo Binda - March 25 (Start list),
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke - March 23 (Start list),
Coppi e Bartali March - 20-24 (Stages & results),
Amgen Tour of California - May 13-20 (Stages ),
More...

CyclingNews: Karsten Kroon has nothing good to say about the UCI and doping. He is angry at how the organisation treated Alberto Contador, and the effect of the Spaniard's suspension on Team Saxo Bank. Added to that, he said he has been informed that he has missed doping controls.

Today's Quote

“I was isolated before the Monteberg. It’s as simple as one wheel; someone loses the wheel in front of you, and you’re gapped.” - Mark Cavendish VeloNews

Andy Schleck of team RadioShack-Nissan is to receive official honours for the 2010 Tour de France victory, following the disqualification of Alberto Contador because of a doping-related suspension. Race director Christian Prudhomme has told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that he was planning to hold an official ceremony in Luxembourg, awarding Schleck with the title.

CyclingNews: Boonen the weekend's big winner.

VeloNation: Eight foreign teams amongst field in tough 1.2-ranked race.

InnerRing: ASO has unveiled the route of the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné. The 8 day stage race is a great contest in its own right but also resembles the Tour de France in more ways than one.

InnerRing: AG2R-La Mondiale is now the only UCI Pro Team yet to win this year. In 2011 the brown short brigade took five wins, crowned by John Gadret’s stage win in the Giro d’Italia. With a modest record like this it’s easy to be dismissive but this ignores the squad’s budget, it just doesn’t have the funds to match Team Sky or Omega Pharma-Quickstep.

RedKitePrayer: Of all things, the water bottle has been in the news this past week. First came the loose bottle on the ground at a feed zone that caused Volta a Catalunya favorite Alejandro Valverde to crash and later pull out of the race. In Belgium, world champion Mark Cavendish accused a Katusha team rider of throwing a bottle into his wheel and making him crash near the end of the Across Flanders race. And then there was a pronouncement from the UCI that, among other new regulations, the world’s governing body will soon be banning aerodynamically shaped bottles.

Breakthrough in e-Bike Battery Technology?

BikeEurope: Science, the world’s leading journal of original scientific research, is publishing an article on the first research results of a Polish-Swedish group. Their study is called: “Searching for a better thermal battery.”

BikeRumor: Paul Budnitz, the creator of Kidrobot toys, built his first bicycles in 2006. In 2011, Budnitz Bicycles was founded with the goal of manufacturing simple, built-to-last bikes.

BikeRadar verdict: 3 out of 5 stars. "Good first attempt from Mavic, ideal for sporty roundheads."

CyclingNews: It is the track sprinting rivalry that will not go away. Victoria Pendleton fronted the media on Tuesday in Melbourne ahead of next week's UCI Track World Championships where she spoke of her on-going battle with Australian Anna Meares.

 

CyclingNews: Eddy Merckx has been indicted in a corruption case involving his bike company, Eddy Merckx Cycles, and the local police service of Anderlecht, a Belgian municipality.

road.cc: Two and a half year ban for Colnago-CSF rider, reduced from six due to his co-operation with enquiry.

VeloNation: Governing body ‘concerned’ that World Cup event might not take place.

On Monday the UCI replied to my questions about its clarification document on equipment rules, specifically the prohibition on modifying equipment that includes filing off axle-retention tabs on forks.

The hood doubles as a helmet for the soft-headed. The soft-headed will like this one: Would have, should have, could have...hood have! Perfect for walking around the neighborhood, or receiving a knighthood, or even statehood. When you see it, you will likelihood (French). It is a real hood, not a falsehood!

road.cc: A mighty gallery of hand built road bike loveliness in steel, Ti and carbon.

road.cc: Fairly lightweight bottle cage that holds onto your bottle securely without any road buzz.

Pedal: The 25th edition of Taipei Cycle took place earlier this month at the Nangang Exhibition Hall in Taipei, Taiwan and continues to grow as one of the world’s top three bicycle trade shows. A total of 1,092 companies filled 3,288 booths at this year’s show, an increase of 15% over last year. In addition, the show saw 13% more international visits this year, a testament to the importance of the Taipei Cycle show.

Five Thoughts From Flanders.