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Can Haussler win Tour of Flanders?

In cycling-crazed Belgium, the Tour of Flanders is one of the main races of the year. The entire nation seems to come to a standstill to watch the 258.9km battle from Brugge to Meerbeke (with plenty of beer-drinking along the way). Heinrich Haussler has shown that he has the ability to make the right moves, but does Haussler have the firepower to beat the Belgians in their home race, Ronde van Vlaanderen this Sunday? “The Racing-Kangaroo” was ready to take the questions when Andrew Hood (VeloNews) met him and the rest of the Cervélo Test Team in Belgium. What do you think about racing cobbles in Belgium? “The cobbles mean something to me… It is like an addiction”. “The fans here in Belgium are unbelievable, you don’t see it anywhere else expect at the Tour de France.” What do you think about the course of Tour of Flanders? “Today we did the last 140 kilometres. I saw the two new climbs (Eikenberg and Varent) and the different cobble sections. I know the race well: from the Kwaremont to the finish I have all in my head. The new bit is not really hard, but there are lot of small roads ...

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Haussler, favourite for the Classics!

Heinrich Haussler is now a favourite for the Classics thanks to his early season and near-miss in Milano-Sanremo. He has put his name in lights this season with the rapid-fire attack to win the sprint in stage two of Paris-Nice. He nearly did the same thing one week later in Milano-Sanremo. He shot out at 350 metres to go before Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) caught him back. Haussler on Tour of Flanders: “My form is still the same. I should be up there. I will hide myself a bit more and ride a bit smarter, he said. Hopefully, there will be more teammates in the end so we can have more options. Thor Hushovd or Andreas Klier can win. We need more numbers, more than Quick Step, Lotto or Rabobank.” Haussler is taken it easy between the races. When we talked with him a few days ago, he indicated his riding as coffee shop runs (obviously a little more on the harder side.) He said that he saves the real energy bursts for the race days. “I want to keep my form through Paris-Roubaix. It should hold on if I don’t get sick. I am not doing any really hard training ...

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Ready for cobbles & climbs!

Thor Hushovd came in 4th, 45 seconds behind Pozzato, Boonen and Iglinskiy at E3 Prijs Vlaanderen (Belgium) on Saturday. Sporting director Jean-Paul van Poppel commented after the race, “We just missed by about 6 seconds to connect after the final climb. Thor wasn’t able to catch the first three but even so it is a good result, he said. “With this, we are very happy going into the next week with Ronde van Vlaanderen / Tour des Flandres, Gent – Wevelgem and Paris-Roubaix.” RONDE VAN VLAANDEREN, April 5th Tour of Flanders, held over 264km from Bruges to Ninove-Meerbeke is one of the toughest Classics of the year with the most exciting and knowledgeable spectators you’ll find anywhere. With 16 brutal climbs crammed in to the last 120k, half of them cobbled, with rain, cross winds and riding down tiny narrow roads at 60 km/t in a 150 strong bunch, well it doesn’t get much better. Keep an eye on the Men-in-Black on Sunday: 211 HAMMOND Roger 212 HAUSSLER Heinrich 213 HUSHOVD Thor 214 KLIER Andreas 215 LANCASTER Brett 216 RASCH Gabriel 217 ROLLIN Dominique 218 ROULSTON Hayden

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Sastre preparing for the Giro

Carlos Sastre is tuning his form after getting a slow start to the year due to a bout with the influenza virus in February. He finished the Castilla y León in 40th place overall, 6:24 behind Levi Leipheimer. The Cervélo TestTeam rider was happy to finish the race, which he was using as preparation for his first major goal of the season, the Giro d’Italia. Sastre has changed his program for 2009 to focus on both the Giro and Tour, leaving the Vuelta a España aside for the time being, a switch from his typical racing program that focused on the Tour and then the Vuelta.

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Fast Team, Fast Clothing!

The Cervélo Test Team kit is to speed and performance – speed through aerodynamics and reduced weight, but also speed by helping the human body to perform at its maximum potential. We design our garments to help blood flow to the muscles, to help maintain the body at its optimum operating temperature, and to smooth the air flow around the body in real world situations. We then test and refine, test some more, and refine some more, on the road and in the wind tunnel. Cervélo Aero Race Team Jersey Two-third of aerodynamic resistance is created by the rider and only 1/3 from the bike. So even small gains here can make a big difference. In fact, testing from the San Diego windtunnel shows that this jersey saves 10 watts when riding with your hands on the hoods at 40 km/h. That translates into about 40 seconds saved every hour compared to a standard cycling jersey. The jersey was designed with the Castelli Velocity fabric and no extra fabric flapping in the riding position. The cut is small and stretched tightly over the body, with extra-long sleeves that point up and forward. To getting the air to flow efficiently over ...

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