A round-up of some spring cycling news:
Tyler Farrar
Wenatchee, Washington's Tyler Farrar claimed his second victory of the year at the Grote Scheldeprijs in Belgium on Wednesday.
The 122-mile bike race from Antwerp to Schoten is a flat route that's pretty much designed for a sprint finish. Farrar became the first American ever to win the race, and beat the likes of Australia's Robbie McEwen (Team Katusha), Germany's Robert Forster (Team Milram), and New Zealand's Greg Henderson (Sky pro cycling).
In the video above, you can see Farrar just blasting past Belgium's Tom Boonen, who was leading out for QuickStep teammate Wouter Weylandt.
Full results at CyclingNews.
Armstrong flu bug
Lance Armstrong is once again plagued by intestinal troubles this season.
Trying to prepare for the Tour de France in July, Armstrong pulled out of the second stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe because of illness. Four other teammates were stricken by the bug, as well as team manager Johan Bruyneel.
Armstrong had pulled out of the Milan-San Remo in March because of stomach flu.
There aren't any more races on Armstrong's dance card until the Tour of California, May 16-23. He had previously changed his mind about competing in the Amstel Gold on April 18.
Although early reports stated that Armstrong will do the Tour de Suisse for the final big race before the Tour de France, instead of the Dauphine Libere, Team RadioShack said no firm decision has been made. The Switzerland tour rolls out June 12 – 20, while the Dauphine is June 3 – 13. VeloNation speculates he might want to put off another showdown with Alberto Contador until the Tour de France, July 3 – 25.
The Los Angeles Times speculates that Armstrong might head back to the April 28-May 2 Tour of Gila in New Mexico again this year. He raced there last year with Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner after recovering from his broken collarbone.
Tour of Basque Country
Meanwhile, Oregon's Horner is looking strong after climbing from 12th to 2nd place in the overall standings at the Tour of Basque Country on Thursday.
A RadioShack teammate of Armstrong and Leipheimer, he proved his hill-climbing prowess on Thursday with a fourth place finish in Stage 4 of the Spanish race that ends Saturday.
Horner attacked on the last of the day's 7 climbs, but stage winner Samuel Sanchez caught him just before the summit, which is only 2 kilometers from the finish line. He also was passed by Alejandro Valverde and Robert Gesink, to finish 2 seconds behind the leader.
Overall, Horner sits in 2nd place, just one second behind Valverde, with two stages to go.
The race is video-streamed live online at Universal Sports through Saturday, starting at about 9:45 a.m. (ET) daily. It is also televised daily beginning at noon (ET) through Saturday.
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