Team HTC-Columbia starts its Belgian Classics season this weekend with a double dose of racing action, first tackling Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday February 27th, then Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on Sunday February 28th.  "There's some windy, wet weather forecast, so it's going to be a tough two days," commented HTC-Columbia's sports director Allan Peiper.  "The courses are pretty much the same, but the roads are in a poor state because of the freezing weather we've had all winter, and that'll make it even harder.  Bernie [Bernhard Eisel] has had a good block of racing, from the Tour Down Under through to Qatar and...

World road champion Cadel Evans takes the first pedal strokes of his 2010 European campaign for the BMC Racing Team this weekend in a pair of one-day races in Italy and Switzerland.Evans Has Other ObjectivesEven though Evans will wear bib No. 1 for Saturday’s GP dell'Insubria in Italy, expectations are “not big,” BMC Racing Team Director Sportif John Lelangue said. “I think we all know Cadel has other objectives for this season – the main ones are always the Giro d’Italia in May and the Tour de France in July. For him, he’s already done a good Tour Down Under...

In Marcus Burghardt, Alessandro Ballan, George Hincapie and Karsten Kroon, the BMC Racing Team has four legitimate contenders for Saturday’s 65th edition of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.Ballan, Burghardt On FormBMC Racing Team Assistant Director Sportif Fabio Baldato said Ballan, the 2008 world champion, and Burghardt, who finished fifth in the Belgian semi-classic a year ago, bring solid form into the 127-mile (204 km) race. “In the last two weeks, I watched them at the Tours of Qatar and Oman so I know they’re good and can do a good race.” Baldato said. Hincapie’s veteran leadership will also be integral to the...

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad opens the classics season for both the men and women of Cervélo TestTeam this Saturday February 27 in Belgium. It's the opening event on the Belgian cycling calendar and is usually held on the last Saturday in February or the first in March. It is characterized by cold weather and short cobbled climbs and comes as quite a contrast to the southern European training camps, not to mention the desert conditions of Qatar and Oman. The Omloop, with the start and finish in Ghent, uses many of the climbs in the Tour of Flanders (Ronde van Vlaanderen).

HTC-Columbia’s Michael Rogers successfully fended off some dangerous attacks in the final day’s racing of the Tour of Andalusia to clinch the overall victory.  A long break including overall threat Angel Vicioso of Spain was only caught 20 kilometres from the finish line. Chasing down the move was made much difficult because three HTC-Columbia riders, Konstantsin Sivtsov, Michael Albasini and Hayden Roulston, all crashed mid-stage. Rogers was delighted with his first stage race win since 2003, saying “It was a pretty tough day but the team were super and we never panicked.”