Stage 2 of the the Benelux Tour (BElgium, NEtherlands, LUXembourg, you see) went to Discovery Channel’s Max Vanheeswijk. Hired as a token nod to the fact that like 75% of pro races end in group sprint, Van Heeswijk has had his share of impressive wins in short stage races like this. I’d be nice to see what he could do at a Grand Tour; too bad he rides for Disco.
Moving along to another small European country that somehow didn’t get absorbed into Germany or France, the Tour of Denmark has been going very well for home Team CSC. Ivan Basso, not content to rest on his laurels after a second place in the Tour de France, has stolen the first two stages Vinokourov-style, by eluding the sprinters with late attacks.
And finally, for those of you who just can’t let bike racing stand on its own, and need the gossip and intruige that constant circulates around it like so much lymphatic fluid, I have a few items for you. German Jorg Ludwig is actually excited to be leaving Domina-Vacanze for T-Mobile next season, while rumored Domina-Vacanze signing Erik Zabel opened up in the least informative way possible about his split with the Purple Vortex of Self-Destruction.
An incident (scroll to bottom) of such wierdness and complexity occured in USCF Track racing that I simply cannot paraphrase it here, and finally, for those of you who have been following the Lance/Floyd beef over the last few months, Velonews has come through (for once) and published an actual interview (albeit a teaser) with the Phonak rider on the subject