Benna returning to form

De Ronde threat?

By winning Three Days of De Panne stage 2, Daniele Bennati scored his fifth win in 2007 and his first since being knocked out by an intestinal virus. The Lampre-Fondital sprinter from Arezzo was setback befor the start of Milano-Sanremo, a race he has wanted to win since his Grandpa Gino gave him his first road bike, but now seems to be firing again.

"The virus cut off my legs," the 26 year-old quipped yesterday afternoon in Belgium to La Gazzetta dello Sport's Luigi Perna. "At Sanremo and Harelbeke [E3 Prijs] I was not myself but here in De Panne, already from the first stage I have felt my form returning. I am not yet the same person that battled [Alessandro] Petacchi but this victory gives a lot to my morale."

Sunday, in Ronde van Vlaanderen he will have a chance to put the Sanremo's setback behind him. Bennati believes that he will have his chances for victory while working with teammate Alessandro Ballan.

"I don't how I can finish in Flanders. I think that I have demonstrated myself well on the bergs. Ballan will attack; I will stay covered, marking Boonen." The two will encounter dangerous rivals, some of which are compatriots, like World Champion Paolo Bettini and Liquigas' Luca Paolini and Filippo Pozzato.

"Then there is also Gent-Wevelgem... It is important not to think of Sanremo anymore."