Discovery on the up in Flanders

Discovery Channel's sports director Dirk Demol was happy with what he saw on the streets of Flanders on Wednesday. "The team did a good race, someone was there at the front all day," he was quoted on thepaceline.com as saying after Dwars door Vlaanderen. "Stijn (Devolder) is back on a good level. And Max (Van Heeswijk) also had a good race. He had a minor crash before one of the climbs and still managed to come back to the main group. Max is riding much better than in his previous races and he's really focused on getting a good result at Gent-Wevelgem."

Seven kms to the line Veuchelen made the move of the day, dropping Boucher on a small climb and going solo. Back in the bunch, Boonen attacked again and basically splintered the chase effort. Discovery's Roger Hammond then countered and dropped Boonen as the result of his earlier efforts clearly showed. "Roger was very aggressive at the end," noted Demol. "And prior to that, Matt White really worked hard to bring back the escape."

The team now looks ahead to the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen this Saturday. Discovery Channel will field the same team as today except that Leif Hoste will ride in place of Benoît Joachim. "The following week we add in Michael Barry, George Hincapie, Eki, and Gusev - we are really looking good for the Spring Classics," said Demol.