Team LPR goes one-two

Following a similar team tactic that T-Mobile used in Gent-Wevelgem, the Professional Continental Team LPR scored a great one-two victory in the GP Pino Cerami, a Belgian race named after the Italian winner of the 1960 Paris-Roubaix. The win was an important morale boost for the squad, which took their bid for the Professional Continental status to the courts after their application was turned down by the UCI late last year.

Team LPR's Luca Solari won the race with a solo attack from a small breakaway, which also contained his team-mate Marco Marcato. Marcato was able to follow Landbouwkrediet's Bert de Waele and T-Mobile's veteran Marco Pinotti when they tried to bring Solari back in the final kilometre, and then rode away from the pair to take second place.

"We rode really well," said Solari, "we got into all the moves, and controlled the race from the start. In the final circuit of the race, my legs felt very good." The 27 year-old Italian described the solo move as risky, but said "Things went my way, and this is the happiest hour." Solari dedicated the win to his family, saying "my fiancée Annalisa and the team has helped in these two hard years, they've always supported me.

Director sportif Enrico Paolini was also satisfied with the team's performance, and said, "the boys interpreted the race to perfection. To compete on these roads is never easy, but today we have demonstrated that we are able to race on par against anyone."