Moreno Moser's win in Strade Bianche on Saturday was celebrated by the organiser and Italy. The team Cannondale Italian became the first home rider to win the race since it began in 2007.
"My limits? I don't know," Moser said. "I'm doing what I feel like. Sometimes it works, sometimes no. I'm discovering myself racy by race.
The nephew of Francesco Moser ruled out the GC Grand Tours because he cannot handle the high-mountains. He said that he believes he is suited for the classics, like Milan-San Remo and the Ardennes.
Last year as a neo-professional, Moser won the Tour of Poland.
After the nation's recent problems, Italy hopes Moser's win marks the coming of a new prosperous generation. The headline of an opinion piece in La Gazzetta dello Sport read, "Moser's win in Siena opens the door to a cycling re-birth."
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Moreno Moser wins Strade Bianche
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Strade Bianche 2013: Photo gallery
UCI's Bright Future survey online
Cycling's governing body, the UCI launched an online survey in the last week in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal. On Friday, it published a link for anyone to participate, saying that that more than 3000 people have already completed.
The survey, part of the UCI's "A Bright Future for Cycling," is managed by Deloitte and runs through March 15. It is part of the consultation with cycling's stakeholders that the governing body announced on November 7.
"The consultation," it said in a statement, "will ... look to the future of the sport - and discuss how to bring in lasting improvements to tackle issues of concern within cycling and work together to build a bright future."
The suspensions for American cyclists Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, Tom Danielson and Levi Leipheimer ended on Friday. The four testified to Armstrong's and their own drug use in a US investigation last year.
Leipheimer remains without a team, while the first three will return to racing with Garmin-Sharp.
Former Sky rider Michael Barry and George Hincapie (BMC Racing) were also given six month bans, but they have already retried.
Due to their cooperation, US authorities gave them minimal six-month bans. News of their cooperation and bans leaked last year during the Tour de France.
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Leipheimer, Zabriskie, Vande Velde and Danielson all admit to doping
RadioShack latest victim of bike theft
Team RadioShack-Leopard ended Three Days of West Flanders yesterday with fourth overall and eight bikes down.
Ahead of stage two in Bruges, thieves stole bikes, wheels and equipment its team truck.
"I don't expect we'll ever see our stolen material again," Sports Director Dirk Demol told the Belga news agency.
It marked the second such incident this year. Garmin-Sharp suffered a similar loss in the Tour Méditerranéen in France, where thieves stole 17 bikes.
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Garmin-Sharp reeling after thieves clear out team truck
Kadri wins Roma Maxima
Blel Kadri (Ag2r) took the honours at the Roma Maxima in Italy on Sunday - the re-branded Giro del Lazio.
Kadri (pictured above) wasn't the only rider to celebrate the 'win' in Rome, second-placed Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida) crossed the line 37 seconds behind Kadri with his arms aloft, apparently unaware that the Frenchman had already beaten him to it.
Grega Bole (Vacansoleil-DCM) came home in third to complete the Roman-themed podium.
Related link
Giro del Lazio is dead, long live Roma Maxima
Vandewalle wins Three Days of West Flanders
Kristof Vandewalle gave Omega Pharma-QuickStep another win, coming away from the Three Days of West Flanders with the overall victory. Vandewalle won the prologue on Friday and safely kept hold of the race lead to the end of Sunday's final stage.
Vandewalle's British team-mate Mark Cavendish finished sixth overall.
The race's final stage was won by Gerald Ciolek, giving the Africa Pro Continental outfit MTN-Qhubeka its first major victory.
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Vandewalle wins West Flanders prologue
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Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
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