Rebellin beats local boy in sprint
MAASTRICHT, Netherlands -- Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin beat local former champion Michael Boogerd in a dramatic sprint finish to win the Amstel Gold World Cup Race on Sunday.
Boogerd led the pair from a small leading group around 16 kilometers from the end of the 251.1 km race through villages and hills near the Belgian border.
Boogerd, who has finished among the top three at the Amstel Gold every year since winning it in 1999, launched a final sprint 400 meters from the finish.
But Rebellin passed him less than 20 meters from the end, finishing in six hours, 23 minutes and 44 seconds.
Boogerd finished one second later, and Paolo Bettini of Italy was third 18 seconds back.
"It's a good course for me, with lots of turns and narrow streets," Rebellin said. "He was also very strong, it was not easy to win -- I had to do everything I could."
Windy conditions meant that the top finishers were those that spared their strength through most of the race, with the peloton beginning to split only around 25 km from the line.
Boogerd said he had made his break too early, and made the mistake of leading too much in the final 20 minutes.
"It was a nice lead group. It was nice that I could break away, but not so nice that I couldn't finish the job," Boogerd said. "But I can't say I was better" than Rebellin.
Jaksche blow
Germany's Paris-Nice champion Jorg Jaksche has been ruled out of this week's cycling classics because of a broken left elbow his CSC team said on Sunday.
The 27-year-old suffered the injury during a training run on Saturday for the Amstel Gold race and has travelled to Denmark to see a specialist.
Jaksche made a sensational start to the season with victory in Paris-Nice and also the Tour of the Mediterranean.
He will miss Friday's Fleche Wallonne and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege on Sunday.
CSC said the earliest he could return to competition would be in the Tour of Romandy at the end of the month.
