Hondo to MSR feeling confident

Gerolsteiner sprinter Danilo Hondo will be taking the start of "La Primavera" feeling confident about his performances, even if he was demoted from third to fourth after the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday. Italian rider Fabrizio Guidi stepped onto the podium instead of him, after the UCI commissaires had another close look at the second intermediate sprint of the final stage, where Hondo thought to have scored two precious bonus seconds to maintain his third placing in front of the Italian. But the jury decided to distance the German and attribute the points to Guidi.

"Of course it's a pity that it didn't work out," Hondo said. "But I accept the decision. These sort of situations happen all the time in the heat of the race. I won't even discuss it," he added in true sportsmanship.

The 31 year-old is nevertheless satisfied with his racing at Tirreno-Adriatico. "I know that my performances were good, there is nothing to be downplayed there," he said, looking forward to Milano-Sanremo on Saturday. His directeur sportif Christian Henn agreed: "Even if the race finish was somewhat unlucky, Danilo is in good form," he said. "All in all, we've been pretty successful here - that goes not only for Danilo, but for the whole team."

At the "Classicissima", Gerolsteiner will line-up with the following riders:

René Haselbacher, Danilo Hondo, Sebastian Lang, Andrea Moletta, Davide Rebellin, Fabian Wegmann, Peter Wrolich, Markus Zberg.