A fifth for McEwen?

Australian Robbie McEwen could be up for a fifth victory of the one-day race Paris-Brussels this Saturday. The 221km test between Soissons and the King Baudouin stadium in Brussels seems to suit the Silence-Lotto rider, who showed that his form was excellent lately by winning the Hamburg Cyclassics last Sunday.

His main rivals in the case of a very likely bunch sprint will be his compatriot Mark Renshaw (Crédit Agricole), who came second in Hamburg, Belgians Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), Kenny De Haes and Niko Eeckhout (Topsport Vlaanderen), as well as Luca Paolini (Acqua&Sapone), William Bonnet (Crédit Agricole), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Janek Tombak (Mitsubishi) and Robert Wagner (Skil).

Last year, McEwen outsprinted Jeremy Hunt and Venezuelan Honorio Machado Perez, as well as Baden Cooke and Thor Hushovd, who had made his move too soon. His record of four victories is already one for the history books of the race.