Racing and relaxation in Curacao

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The Amstel Curacao Race may ultimately have been postponed due to heavy rain on Saturday, but that didn’t mean that there was no racing on the Caribbean island.

Fränk Schleck signed off on his hugely successful time in Saxo Bank colours with victory in the Sunday morning criterium, which was organised to replace the weather-struck Amstel Curacao Race. The Luxembourg champion beat sprinter Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) to take out the win.

Earlier in the week, Koos Moerenhout (Rabobank) won the Jan Thiel Criterium, providing a fitting end to his fifteen-year career as a professional. The Dutchman beat Sky sports director Steven De Jongh into second place, with Danilo Hondo (Lampre-Farnese Vini) snapping up third place.

As entertaining as the criteriums proved to be, from the riders’ point of view, the main attraction of the event was the island itself. Andy Schleck must be on first name terms with a significant portion of the dolphin populace of Curacao at this stage and he was just one of a host of riders who were returning to the event. Other stars taking time to enjoy some relaxation interspersed with racing included Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Tony Martin, Niki Terpstra, Bauke Mollema and Grischa Niermann.

You see our Curacao racing and dolphin-charming gallery here.