Bobby Julich is enjoying the finest form of his career, scoring his most important victories in the past month after picking up where he left off last summer with the bronze medal in the Olympic time trial.

Over the winter, Julich fully recovered from a broken wrist he suffered during a fall in the stage to Plateau de Beille in the Tour de France. He snatched victory in Paris-Nice earlier this month and confirmed he’s in top form with an equally impressive win in the “mini-Tour de France” in this weekend’s Critérium International.

“It’s as if I’m riding a wave after Paris-Nice and I really feel I have the opportunity to make up for the years when nothing was going right for me,” Julich said on the team’s web page after securing the victory ahead of Thomas Dekker (Rabobank).

“This proves you have to stay focused,” Julich continued. “Bjarne has given me confidence, and also I’m part of a team which is like one big family. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Julich stayed with the strongest in the climbing stage earlier Sunday and finished strong in the afternoon time trial to take the out-right win in Critérium International. He was awarded the race in 1998 after finishing runner-up to Christophe Moreau, who later was sanctioned for doping offenses.

“It was as if my legs did all the work by themselves in the time trial,” Julich said. “I could feel it was my day, even though the course was quite difficult due to the rain.”

It was another big win for Riis’s big red machine, which has already racked up victories in the Tour of Qatar, the Tour Mediterranean, Paris-Nice and now Critérium International.

“Just like Paris-Nice, the Critérium International has been a big goal for us and today was a fantastic culmination. This morning the team worked perfectly together and then Bobby put the icing on the cake with a super time trial,” Riis said. “I’m very happy on his behalf and also very proud of the team being so outstanding in the time trial. It comes as no surprise to me and it promises well for the oncoming tasks.”

Contador taking aim at Basque Country
Spain’s latest sensation – Alberto Contador – will now take aim at the Vuelta a Pais Vasco (April 4-8) even though the race wasn’t originally part of his racing schedule.

Fresh off his impressive victory at Setmana Catalana, the 22-year-old Contador said he’s too strong to take a pass on Pais Vasco, the first ProTour race of the season in Spain.

“It wasn’t part of my original program, but we decided to do it because I’m feeling good right now and we want to take advantage of the situation,” Contador said. “We’ll see how the team shapes up. Maybe there’s another riding arrival fresher than me. Manolo Saiz will be the one who decides.”

Contador nearly died last spring after suffering convulsions during the Vuelta a Asturias. He later spent months in the hospital and only received the go-ahead to return to racing last fall.

Along with Alejandro Valverde and Luis Leon Sanchez, Contador is one of the new faces creating excitement in Spain. Zanini out for Flanders
Stefano Zanini – who broke the scaphoid of his right hand in a crash in this weekend’s E-3 Prijs Vlaanderen – won’t race in the Tour of Flanders, the team announced.

Zanini’s absence could hurt the chances of Quick Step teammate Tom Boonen. Zanini was second in Flanders in 1998 and was instrumental to Boonen’s breakthrough as a top sprinter last season. Also questionable for Quick Step at Flanders are Paolo Bettini, out with the flu, Luca Paolini and Filippo Pozzato.

Danish rider Mads Christensen is set to replace Zanini for Three Days de la Panne and the Tour of Flanders.