Discovery Channel successfully defended its title at the Three Days of De Panne and barnstormed through the final stage to score important victories ahead of this weekend’s Tour of Flanders.

Rising Belgian rider Stijn Devolder scored a major win with the overall title while veteran workhorse Viatcheslav Ekimov proved yet again he’s still one of the best after taking the win in the afternoon time trial.

Devolder went into the time trial finale trailing Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Caffita) by four seconds following the morning road stage won by Belgian national champ Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto) in a bunch sprint. The 25-year-old Devolder erased the deficit by finishing 20 seconds faster than Ballan to take the overall title.

Defending champion George Hincapie didn’t start the afternoon time trial in the final day’s split stage to fend off a cold that he doesn’t want to get worse ahead of Flanders on Sunday.

In more good news for Discovery Channel, Leif Hoste finished sixth in the time trial, another good sign that he’s brushed off a sore knee suffered during a spill in Milan-San Remo.

Three Days of De Panne, Stage 4, ITT, 13.7km
1. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus), Discovery Channel 16 minutes, 48 seconds
2. Bert Roesems (Bel), Davitamon-Lotto – same time
3. Nico Mattan (Bel), Davitamon-Lotto 0:07
4. Magnus Bäckstedt (Swe), Liquigas-Bianchi – same time
5. Stijn Devolder (Bel), Discovery Channel +0:09Final Overall standings
1. Stijn Devolder (Bel), Discovery Channel 13h15:16
2. Alessandro Ballan (Ita), Lampre-Caffita +0:16
3 Nico Mattan (Bel), Davitamon-Lotto +0:24
4. Luis Sanchez (Spa), Liberty Seguros +0:44
5. Roberto Petito (Ita), Fassa Bortolo +0:45Wesemann remains optimistic
Defending Flanders champion Steffen Wesemann said he’s shaken off the injuries that plagued him during the second half of the 2004 season and he’s ready to defend his title on Sunday.

“I am hopeful that weather will be horrible because that's when I’m strongest,” Wesemann told the Belgian sports daily La Dernière Heure. “I think I am in similar shape to what I was in last year, so that’s encouraging.”

Wesemann became only the second German to win Flanders (Rudi Altig is the other) and said he also dreams of winning Paris-Roubaix, a race where he’s always been close but never could get the luck to win.

T-Mobile for the Tour of Flanders
Rolf Aldag (Ger)
Eric Baumann (Ger)
Marcus Burghardt (Ger)
Sergey Ivanov (Rus)
Andreas Klier (Ger)
Stephan Schreck (Ger)
Steffen Wesemann (Ger)
Erik Zabel (Ger)PVP back on form
Two-time Flanders champ Peter Van Petegem remains quietly optimistic going into Sunday’s big ride even though he’s been tempered by a flu bug.

The 35-year-old veteran guardedly marked his chances for a third victory despite not starting the final stage of the Three Days of De Panne.

“I consider my condition as excellent. I did not see any intensive training before Sunday. I will try to remain relaxed until then,” he said in a press conference Thursday. “I feel fine for the Tour of Flanders and my team-members are, too. I hope that my health will not be degraded. I am not nervous, just a little anxious, considering the success really does not seem to be with us this season.”

Hincapie better, Cruz in
George Hincapie didn’t take the start of the final stage of the Three Days of De Panne to nurse a nagging cold ahead of Sunday’s big date in Flanders, but the team has reported that he’s feeling better.

“I feel better, just not 100 percent yet,” he said. “I’m hoping I will have my level back on Sunday.”

Discovery Channel also announced Tony Cruz will be starting instead of Benoit Joachim.

No Bettini for QuickStep
Olympic champion Paolo Bettini won’t race in Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. The three-time World Cup winner is still recovering from the flu and will save his forces for the Ardennes classics in the second half of April.

“Paolo is not entirely ready, and it’s better to preserve him for the Ardennes classics where he'll be fully fit,” said Quick Step sport director Wilfried Peeters. “The team will have one sole leader on Sunday: Tom Boonen.”

QuickStep for Tour of Flanders
Tom Boonen (Bel)
Wilfried Cretskens (Bel)
Nick Nuyens (Bel)
Kevin Hulsmans (Bel)
Servais Knaven (Ned)
Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
Marc Lotz (Ned)
Bram Tankink (Ned)

2006 Tour to start in Strasbourg
The 2006 Tour de France will start in the Alsace capital of Strasbourg in eastern France, race organizers ASO announced on Thursday.

It will be the Tour’s 23rd visit to Strasbourg, with the first dating back to 1919 and he most recently in 2001 when Jaan Kirsipuu won in a bunch sprint.

The 93rd edition of the Tour will stay in Strasbourg for three days, opening with a 7.5km prologue through the narrow city streets on July 1. Stage 1 will briefly dip into Germany before finishing back inside the city while the start of Stage 2 will be in Strasbourg before the Tour rolls on.

Further course details won’t be released until sometime in October.