back from shorter doping bans and have gone on to become icons of the sport and celebrated geniuses.   With Millar?s ban almost over and his return to the sport now immanent, how do you think he will be received?   Should he or other riders caught doping be allowed to return to the sport?   Send your thoughts to me at ian@roadcycling.com and post them at http://forums.roadcycling.com/.

In an early show of strength, Team CSC narrowly missed out on the opportunity to open their 2006 account at the GP Doha.

"The whole team was up front during the final lap and Stuart (O?Grady) was in a perfect position, right on Tom Boonen's wheel, when the sprint started," said CSC sports director Alain Gallopin on their official website.   "So it could have been a really good result, but then his chain broke. On the other hand, Stuart was lucky not to crash, and today's effort from the team makes me very optimistic for the Tour of Qatar."

World Champion Tom Boonen went on to win the stage although Gallopin remained positive.   "We've come directly from a hard training camp, but we've noticed that some of the riders are already in great shape," he said. "We obviously need a bit of luck to repeat last year's huge success in the Tour of Qatar, but I wouldn't be surprised if we got one or two big results down here again this year."

At the race, Boonen?s team-mate and experienced lead-out man, Guido Trenti, explained to
La Gazzetta dello Sport that this is just a sign of things to come in the future.  "Tom just has two more speeds than the competition. In the sprint, there were four Phonak riders there but they couldn't even hold his wheel! We could see how strong Tom was in our team training camp and this is the right way to start the season."

For his part, Team Milram sprinter, Erik Zabel, added that "against a Boonen like that, there's nothing you can do!"

Until next week,

Ian

ian@roadcycling.com