Celebrated chef Michael Rafidi’s skewer-centric dinner service starts November 14 in the Union Market district Michael Rafidi, the James Beard Award-winning chef behind wood-fired marvel Albi and Levantine cafe Yellow takes a stab at a kebab-fueled dinner service beginning Saturday Exclusive to Yellow’s months-old Union Market location (417 Morse Street NE) the playful new “All the Kebabs” menu features a rotating selection of charcoal-grilled kebabs and meze prepared on the vibrant cafe’s open hearth including barbecued pomegranate lamb kefta and autumn vegetables with halloumi cheese can’t say enough about the harissa chicken wing kebab that has “a nice level of spice,” as the harissa is cut with lemon juice charcoal-grilled flavor that you’d expect from a chicken wing The muse for the new nighttime menu comes from Rafidi’s grandfather restaurant in the ’60s and ’70s that specialized in kebab specials After debuting dinnertime pizza inside Yellow’s Georgetown location Van Meerbeke says Rafidi wanted a kebab shop in homage to his grandfather’s specials but there’s also a $75-per-person tasting menu which loads the table with a chef’s selections of kebabs All the Kebabs marks the locale’s dinner service debut and will run Tuesdays through Saturdays from 4-9 p.m The plan is to eventually accept walk-ins and offer takeout service unavailable for comment because he’s traveling All the Kebab’s reservations went live Monday, and not surprisingly, they’re have almost sold out for November. “I was reading a review today that said chef Rafidi has the Midas touch, and I was like, ‘Well, people are writing it so, maybe,’” says Van Meerbeke. Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again. Send help right to the people and causes you care about Your donation is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee The last systematic review of research on the behavior of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was in 2012. Since then, several important findings have been published. Therefore, the study aim was to synthesize recent relevant work related to this issue. We conducted a systematic review of the literature. Relevant articles were identified using the electronic databases PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus and a manual search of references lists. Thirty of 156 articles identified met the inclusion criteria. A quality evaluation of the articles was performed and the information was synthesized using a narrative approach. There has been important progress to evaluate cognitive characteristics of children with NF1 and to determine the physiological mechanisms of the concomitant disorders. However, discrepancies in relation to intelligence, learning disabilities, attention deficits, and treatment remain. Further investigations on this topic are recommended. Volume 5 - 2017 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2017.00227 Aim: The last systematic review of research on the behavior of children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) was in 2012 several important findings have been published the study aim was to synthesize recent relevant work related to this issue Method: We conducted a systematic review of the literature Relevant articles were identified using the electronic databases PubMed and Scopus and a manual search of references lists Thirty of 156 articles identified met the inclusion criteria A quality evaluation of the articles was performed and the information was synthesized using a narrative approach children and adolescents with NF1 present significant alterations in language The prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is important and can affect cognition and executive function variables A high prevalence of autistic traits and autistic spectrum disorder were reported The benefits of using statins to treat cognitive deficits are unclear children with NF1 and ADHD seem to benefit from methylphenidate treatment The presence of hyperintensities in brain magnetic resonance imaging data seem to be related to poor cognitive performance Analysis of these lesions could help to predict cognitive alterations in children with NF1 Interpretation: There has been important progress to evaluate cognitive characteristics of children with NF1 and to determine the physiological mechanisms of the concomitant disorders Further investigations on this topic are recommended It is important to understand these kinds of problems to identify particular needs of patients and provide individualized management of rehabilitation and educational processes In 2012, Lehtonen (6) published a systematic review of the literature on behavioral issues and attention disorders in patients with NF1 which identified the problems described above these authors identified were alterations in memory and academic performance and they raised many questions that remain to be clarified The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate how much progress has been made in addressing these questions over the last 5 years As there are many recent new research findings in this area it is timely to update recommendations for the evaluation The study methods were adapted from the systematic review by Lehtonen (6) The following inclusion criteria were used: studies published from 2012 to 2016; studies with outcome variables measuring cognitive aspects or social aspects; studies that used statistical group comparisons or normative data analysis; studies using quantitative methods; studies published in peer-reviewed journals; and clinical trials Case report studies were excluded because of potential bias The target population was children with NF1 aged 6–17 years an electronic databases search was done using PubMed MESH headings with OR function were used: cognition attention deficit and disruptive behavior disorders attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity The following keywords combined with the OR function were also used: motor skills the MESH heading neurofibromatosis 1 was combined with the previous search using the AND function Terms were adapted for use with the PyscINFO and Scopus electronic databases The references of the included articles and the electronic sources Science Direct and Springer Link were manually searched to identify additional literature This systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA reporting guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (7) Two authors (Martha Milade Torres Nupan and Claudia Alejandra López Cabra) screened all publication titles and abstracts and eliminated irrelevant articles The full text of the remaining papers was retrieved and evaluated Articles that did not meet the eligibility criteria were rejected Disagreements were resolved by discussion or in consultation with the other authors (Alberto Vélez Van Meerbeke and Paula Marcela Herrera Gomez) Two authors (Alberto Vélez Van Meerbeke and Paula Marcela Herrera Gomez) verified the information extracted and discrepancies were resolved by consensus (Martha Milade Torres Nupan All the authors evaluated the full-text articles that were retrieved Because of the high heterogeneity of the studies a narrative approach rather than a meta-analysis was used level of evidence (Joanna Briggs Institute levels of evidence) objectives and results of the studies that addressed cognitive and behavior in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) Quality evaluation for case–control studies using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Quality evaluation for randomized controlled trials using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Quality evaluation for cohort studies using the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Quality evaluation for cross sectional studies using the National Institutes of Health checklist (NIH) Quality evaluation for descriptive studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist The database search identified 158 papers (Figure 1) Thirty additional articles were identified from other sources the titles and abstracts of 156 articles were screened Sixty-six full-text articles were assessed for eligibility; of these 36 were excluded because of different age groups and outcomes Thirty articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were taken into account for the qualitative analysis They found that the children’s phonetic inventory was incomplete for their age: realizations of the sibilants/R/and/or/a/were not correct Distortions were the predominant phonetic error type and rhotacismus non-vibrant were frequently observed There were also substitution and syllable structure errors particularly deletion of the final consonant of words Girls tended to display more articulation errors than boys did More studies in different languages are needed to obtain a deeper understanding of this aspect of speech production showed that school-age children with NF1 exhibited significantly more delays in reading and math than infants or preschool-age children with NF1 using the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status as a tool of assessment These findings are in line with previous reports that NF1 patients show a high prevalence of learning disorders not related to IQ achievement discrepancies Barquero et al. (11) conducted the first evaluation of an intervention for reading deficiencies in 49 children with NF1 Some children received remedial reading instruction from a kinesthetic reading program and others used a program that required greater visuospatial demands Children with NF1 and reading deficiencies responded better to the kinesthetic reading program the baseline mean reading score of the group using the program that required greater visuospatial demands was significantly higher than that of the group receiving the kinesthetic treatment although the SD range was relatively large indicating a high variability within the study with bad initial memorization and poorer learning in repeated trials even after explaining group differences in intelligence Defective visuospatial learning was identified as a major phenotypic trait in children with NF1 Michael et al. (15) compared reactivity to visual signals in 20 children with NF1 against 20 controls They used a visual discrimination task with targets and distractors taken from the Living English Structure for Schools pictures The NF1 group exhibited slower global responses on measures of response time and weakened resistance to interference leading to difficulties in the ability to continuously focus on a primary task The authors suggest that NF1 is characterized by over-reactivity to visual signals occurring outside the current focus of attention and that this might be partially responsible for instability in attentional focus and lower interference resistance Electrophysiological tools have also been used to study the mechanisms of visuospatial deficits. Ribeiro et al. (16) studied the neural mechanisms underlying visual deficits in children with NF1 He found abnormal long-latency visual evoked potentials that may be related to deficits in process visual stimuli; in addition they identified an increase of alpha brain oscillations probably due to problems in attention allocation Children with NF1 show motor impairments, such as alterations in simple and complex motor tasks and deficits in visuomotor function. However, the associations between these characteristics remain unclear. Regarding motor performance, Champion (17) found that normalized scores on the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency were lower than the normative reference-age valuescompared with normative data; children with NF1 demonstrated a significant decrease in speed A longer step time and double support were also observed This study also showed that poor balance skills are associated with difficulties in perceptual reasoning and working memory The decrease in speed in running and agility were related to worse spatial working memory (SWM) The authors found a significant association between walking gait width with SWM decrease and the same between short steps with a poorer SWM strategy Debrabant et al. (18) evaluated visual-motor reaction time and its association with the grade of impaired fine visual-motor skills and compared these parameters in 20 NF1 children against 20 controls After controlling for IQ and processing speed it was shown that the response of children with NF1 was slower with fewer anticipatory responses to predictive stimuli the predictive performance of the reaction time did not differ from reaction time to unexpected stimuli indicating an inability to take rhythmic stimuli all children with NF1 had abnormal scores (<16th percentile) on the battery of the assessment of movement for children NF1 group demonstrated a significantly poor performance in the Beery-Buktenica developmental test of visual-motor integration which is interpreted as a reduction of visual-motor integration and tracing outcomes (hand–eye coordination) Wessel et al. (10) studied developmental delays in 124 children with NF1 using the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status they found delays in the development of gross motor This was mainly observed in school-age children when compared to preschool children or infants Longitudinal evaluations of 43 subjects revealed that children often exchanged from the delayed group to the not delayed one in all areas except gross motor development Comorbidity with ADHD is also thought to affect executive function assessment although this correlation is not well understood Assessments were made using the Behavioral Regulation Index They found that participants showed significantly more behavioral executive difficulties than expected from the normative data Gilboa et al. (23) evaluated executive function in 29 children with NF1 and 27 typically developing controls using the Behavioral Assessment of the Dysexecutive Syndrome in Children (BADS-C) and the BRIEF parent questionnaires The Academic Competence Evaluation Scales (ACES) were used to evaluate academic success Children with NF1 performed significantly lower on four of the BRIEF scales (initiate and organization of materials) and two subtests of the BADS-C (water and key search) Academic skills scores of children with NF1 and typically developing controls fluctuated significantly on the ACES teacher questionnaire variables Significant correlations were shown between BADS-C subtest scores and ACES scale scores: children who scored higher (better performance) on the BADS-C received higher scores (better performance) from their teachers on the ACES children who performed better in the ACES also obtained better performance in the BRIEF questionnaire conducted by the parents Attention deficits have been linked to the NF1 phenotype and show an incidence of 40–50% in NF1 patients (6) The presence of ADHD in children with NF1 is associated with poorer performance in cognitive function and its association with executive dysfunction Isenberg et al. (12) compared the performance of 55 children with NF1 with normative data for specific measures of attention They compared mean scores for NF1 patients on each of the dependent Test of Everyday Attention for Children subtest variables with the population means Sustained auditory attention and divided auditory attention evaluated using the score and score DT The Conners Continuous Performance Test—2nd Edition was also used to evaluate attention NF1 children’s scores showed greater omissions and commissions compared with the general population mean No significant differences were found for hit reaction time Based on parental responses on the Conners 3rd Edition—Parent scale a large portion (23 of the 55 participants) of the sample met the ADHD criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—4th Edition but children with NF1 and ADHD did not differ significantly from children without ADHD on attention measures even when intelligence and basic skills were partially excluded ADHD symptoms did not negatively impact performance on tests Parent evaluations of NF1 children are an appropriate indicator of behavioral, social, and emotional performance. In relation to theses aspects, Allen et al. (27) reported that scores on the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory indicated that children with NF1 had significantly lower parent- and child-rated social functioning and lower overall parent-rated emotional functioning Scores on the Child Behavior Checklist showed that these children also displayed more internalizing and externalizing problems and greater social problems than typically developing peers A trend was noted for parents’ ratings on social problems and inattention in NF1 children indicating a positive association between inattention and social problems Participants also completed a measure of facial expression recognition the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy–Revised Children with NF1 recognized less the faces of children and adults in low intensity conditions as this article was the only one that met the inclusion criteria Walsh et al. (30) evaluated ASD symptomatology in 66 children with NF1 Forty percent of the children with NF1 presented symptoms at levels with clinical significance on the Social Responsiveness Scale and 14% of this group showed symptoms at the levels observed in children with ASD The increased of the symptom levels was not explained byNF1 severity or externalizing and internalizing behavioral The relationship between symptoms of ADHD and ASD was statistically significant There were also interesting relationships between ADHD and deficits in the social domain of conscience and motivation They found a significant improvement in general cognitive function in NF1 patients over the follow-up The increase in cognitive function was restricted to participants with discrete T2H in childhood Patients without lesions in childhood exhibited unchanged performance in cognitive function Lesions in the cerebral hemispheres and deep white matter remained stable The authors suggest that the presence of T2H can predict cognitive performance in childhood but not in adulthood Two articles reported additional interesting results related to T2H. Roy et al. (34) found that the presence, number, size, or location of T2H lesions did not affect executive dysfunction in NF1 children. On the other hand, Piscitelli et al. (35) found that patients with T2H in the cerebellum showed a lower IQ than patients without T2H in that brain location possibly because of impaired visuospatial ability and language Clinical impairment was more frequent in patients with T2H in comparison with those without these lesions although the group differences were not statistically significant They found that larger left putamen volume and smaller precentral gyrus gray matter density in children with NF1 were associated with a higher rate of social problems (evaluated using Child Behavior Checklist parent ratings) Larger right amygdala volume in children with NF1 was associated with autistic mannerisms (evaluated using Social Responsiveness Scale parent ratings) as that low-level visual processing disorder do not improve over time There was a specific impairment of the magnocellular visual pathway in early visual processing related to poor default network deactivation This evidence may help to understand the neural substrate for higher order (specifically visuospatial and attentional) cognitive deficits present in NF1 Twelve months of treatment had no effect on intelligence more studies in humans are needed to evaluate these effects almost half of who showed cognitive vulnerabilities these aspects have not been well studied in recent years More studies are needed to understand this possible correlation as they contribute to poorer cognitive performance Children with NF1 could benefit from interventions focused on social skills and emotional support Evidence of improvement in cognitive ability over time in NF1 patients with T2H remains controversial. In 2003, Hyman et al. (31) reported a significant decrease of T2H in terms of number, size, and intensity over an 8-year period in NF1 children that was not related to changes of cognitive ability in adulthood. In contrast, another study found improvements in cognitive function over an 18-year period in children with discrete T2H (33) The disparity in these results may be related to the time of follow-up and the characteristics of T2H More studies are needed to clarify this association Further studies are needed to identify possible benefits in humans More studies are needed to corroborate these effects We did not include ongoing and unpublished studies and we did not identify any non-English language articles that met the inclusion criteria AM and PG provided conceptual guidance on the manuscript The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest in relation to the research We acknowledge the support of Universidad Del Rosario to write this article Universidad Del Rosario supported this research article academic competence evaluation scales; ADHD attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ASD behavioral assessment of the dysexecutive syndrome in children; BRIEF behavior rating inventory 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2017 Torres Nupan, Velez Van Meerbeke, López Cabra and Herrera Gomez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Alberto Velez Van Meerbeke, YWxiZXJ0by52ZWxlekB1cm9zYXJpby5lZHUuY28= Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish It was a day filled with anxiety and excitement at Baltimore’s famed Hippodrome Theater when Match Day was held for the Class of 2017 of the University of Maryland School of Medicine medical students here and around the country receive an envelope telling them where they will do their residency training This year’s students include Jessica Chaffkin she has been very active fighting for social and racial justice in Baltimore and around the country and was also active in the group White Coats for Black Lives treating prisoners and evaluating people in the court system Her first choice was to match at Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut in psychiatry – and that was exactly where she matched “I was really hoping that that’s where I would end up James Van Meerbeke and his wife Sara hoped to match somewhere close to each other They were married two years before medical school They came up on stage together with their baby and were extremely happy to find out that they had both matched at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center – he in emergency medicine and she in internal medicine Some members of the class have already traveled far and wide for their career Crystal Bae took a year off to work in Africa helping doctors there improve emergency medicine training She plans to specialize in emergency medicine and may decide to work in global health too She was matched to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia she took a year off from medical school to get a Master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health working with newborns born addicted to opioids She will specialize in pediatrics and wants to continue working in child and public health Carlos Salgado emigrated from Ecuador 10 years ago to go to college in the US He now shares an apartment with his brother who is a first-year medical student at Maryland He was matched at Johns Hopkins Hospital in pediatrics Megan Halliday is going into emergency medicine and knew ahead of time that she would be sent to a naval medical facility in Portsmouth Virginia She took this route because it gave her the opportunity to work with military personnel as well as the opportunity to travel Although she already knew where she was going mostly because she wanted her friends to get their choices “This has been a really emotional day,” she said Donique Cross is going into family medicine from the University of Maryland Dental School; they hope to be matched relatively near each other She matched to the University of Pennsylvania in family medicine Stephen was matched at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital Center in New York City for a general practice dental residency Every student selected their own soundtrack for their walk to the stage 155 UM SOM students matched at 30 different hospitals in 17 states Thirty-five members of the Class of 2017 will stay in the state of Maryland for their residency training; last year and international students applied for one of the approximately 30,000 first-year residency positions offered in this year’s Main Residency Match according to the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) Even though more students than ever are enrolling in medical schools the United States is still facing a significant physician shortage according to the Association of American Medical Colleges • Match Day 2016• Match Day Website• Match Day Facts Office of Public Affairs655 West Baltimore StreetBressler Research Building 14-002Baltimore Maryland 21201-1559Contact Media Relations(410) 706-5260 Fourth-year medical students had a suspenseful day on Friday faculty and staff to learn where they are headed off to residency in the annual ritual known as “Match Day” the 132 graduating seniors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) had extremely high success with a 98 percent match rate After years of hard work and steadfast perseverance University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) medical students gathered at the M&T Bank Exchange at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center in Baltimore to recognize their 2024 residency matches with a celebratory reception graduating medical students from around the country and at UMSOM discover where they will begin their careers as physicians The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) has reported that the national 2023 Main Residency Match was the largest in NRMP’s 70-year history with an increase of 481 more registrants as compared to 2022 A total of 40,375 certified positions were offered which includes preliminary and transitional year positions 34,822 positions were filled for a rate of 93% University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) medical students gathered at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on March 18 2022 to take part in this year’s Match Day ceremony This year was especially significant because it was the first in-person celebration with families and friends since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic The long-awaited day was worth the wait as students were finally able to reflect and celebrate their milestone accomplishment University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) medical students’ dreams finally came to fruition at the Match Day ceremony on March 15 medical students at the UMSOM and around the country received an envelope telling them where they will do their residency training It was truly a day filled with excitement and anticipation for the UMSOM Class of 2019 at Baltimore’s famed Hippodrome Theater when graduating med students across the country find out where they’ll spend their residencies emotional ceremony at the Hippodrome Theater students in the Class of 2018 will be handed an envelope with the name of their residency because students do not know ahead of time where they are going The annual Student Clinician Ceremony was held in Davidge Hall recently to formally welcome the third-year medical students to their clinical rotations As they were just about to start their third year the Class of 2019 gathered to hear inspirational messages from their mentors and recite the Student Clinician Oath to symbolize their transition from classroom learning to patient care The Class of 2017 were the stars as they celebrated their graduation ceremony at the Hippodrome Theater on May 18 friends and faculty were there to cheer on the 160 graduates as they officially transitioned from students to doctors “This celebration is also about you and told the families “This celebration is also about you and The night before their graduation ceremony top achievers from the Class of 2017 gathered for the 11th annual Student Awards Ceremony and Dinner The awards dinner provided an opportunity to recognize the accomplished graduating students who received scholarships This event also recognized the donors whose generous contributions support these awards To encourage entrepreneurial leadership among its medical students the University of Maryland School of Medicine hosted a contest to give aspiring student entrepreneurs a chance to share product ideas with winners receiving cash prizes and expert help The four finalists competed before a panel of judges using a format similar to the popular television program “Shark Tank.” It was a day filled with emotion at Baltimore’s famed Hippodrome Theater where fourth year medical students learned where they will continue their training as residents © University of Maryland School of Medicine The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. Dietitian: choose healthful foods you enjoyStaff reportCHAMBERSBURG -  Diet seems to be one of the most loathed four-letter words in the English vocabulary yet everyone seems to be on one; confused about what they should be eating and often eliminating certain foods unnecessarily on their quests for better health In the third installment in Summit Health's March series titled "Awaken Your Taste Buds," dietitian Barb Van Meerbeke advises that a path to better health involves changing habits and eating healthier foods you enjoy “Good nutrition isn’t about restricting oneself to fruits and vegetables,” Van Meerbeke said in a press release “Healthy eating includes consuming a variety of ‘real’ foods and learning how much you really need to be eating relative to your age and level of physical activity.” Van Meerbeke said eating for nutrition and good health isn’t limited to just choosing foods wisely but also about adopting a mindful eating pattern “When a person eats slowly and deliberately and takes time to enjoy the textures and flavors of what they are eating She noted that altering your lifestyle can seem overwhelming manageable changes one at a time can make a significant difference in terms of improved long-term health “When people come to talk to me about changing their diets they often want a list of foods they can and can’t eat,” Van Meerbeke said “They want immediate results and I remind them that old habits don’t die easily.” Van Meerbeke explained that there is no set list of “dos” and “don’ts,” so she works with those seeking a healthier lifestyle to identify their own problem areas and find changes they can live with long-term they become overwhelmed and they fail,” she said “Just one small change at a time – like a better strategy at the grocery store or packing a healthy lunch to eat at work – is all it takes to start a path to improved nutrition and better health.” - Eat a variety of protein: fish and seafood Metrics details a key modulatory component of cognition guiding strategy and behaviour We explore here the effect of expectation of reward over behavioural adjustment in a Stop Signal Task modulated by reward We hypothesize that cognitive control is modulated by different expectation of the reward Participants were allocated to two groups differing in their degree of knowledge in what to expect from rewards Expected Specific Reward participants (N = 21) were informed of the different monetary feedbacks they would receive after each successful inhibition Unexpected Reward participants (N = 24) were only told that they would receive monetary reward after correct inhibitory trials Our results confirmed previous observations demonstrating a “kick-start effect” where a high reward feedback at the beginning of the task increases response inhibition The Expected Specific Reward condition seems also to improve inhibitory control -as measured by the stop signal reaction time (SSRT)- Knowledge of reward magnitudes seems to play a role in cognitive control irrespective of feedback magnitude The manipulation of reward expectation appears to trigger different strategies for cognitive control inducing a bottom-up effect of external cues or a top-down effect given by the anticipation of incoming rewards This is an early exploration to unearth possible higher order modulators - expectation and motivation- of cognitive control This approach aims to gain insight into diverse psychopathological conditions related to impulsivity and altered reward systems such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) pathological gambling and cognitive aspects of Parkinson Disease All participants started with no monetary feedback and subsequently split in increasing (Smiley participants were aware of the reward magnitude assigned before performing the task to test the second-order rule of expectation we decided to explore the strength of the influence induced by knowing the reward in advance in contrast to only knowing the presence of reward but it is hardly captured by the second-level processing proposed here The present work aims to contribute to the pending question about the role of expectation of reward on inhibition We were interested in understanding the second-order level of the inhibitory control introduced with expectation: what happens when participants know they can win a high or a low reward but they are not aware of the order of the reward And what happens if participants know about the presence of a monetary reward through the task but they are not told about the presence of different reward magnitudes One suitable hypothesis could be based on prediction error minimization [22] the participant accumulates evidence that allows the identification of the minimal error probability and decision delay Getting a reward during successful inhibitions could enhance the withholding strategies during a stop task it is tempting to push further the question about the reward magnitudes over the adjustment of behaviour and a modest effect of the reward magnitude itself we predict to find a kick-start effect over all participants at the first monetary reward block independently of the size of rewards and an extra boost effect on performance over the blocks offering the highest reward In order to assess the effect of expectation over behavioural inhibition participants performed a Reward Stop Signal Task (RSST) modified by monetary reward levels under expected (knowledge of specific reward magnitudes) and unexpected (only knowing there would be reward) reward conditions Main modifications reside on the introduction of monetary feedback after each successful inhibition and the suppression of punishment feedback after a failed inhibition Participants performed the Reward Stop Signal Task Paradigm (RSST) in two different groups One group was aware of the possibility of rewards magnitudes shift but the order of rewards was not communicated (ESRG) participants only knew that a monetary reward will appear without any mention to the reward shift and subsequently discovered -by themselves- a distinct reward magnitude only at the last block The RSST was presented over 4 blocks of 4 min each Each block has one of the three possible feedbacks: non-monetary reward (Smiley) low reward (50$ COP –Colombian pesos-) or high reward (500$ COP) Regardless of the assigned condition or group all participants performed exactly the same first – baseline- block were each successful inhibition was rewarded with a Smiley participants received two types of the mentioned monetary feedbacks To control for the effect of reward order presentation, we have built two conditions (See Fig. 1): for Increasing condition the order was Smiley Participants were randomly assigned to each condition in a counterbalanced way Half of participants underwent the Increasing Condition and the other half The key point of the present experimental design was the difference in the information given about reward ESRG expected different rewards magnitudes and URG only knew that a reward will appear Young adult participants were recruited by informal community announcements among undergraduate students attending at the Universidad El Bosque and at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá (Colombia) Forty-five participants were recruited from both universities ESRG group (n = 21) and the URG group (n = 24) resulted after randomisation The combined mean age for both men and women participating from the study was 22.6 Sex ratio (w:m) in the “Expected rewards” group was 1.2 and in the “Unexpected rewards” group of 1.1 (more men) Participants were screened for past and current psychiatric disorders An open questionnaire was conducted in the search of history for Autism Spectrum Disorders Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) mood disorders (depression or bipolar disorders) and schizophrenia as these were part of the exclusion criteria All time responses (mean reaction time [MRT] stop signal delay [SSD] and SSRT) were screened for outliers given a cutting point of +/− 2 standard deviations from the mean response value (conservative threshold) Two participants were excluded from the study after applying these criteria The task was programmed in Visual Basic 6.0 (pending link to the script here) a DELL personal computer with an Intell 2 processor was used to run the task Participants were placed in a desk chair without wheels at a standard distance of 1 m from a 20″ screen Stimuli appeared against a black background at the centre of the screen Alignment of the head was coordinated through visual verification between the participant nose and the fixation cross at the centre of the screen This alignment permitted to ensure that stimuli would be displayed in the middle of the visual field with no visual distractors on the walls and without windows the participants underwent a short practice block ensuring the correct visualization of every stimulus; luminosity was kept constant on the stimuli with no ambiguity Experimental environment conditions were controlled All participants performed the experiment in a specific room arranged by each laboratory of experimental psychology at each University (del Rosario and El Bosque) fulfilling the same conditions already described in Materials Instructions for the SST were presented in a standardized paper form and delivered by the same researcher Participants were instructed that a video game-like task would determine how fast they were They were told about the length of the task participants were asked to repeat the procedure to the researcher in order to verify their full understanding of the task A brief training block of the SST without feedback for successful inhibition was undertaken before beginning the trials Statistical analyses were performed with R (R version 2.13.0 (2011-04-13) Copyright (c) 2011 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing) normal distribution and homogeneity of variance Critical alpha was set at .05 (frequently adjusted using Bonferroni corrections) as guidance for interpretation of possible meaningful results dependent variables consist on three type of response time measures (MRT and four task performance measures (number of failed inhibitions We set to test the effect of magnitude of reward and order of reward. Also, key, the effect of expectation of rewards as the differences between knowledge of specific levels of reward (ESRG) vs. –simple knowledge of reward (URG) on inhibitory control. To test the effect of order of rewards and the magnitude of rewards, we have conducted analyses through a two-way ANOVA given the within-subject factor ‘order of blocks’ (1,2,3… given by the acquisition block order), ‘type of reward’ (smiley, low reward, high reward) and between-subject factor ‘condition’ (Increasing reward, decreasing reward). Then a General Linear Model (GLM) following a similar model as for the ANOVA, but including an extra level of analysis comparing groups: ESRG vs. URG. Post Hoc analyses were conducted through Bonferroni tests to compare differences between each block given their presentation timeline inside each condition (blocks (b) comparison as follows: b1-b2; b1-b3, b1-b4, b2-b3, b3–4). Alpha level set at 0.05. These methods have been peer-reviewed prior to analyses (BMC Psychology). Two-way ANOVA model was applied between ‘order of blocks’ inside each condition (increasing or decreasing reward). Main differences were observed between blocks comparisons on SSRT during decreasing condition, except between the 2nd and the 3th blocks. This is an expected outcome, given the fact that feedback was the same on blocks 2 and 3. No differences were found for SSRT for the increasing condition. Two-way ANOVA conducted for reward magnitudes (smiley vs. low reward, smiley vs. high reward, low reward vs. high reward), revealed an effect of reward magnitude over SSRT between the non-monetary reward (smiley) and monetary rewards: between smiley vs. 1st high reward (F(1,19) = 2.6; p = .009), 2nd high reward (F(1,19) = 3.73; p = .004) and low reward on decreasing condition (F(1,19) = 3.2; p = .009). SSRT scores for Expected (ESRG) and Unexpected (URG) reward groups Left: (Expected reward shift group) Main differences were obtained on paired comparisons between the first no rewarded and the following rewarded blocks but only on the decreasing condition Right (Unexpected reward shift group): main differences on both conditions were described between the first no rewarded and the following rewarded blocks.b SSRT delta change ratio in percent between first block without monetary reward and 2nd 2B Left: delta changes inside increasing and decreasing reward conditions on “Expected reward shift” group * Significant difference between delta slopes comparing increasing and decreasing condition between 1st and 4th block (F(1,19) = 6.21; p = .022) 2B Right: delta changes inside increasing and decreasing reward conditions on “Unexpected of reward” group SSRT delta change ratio in percent between Expected and Unexpected group between Increasing and Decreasing reward conditions *Difference was found between conditions on the “Expected reward” group on the delta change between the no monetary and the monetary rewarded blocks (F (1,19) = 5.74 Two way ANOVA has revealed main differences over the transitions between the first and all the following blocks on SSRT values (F(1,22) = 8.9; p < .001) No differences were reported in paired comparisons including 2nd Analyses for reward magnitudes inside each condition (increasing or decreasing) also highlighted a main effect on the transition between no monetary reward (smiley) and the first monetary reward inhibition scores given by the SSRT values reflect a robust effect of the presence of reward independently of being high or low and independent of its arrival order (SSRT between blocks (F(1,22) 1 and 2 = p=,004 Two-Way mixed ANOVAs (α < .025) were performed to explore the effect of the manipulation of reward orders distributed over the two conditions (increasing vs through the four blocks of the task (a 2*4 mixed model) Regarding URG, no reliable difference was observed between the non-monetary and the monetary reward blocks, or between the increasing and decreasing conditions. The whole group had a similar progression pattern but no differences were retrieved among conditions (see Fig. 2b “Unexpected rewards” groups) Group analysis for blocks comparison between trials (Expected vs Unexpected Reward shift) and between conditions (Increasing vs allowing the comparison of each time-corresponding block through both trials (blocks 1 on ESRG and URG groups No reliable effects were shown for SSRT measures A second Univariate GLM was conducted for trials and conditions comparisons A main effect of group was highlighted for each reward magnitude No main effect of order of assignment of reward was seen related to the increasing or decreasing reward condition Bonferroni post Hoc comparisons showed that main differences come from each first block and the following blocks which highlights what was described earlier for each trial analysis: there is an important step on behaviour inhibition modulation between a non-monetary reward and the first monetary rewarded block delta changes analyses exhibited a main difference between the first block and the following ones however only for the ESRG (F(1,19) = 5.74; p = 0.027 we have conducted a stop signal task under two controlled conditions we have introduced different reward magnitudes to manipulate the motivational dimension of the inhibitory task and evaluate the modulation of reward size we have tested the effect of the previous knowledge about reward over the behavioural adjustments in inhibitory control (ESRG vs Results showed a main effect for each group on all variables enabling us to confirm that the experimental manipulation has a modulatory effect over behaviour Two main observations are made: there is an effect on inhibitory performances induced by the order of reward presentation and an influence of the monetary reward magnitude The effect in the order of reward assignment was observed through differences between increasing and decreasing conditions The increasing reward condition group exhibited a discrete change on the performance pattern with a surprising less efficient inhibition score on the third block and an expected -although modest- improvement at the end differences on pairwise tests on number of failed stops and SSRT scores were observed between the first block that gives non-monetary feedback (smiley) when compared to the subsequent monetary rewarded blocks The dynamic progression of SSRT performance through the task exhibited a stronger delta change between the 1st and the 3th and 4th blocks on the decreasing condition group in which participants were told in advance about the exact moment when they were going to get a high or low reward inhibition performances mirrored the size of rewards: low reward By manipulating the knowledge of the reward type we wanted to go beyond the kick-start effect and explore the modulation of expectations over executive inhibition If we stick to the assumption that merely the reward size would be the cause of a performance boost we could expect a simple replication of previous work current results in both conditions exhibit a non-linear progression that does not strictly follow the reward size modulation We can claim that expectations about rewards to come modify the way participants adjust their inhibitory strategies Given the manipulation of information about reward shift we have certainly induced an expectation that works through the ongoing task course When participants “discover” the size of the reward at the second block would it be another high reward or a low one the prediction becomes a certainty: if you get another high reward at that point there is no doubt that the reward size shift will come in the fourth block may have acted as a demotivating or non-attractive reward This demotivation is perceived through a lack of improvement when compared to the group receiving the high reward in same moment of the task The undermining effect seems to be confirmed by the third block when participants are confronted again with a low reward showing worse inhibition scores than the previous block when these participants received the highest reward inhibition scores improve with a reliable difference between the first and the last block on number of obtained rewards Analyses showed a main effect of group on all time performance variables (MRT number of rewards and number of wrong keys which confirms the modulation effect on behaviour induced by the experimental manipulation Following the same procedure as for the “Expected specific reward” group participants did not realize that they belonged to one of the two existent conditions (increasing and decreasing reward) we have suppressed the information about the existence of distinct reward magnitudes in this group results showed a progressive improvement on all measured scores and regardless to the reward magnitude order This supports a general kick-start effect on performance after the introduction of a monetary reward on the task The presentation of the $500 coin may have induced a stronger stability on the prediction system reflected on significant shorter SSD on MRT scores after the first blocks Slopes between blocks and between the two conditions were quite similar for all measures The steeper slope was observed between the first and the second block This corresponds to the shift between a non-monetary feedback (smiley) and the first monetary reward no matter if it concerned a low or a high reward These findings confirm the hypothesis that on unexpected reward shift trials the modulation effect of monetary reward would be induced by the presence of the reward itself the lack of information about rewards shift restrains a possible dynamic modulation of expectation through the task The hypothesis about the reward magnitude effect per se was not confirmed or an undermining effect of the low reward was not observed we can claim the up modulation of the inhibitory system by the mere presence of any amount of monetary reward Instructions given to the “unexpected reward” group may have induced a single boost in expectation that worked as inner motivation placing any amount of money at the top of expected feedbacks (supported by informal conversation with participants) The kick-start effect may have operated in a similar way as the one induced by the presence of explicit high reward at the beginning of the task Receiving a low reward when you expect a high one at some point may have induced a demotivation similar to the removal of an attractive reward In the present work we have used the stop signal task with a dynamic algorithm adjusting to each subject performance in order to avoid learning strategies This another reason to keep the term “kick-start effect” as a distinct concept than anticipation of rewards because no extra boost performance was observed in intermediate blocks while waiting for the biggest bonus We propose that these two concepts correspond to distinct neural mechanisms The boosting effect of a strong reward at the beginning of a task has not been explored in motor/cognitive inhibition tasks like ours What seems to matters here is the inner value you give to what you expect to get based on optimal prediction of outcomes that modulate inhibitory behaviour The motivational aspect is driven by modulations of performances in front of distinct types of rewards Here we claim that expectation may constitute an extra element to consider when testing the motivational effect of reward over cognitive control inducing an influence on both the cognitive dimension as well as on the inner motivation we have addressed the question about the effect of expectation on a rewarded inhibitory task by asking if there is a difference on performance when participants know they can win a high or a low reward compared to participants that do not know about reward differences a robust effect was obtained through analyses comparing increasing and decreasing conditions inside the “Expected specific reward” group Participants receiving the highest reward at the beginning of the task have modulated the inhibition pattern in a more efficient way than those starting with low reward the dynamic progression of SSRT scores on the decreasing condition was similar to a previous study reporting the kick-start effect Even if the order of the reward shift was unknown participants received the higher reward at the beginning and were able to deduce what amount of money could come next participants not knowing about the presence of distinct reward magnitudes reached a ceiling pattern right after receiving the first reward This observation suggests that participants only had a single high-level prediction: receiving monetary reward the behavioural adjustments for unexpected reward shift were similar to the one exhibited by the participants only assessed in the kick-start effect in the previous study the highest performance effort was allocated promptly at the bonus arrival moment The novelty of the present work is given by the observation that expectations about rewards seem to induce a stronger effect than the reward magnitude itself or if theorised that it is processed at a higher prediction level The experimental design proposed here could be employed as an evaluation tool to assess behavioural adjustments for rewards in an uncertain environment they may serve as an initial guide to understand the effect of expectation over inhibitory processes Data is available at the University of Cambridge Repository (https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.6920) Stop-signal inhibition disrupted by damage to right inferior frontal gyrus in humans The rise and fall of the inhibitory mechanism: toward a unified theory of cognitive development and aging Inhibition and impulsivity: behavioural and neural basis of response control Bayesian prediction and evaluation in the anterior cingulate cortex Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Behavioural inhibition: a meta-analytic review of the stop-signal paradigm Reduced response readiness delays stop signal inhibition In: The Oxford handbook of human motivation; 2012 An integrative theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder based on the cognitive and affective neurosciences Assessing executive functions in children: biological How the brain translates money into force: a neuroimaging study of subliminal motivation Neurocognitive mechanisms of cognitive control: the role of prefrontal cortex in action selection ADHD subtype differences in motivational responsivity but not inhibitory control: evidence from a reward-based variation of the stop signal paradigm Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology Monetary rewards modulate inhibitory control Start/stop signals emerge in nigrostriatal circuits during sequence learning Motivational influences on response inhibition measures Temporal filtering of reward signals in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex during a mixed-strategy game Competition between learned reward an error outcome prediction in anterior cingulate cortex Learned predictions of error likelihood in the anterior cingulate cortex Error effects in anterior cingulate cortex reverse when error likelihood is high On the ability to inhibit thought and action: a theory of an act of control Wherefore a horse race: inhibitory control as rational decision making Neural basis of motivational and cognitive control; 2011 Rational decision-making in inhibitory control Right inferior prefrontal cortex mediates response inhibition while mesial prefrontal cortex is responsible for error detection The predictive mind: Oxford University Press; 2013 Promising high monetary rewards for future task performance increases intermediate task performance Evidence of preliminary response preparation from a divided attention task Within-trial effects of stimulus-reward associations Neural basis of the undermining effect of monetary reward on intrinsic motivation you can do better: neural substrates of incentive-based performance enhancement Endogenous fantasy and learning in digital games Predictability modulates human brain response to reward Neural bases of the non-conscious perception of emotional signals A Bayesian foundation for individual learning under uncertainty Measurement and reliability of response inhibition automatic actions and behaviours in game transfer phenomena: an empirical self-report study using online forum data Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex modulates striatal reward encoding during reappraisal of reward anticipation Download references Julio Ponce de León for facilitating data acquisition on their departments Oliver Müller for helpful technical and data acquisition support Pr Julián David Echeverry and Juan Camilo Mejia for helpful data analysis and manuscript discussion This research was supported by a Wellcome Trust Biomedical Research Fellowship WT093811MA to TAB and COLCIENCIAS project grant #111080763051 to PMH Grupo de investigación en neurociencias (NeURos) Alberto Vélez Van Meerbeke & Claudia López Cabra Université de Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines MS and TB were responsible for the study design MC conducted technical implementation of the task CLC and MB contributed to data acquisition AVVM and TB assisted with the interpretation of the findings and revision of the manuscript All authors critically reviewed the content and approved the final version for publication Ethics Institutional committee has granted a formal approval with reference number CEI-ABN-000397 the 26th November 2013 in accordance with the standards set out in the Declaration of Helsinki (Korea 2008) and the World Conference on Harmonization for Good Clinical Practice All participants signed the written consent form before being enrolled No consent to publish individual participant’s data was required due to the chosen method to present data and results Participants were aware that no traceable identification data or signature could be derived from the results to be published The authors declare that they have no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Behavioural data on all variables for “Expected specific rewards” group (ESRG) Reaction times are represented of MRT (mean reaction time) Two-Way mixed ANOVA for time and task performance measures Behavioural data on all variables for “Unexpected reward” group (URG) Two-Way ANOVA for time and task performance measures Expected and Unexpected [ESRG - URG] group analyzes Between conditions [Increasing Vs Decreasing] GLM Univariate between blocks [effect of order] Group analysis for block comparison between groups [ESRG Vs URG] Group analysis for block comparison between groups [ESRG Vs URG] and between conditions [Increasing Vs Decreasing] GLM Univariate between blocks [effect of order] Group analysis for reward magnitude comparison between groups [ESRG Vs URG] and between conditions [Increasing Vs Decreasing] GLM Univariate between rewards [effect of reward magnitudes] Figure S1 Time performances for Expected (ESRG) and Unexpected (URG) reward groups Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-019-0332-x Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Tisch Global Jumbos The Blog of the Tisch College Global Programs I had the incredible opportunity to conduct an interview with Gabriel Ortiz van Meerbeke the author of the article titled “Graffiti takes its own space: Negotiated Consent and the Positionings of street artists and graffiti writers in Bogotá Colombia.” I was particularly thrilled about this interview since our research interests intersected and I was eager to gain not only Gabriel’s insights but also learn about his personal journey throughout his research Gabriel currently serves as a cultural manager for the city of Bogota which provided a fascinating alternative perspective more focused on the government’s involvement in commissioned art and the ongoing debate surrounding the legality and respect of graffiti.  The company is known for its exceptional work in designing and producing captivating public art Our meeting with Camilo took place in the Bronx Camilo unveiled a new project—a remake of their infamous mural depicting a moment between a homeless couple sharing a kiss This project is connected to the transformation the city of Bogota has planned for the Bronx Enter your email address to subscribe to blog updates: This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page the former executive chef of Bourbon Steak who was preparing to open a Brazilian restaurant and bar in DC and family remember him for being cool and collected driven in his career but humble about his accomplishments “He set the bar so high for being a person,” his wife “Everyone of course thinks of him as having very high standards and setting the bar high as a chef and in the industry The cause of death has not been publicly disclosed Curtis was born in Philadelphia but grew up in Bethesda and DC He cut his teeth working for Old Town fine-dining restaurants Brabo and Restaurant Eve before joining the Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak eventually becoming executive chef from 2020 to 2023 Curtis also spent a stint at Mina’s San Francisco restaurant RN74 went to Copenhagen to intern at world-famous Noma and helmed Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s now-closed Hazel restaurant in Shaw which received a Bib Gourmand designation from the Michelin guide Last year, Curtis became partner and culinary director at Unordinary Hospitality, which took over operations of South America-inspired Mercy Me in the West End. The group was preparing to open a Brazilian restaurant/bar called Cana in Adams Morgan this month “Everyone loved working with Rob,” says Albi chef Michael Rafidi who cooked with Curtis at RN74 and had tried to recruit him for his own restaurant He was the nicest chef and the most balanced chef in the kitchen He was the guy who was holding shit together He was really one of the better cooks I’ve ever worked with.” who worked with Curtis at Neighborhood Restaurant Group In the early days of the pandemic when they were helping to run a grocery and pantry delivery service Adler recalls how Curtis had prepared around 125 date-night dinners for two Then the refrigeration went out over night “Any other chef I think I’ve ever met in my life would have freaked out would have been upset or screaming or yelling The Bazaar by José Andrés chef David Testa remembers Curtis as a grounding presence and leader-by-example amid the uncertainty of the pandemic when Hazel closed and he was thrown into helping with Bluejacket brewery and opening the Roost food hall in Capitol Hill Testa says he even jumped on the line to help with the Roost’s taqueria opening: “Even though it was tacos and nothing like Robert Curtis’s forté by any means He rocked it out and had a blast doing it… He just had the biggest smile on his face.” Other former colleagues also remember Curtis as a versatile chef whether it was honing his French cooking at RN74 and more recently diving into Brazilian cuisine for Cana without dropping quality,” says David Van Meerbeke the director of operations for Yellow who got to know Curtis as a sous chef at Bourbon Steak when he was general manager there Van Meerbeke still remembers a North African-spiced steak tartare from a tasting with the chef “It felt like everything he put up was ready to go on a menu And it probably was because he was immensely talented But he probably did do the work on the back end recalls a particularly rough dinner service She’d recently moved from Florida to DC and was missing her mom and brother who Curtis knew she was close to and would often ask her about he handed her a to-go bag with a fully cooked dinner “He told me he knew it wasn’t the same as having them here with me but just a little something to make me feel less lonely but it left an imprint on my heart,” Brady says At Bourbon Steak, Curtis was among a group of local chefs who opened their kitchens to create dishes with kids who have intellectual or developmental disabilities as part of a Best Buddies program Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate executive director Pamela Yee says she got to know Curtis when he donated a private dinner to raise money for victims of the Monterey Park mass shooting and he continued to help her out even with gift cards for her kids’ school fundraiser He wanted you to get fed and have a good time,” Yee says The couple took holiday cards with matching outfits to the next level sending out goofy photo postcards of themselves for Fourth of July “He was a Michelin chef but also a meme lord and I just loved the duality there,” she says Ursula says he had a lot of passions outside the kitchen: he was a trivia whiz I’m not sure a lot of people knew that.” He also loved to surprise her at the airport when she was coming back from a work trip or have a bottle of wine or dessert sent to her if she went out to dinner and he was so caring and just so nurturing He was like that really with everyone in his circle,” Ursula says “He was so loved by so many people.” Jessica Sidman covers the people and trends behind D.C.’s food and drink scene she was Food Editor and Young & Hungry columnist at Washington City Paper She is a Colorado native and University of Pennsylvania grad Belgium Although Quick Step's Tom Boonen was in the winning camp for.. Although Quick Step's Tom Boonen was in the winning camp for Ronde van Vlaanderen the Belgian couldn't hide his frustration when talking to the press after the race All day the top favourite had the same rider on his wheel "I understand that one wants to get in the front but the difference was that he stopped pulling once we were away Pozzato probably sensed that if he would work he wouldn't win He predicted a duel but in the end we didn't have the opportunity to battle each other seriously Of course I prefer to get away with someone who rides first before he starts calculating," Boonen said adding that he had plenty of cards left to play but I was unlucky that I couldn't drop him It's frustrating but that's just how it is." When asked whether he talked or indicated to Pozzato that he was unhappy with his racing style Boonen denied it "We didn't have to talk; I didn't even look angrily at him Everybody saw that we were killing each other and they could exploit that If only he had worked together in that group of six." quite often a third one runs away with it and as Tornado Tom Boonen and Pippo Pozzato were racing each other Stijn Devolder headed for his second consecutive win in Flanders "Our team was living up to the expectations placed on it The door was closed for me but at the same time it opened the door for my teammates," Boonen said "That's sport at the highest level and it doesn't take anything away from Stijn's performance It's well deserved as we always had two or three guys in front during the finale." For the Belgian rider who won the Ronde van Vlaanderen in 2005 and 2006 Fiorenzo Magni and Johan Museeuw on the list of record holders with three victories in Flanders has disappeared there's time left for him to join those legendary winners Though Stijn won today the pressure will be the same for me in Roubaix." By Jeff Jones in Ninove-Meerbeke For 24 year-old Tom Boonen For 24 year-old Tom Boonen, winning the Ronde van Vlaanderen was a career ambition achieved he was extremely impressive in winning the E3 Prijs in Harelbeke where he beat Andreas Klier in a two man sprint after the pair had escaped with 60 km to go he went one better: escaping on the Valkenberg with 32 km to go together with Andreas Klier and Peter Van Petegem They then destroyed the rest of the peloton on the run into Geraardsbergen Boonen accelerated at the top of the final climb of the Bosberg and only Van Petegem was really strong enough to hold his wheel before finally getting away with 9 km to go for a magnificent solo effort into Ninove-Meerbeke Although he gained 50 metres with his first jump the chasers knew the danger and worked hard to bring him back "Until the last kilometre I was just fighting with myself looking at my speedometer to gain as much speed as possible," said Boonen in the post-race press conference I thought I was going to be extremely happy I had a lot of emotions in my body but I couldn't tell what it was And after the finish line it was just one big yell Click here for the full interview Cancellara against the rest on the road to Meerbeke The only doubts are whether he's peaked too soon and the workload his team will have to deal with on Sunday Cancellara the man to beat at Tour of Flanders Devolder injured but ready for Tour of Flanders Video: Is Cancellara beatable at the Tour of Flanders? lose and he'll be seen as the best of the rest who took the fight to the unstoppable machine that is Cancellara One gets the sense that Boonen is a harder character after last year's tough lessons in Flanders and Roubaix and in Gert Steegmans and Sylvain Chavanel he possesses the muscle to back him all the way Quick Step seem to have finally woken up after their poor start to the season too 4. Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto)Quite where Gilbert's form lies is bit of a mystery Certainly going from his Gent-Wevelgem and San Remo performances he looks good but not quite good enough Potentially stronger on the climbs than Cancellara but weaker in a sprint than Boonen he'll have to use all of his craft and panache on Sunday 5. Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky)Frankly it was toss up between him and Pozzato to make our top ten and the Spaniard edged it simply due to the fact that he'll race far more aggressively We've said before that Pozzatto is a jack of all trades but master of none and while Flecha - to a certain extent - fits that billing too you can envisage that he'll go on the offensive on Sunday while Pozzato will follow wheels Whether he actually gets the better of Boonen and Cancellara is debatable but at some stage he will win a big Classic 7. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step)Whisper it quietly but the Frenchman is on the boil and the likes of Johan Museeuw are tipping him as a possible rider to pull off 'a Devolder' He's never cracked the top ten in Flanders but in the last three editions of the race Chavanel has been on the attack - going with Devolder's initial move in 2009 - and his accelerations up and down the bunch at De Panne on Wednesday while the rest of the bunch were struggling Will Leopard have the strength to chase both him and Boonen 8. Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil-DCM)No luck but unlike like Pozzato and Nuyens - both missing from this list - Devolder knows what it takes to win Flanders He of course has that canny ability of peaking – in fact let's just call it racing – for just one weekend a year 9. Alessandro Ballan (BMC)Another tough call but Ballan finally looks like a bike rider again after almost two forgettable seasons Woeful as the world champion and pulled from the cobbles last year because of links to the Mantova doping investigation (he was later cleared) the Italian has quietly been going about his business in 2011 and there or thereabouts in the last few races 10. Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)Common sense suggests that Sagan is a couple of years from competing for the win in Flanders but common sense and bike racing aren't always happy bedfellows The Slovak is riding his first set of cobbled classics has a team brimming with strong workhorses and isn't in bad nick himself If he's allowed off the front like he was in Gent-Wevelgem the bunch might not be so lucky in closing him down for a second time.  he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France With the help of the excellent editorial team he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners By Brecht Decaluwé in Meerbeke Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) repeated.. Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) won his second Ronde in a row(Image credit: AFP)The peloton sets out(Image credit: AFP)The canals of Brugge.(Image credit: Gregor Brown)Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam)(Image credit: Gregor Brown)Devolder was happy(Image credit: AFP)The peloton sets out on its journey through Vlaanderen(Image credit: AFP Photo)Devolder repeated his win from 2008(Image credit: AFP Photo)He dedicated his victory to Friederik Nolf the Bosberg.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)The chasing group with Preben Vanhecke Manuel Quinziato and Sylvain Chavanel.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) ws out of contention today finishing 30th.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) in his usual attacking mode.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)Tom Boonen and Filippo Pozzato were always set to duel in Flanders.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)George Hincapie and Marcus Burghardt keep it together for Columbia-Highroad.(Image credit: Tim Van Wichelen)93rd Ronde van Vlaanderen - ProTBelgium Stijn Devolder (Quick Step) repeated last year's victory in almost identical style soloing away in the final kilometres for his second consecutive win the Vlaanderens Mooiste The 29-year-old Belgian dropped his breakaway companions on the penultimate climb of the day he raced to glory on the roads toward the finish in Meerbeke Devolder gestured in honor of his recently deceased friend and fellow racer Frederik Nolf I've lived up to this race for so long and I encountered a lot of bad luck," said Devolder I worked hard with all the people that kept believing in me I was able to join [Tom] Boonen (Quick Step) and [Filippo] Pozzato (Team Katusha) after the Berendries and then I pulled through toward the leaders "I'm planning to stay focused on this race during the next few years as the Ronde van Vlaanderen remains the most important race of the year for me," said Devolder An aggressive Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam) anticipated the final sprint and escaped from the large chase group on the finishing straight to finish second The bunch sprint was won by Philippe Gilbert (Silence-Lotto) Pozzato and Martijn Maaskant (Garmin - Slipstream) followed to finish fourth and fifth "I didn't have the legs today," said Haussler favorite Boonen explained that racing for the victory wasn't possible for the day since the other top favorite "Everybody saw that we were killing each other but it opened the door for Stijn and Sylvain (Chavenel)." compliments to the Quick Step team," said Pozzato Shortly after leaving the packed "Grote Markt" in medieval-like Brugge at 10:00 am it was clear that many teams had ordered their riders to get into the classic the average speed during the first three hours was extremely high When approaching the first of the sixteen hellingen the peloton was riding ten minutes ahead of the fastest schedule it took 125 kilometres before the first breakaway group was established and it included just four riders: Wim De Vocht (Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team) Sebastien Turgot (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) and Filip Meirhaeghe (Landbouwkrediet - Colnago) Cervélo TestTeam showed its global strength as they lined up with five guys in front of the peloton approaching the Oude Kwaremont cobbled climb didn't appear to provide the expected spectacle at the front where a tough selection separated the peloton into two groups Cervélo led the first part of the peloton toward the short but clearly the favorites were still hesitating whether to go on or not Six men anticipated the Koppenberg and jumped away toward the two riders who were still left off the front Frederic Guesdon (Française Des Jeux) Daniel Lloyd (Cervelo Test Team) and Marco Bandiera (Lampre - N.G.C.) drove the chase Favorites Boonen and Pozzato engaged in a scrimmage of sorts on the legendary Koppenberg Team Saxo Bank 's Fabian Cancellara's chances for the day ended when he broke his chain then he turned around and rode halfway back down to collect his chain which he hung around his neck as a sort of souvenir the two jumped away from the peloton thanks to an acceleration from Boonen Only seventeen riders were able to bridge up with them before the eighth helling That's also where early attacker De Vocht got dropped from the front reducing the leader's group to seven riders A group of about twenty riders joined the Boonen group the gap from the seven leaders grew to more than one minute Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) and Hoste dropped their four breakaway companions but one minute later Pozzato copied the attack he had launched during the Driedaagse De Panne-Koksijde earlier this week and defending Flanders champion Devolder bridged up a little later The three chasers steamed towards the leaders right after the Valkenberg (climb number 12) This seven-man lead group didn't stay together for long as Quinziato sneaked away together with Chavanel Quick Step left the chasing initiative to the other riders and as a result a small peloton gathered half a minute behind the two leaders on the steep Tenbosse street Preben Van Hecke (Topsport Vlaanderen - Mercator) anticipated the next climb and jumped away from the peloton Quinziato and Chavanel arrived at the fourteenth climb Devolder attacked the leader's group on the packed with Quinziato and Chavanel unable to respond Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) started the debate on the Muur but Hoste took over with Boonen and Pozzato on his wheel Van Hecke bridged back up with Quinziato and Chavanel but this trio soon trailed by half a minute the unleashed Devolder The relative positions of the lead racers remained the same over the Bosberg despite efforts from Flecha and Gilbert in the peloton Devolder was unstoppable and gathered up to one minute over the three chasers as he approached the Meerbeke the chasing trio was reeled in by the peloton that would sprint for second place Haussler anticipated the group's sprint and launched off the front to capture second place A serious crash ruined the chances of riders like Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto) and Gregory Rast (Astana) Gilbert captured third place ahead of Pozzato and Maaskant Defending champion Nuyens says "give course a chance" Stijn Devolder on the Kapelmuur in 2009.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) grits his teeth on the Paterberg while eventual winner Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) appears unfazed by the cobbled climb.(Image credit: Sirotti)The Oude Kwaremont a fixture of the race since the mid 1970s(Image credit: Ben Atkins/Cyclingnews.com)One of the most iconic climbs of the cobbled Classics will not feature in the Tour of Flanders for the coming years and the exclusion of the Muur van Geraardsbergen (also known as the Wall of Grammont or Kapelmuur) from the race has caused great consternation across Belgium New route for the Tour of Flanders unveiled Notable sports commentator Michel Wuyts told Sporza.be "It's as if the Ronde has been decapitated." Two-time champion Stijn Devolder was also unhappy with the changes "This is no longer the Ronde van Vlaanderen" "Three times up the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg in the finale is probably all in my favour," said Devolder to Sportwereld "But I believe that the organizers made a wrong choice by simply replacing the old finale The Muur van Geraardsbergen and the Bosberg cannot be erased from the Ronde." I could win ten times in Oudenaarde but this would never be the same feeling as the finish in Meerbeke." the Tour of Flanders has finished on the same route which incorporated the Kapelmuur and Bosberg as the final two climbs The new course shifts the finale to Oudenaarde all of which take in the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg with the latter serving as the final ascent with 13.3km remaining before the finish line near the Centrum Ronde van Vlaanderen a museum dedicated to the history of the race The defending Ronde champion Nick Nuyens agreed with the race organiser Wim Van Herreweghe who asked for people to give the new course a chance but we have to give it a chance anyway," Nuyens said to Sporza It is still a succession of hills with little recovery time and there remains two killers in the finale Although I must say that the finish in Meerbeke was a beautiful place." Nuyens added that the changes will benefit the spectators who will no longer have to try to cut across the route to take in all of the decisive moments The movement of spectators was a key factor in the decision of the race organisers to alter the finale "100,000 cycling fans make the Tour of Flanders what it is today," organisers state on the race website "Vlaanderen’s Mooiste has become a massive event That is the power but also the weak point of the race "The new course allows less movement by the spectators and hence provides possibilities for optimising service and safety measures in the finish area." But will the new course ruin the racing action which has seen devastating winning blows made on the Kapelmuur by the likes of Fabian Cancellara and Stijn Devolder in the recent editions Three time Ronde champion Johan Museeuw predicts "Three times up the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg can blow you away The course didn't really need to be made harder "It will be a rider with a big motor that will win the Ronde in 2012," he said. the Kapelmuur is much longer than the Paterberg the former is only a 6.8% average gradient while the Paterberg punishes the riders with a 13.7% average averages 3% and has a maximum gradient of 11% comes only 3km before the Paterberg then take in both three times in the final 75km and the finish will not be any easier "The pair of Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg is definitely harder than the combination with the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg," said commentator and former coach Jose De Cauwer to Sportwereld "On the Paterberg where the gradients shoot up above 16 percent Three-time winner and the first rider to win the race in Meerbeke also won the race in its previous arrival in Merelbeke and said the future will tell if the finish in Oudenaarde is a hit "The Tour of Flanders is and will remain a monument on any course." Be one of the first to try our new activity feed There is no place in cycling more sacred than the Muur de Geraardsbergen Belgium (VN) — Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen will no doubt be an exciting battle contested in front of hundreds of thousands of rabid Belgian fans which will most likely be won by the strongest man in the race nor will it include several iconic climbs that have shaped the race over the past century head of the Flanders Classics race organization the course has dramatically changed to now finish with three circuits point-to-point route from Bruges to Meerbeke The new route includes three trips over the cobblestone Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg climbs or Wall of Geraardsbergen (also known as the Kapelmuur perhaps the most iconic of all Tour of Flanders climbs in its former placement 15km from the finish line proved decisive in countless editions of the race a less iconic but important enough climb that two-time winner Edwig Van Hooydonck earned the nickname “Eddy Bosberg” for securing both wins with attacks on the short The reasons behind the route change are many a former sports journalist and TV talk show host who formed Flanders Classics in 2010 Scheldeprijs and Brabantse Pijl under one umbrella organization Vandenhaute has said that in order for the sport to progress He ‘s made it clear that he wants to make cycling more attractive to sponsors — primarily to sponsors that will populate the expansive VIP tents he’s erected along the Ronde course Vandenhaute believes it’s important to give sponsors something back “Keep the Muur and Bosberg.” An online poll on the Het Niewsblad website showed that the Belgian populace was against the change by a 3-to-1 margin The chorus of opposition quieted some over the last six months; however the most fanatical opponents have resurfaced typewritten letter threatening to sabotage the race by littering tacks on the course in protest of the course change Belgian national police are taking the threat seriously with 700 police officers and 1500 race marshals adding supplementary patrols from Saturday morning through Sunday evening while distancing himself from any acts of sabotage has called for his staff to boycott this year’s race whether in the form of signs or other acts of disobedience Vandenhaute was asked why he’d waited nearly five months to speak publicly about course change and I wanted to give time for emotions to settle.” He also admitted emotions were greater than he expected and in the beginning of 2010 we started asking ourselves ‘What do we think of the final and is there an alternative?’ And we went for the alternative.” The agreement with Oudenaarde as the new finishing city is valid for six years “But if this Oude Kwaremont to Paterberg to Oudenaarde finale works well at least for the next six years,” he added “And Oude Kwaremont may assume the role of the Muur.” winner of the Tour of Flanders in 2010 and third-place finisher last year particularly with three trips over the Kwaremont and Paterberg Two-time winner Tom Boonen has played it tactfully saying that until the new route has been raced “To me it makes little difference where I win,” Boonen told Het Nieuwsblad “I have no real preference and so I’m going to leave it alone and not interfere.” Retired three-time Ronde champion Johan Museeuw was initially skeptical of the course change but has since given the route change his blessing (It’s worth noting that Museeuw is a paid spokesperson for Flanders Classics.) who considers himself a passionate cycling fan has pleaded with the angry Belgian populace to be open to progress suggesting that the change was made to bring the race to a “higher sporting level.” However, his true agenda is far from hidden. The VIP tents erected this week on the Oude Kwarement are the size of arenas, with capacity for over 6,000 paying spectators — those given special access based on sponsorships, or through purchasing special VIP packages, ranging from $200 for a spot in the VIP tent on the Kwaremont, to $6000 for a six-person, on-course VIP car. After the September announcement, race director Wim Van Herreweghe told Het Nieuwsblad that money was not the deciding factor, adding that Meerbeke had paid more for the right to host the race finish than Oudenaarde will pay moving forward. “Had we only wanted money, we would have left the course as it was,” Van Herreweghe said. “But we felt it was time for change. We wanted a new tour through the heart of the Flemish Ardennes. ” Van Herreweghe put the price tag of the race at over US$2 million, adding that not all that money comes from municipalities and sponsors. “I can only ask for a chance,” Van Herreweghe added. “Make your opinion after the Tour, not before.” One thorn in Vandenhaute’s side with the old course was Vieux Mont, a private operator that erected its own VIP tents on its own property on the Kapelmuur, for which the race organization received only 5,000 euros. When Flanders Classics raised the permit fee substantially, Vieux Mont refused to pay, and the matter ended up in court. The solution, it seems, was to simply relocate the pinnacle of the action and then commercialize the viewing opportunity. Losing the Muur, however, was not the answer. Think back to the two previous editions of the Tour of Flanders. The most dramatic moment of both events came on the Muur — in 2010, Cancellara rode away from Boonen on the Muur and increased his advantage to the finish line; in 2011, a cramping Cancellara was reeled in by Boonen and Philippe Gilbert, setting up one of the most dramatic finales in modern cycling. Think also of Paris-Roubaix, or Milan-San Remo, the monuments of the sport. Imagine their courses altered to appease VIPs, with finishing circuits around the Poggio, or, as Haussler suggested, a Roubaix finish other than in the velodrome. The Muur van Geraardsbergen has been part of De Ronde since 1950, consistently since 1970, with the top section, the Kapelmuur, added in 1981. If there is no race more sacred to racing fans than De Ronde, how much more sacred can you get than a chapel at the top of the race’s most decisive climb? In a sport that has long been touted as the sport of the people, Vandenhaute is effectively taking the race away from the fans, removing one of its most hallowed features in the process. Perhaps Cancellara best put it into perspective speaking with Cyclingnews.com, when he said, “The traditions of the sport are counting for less and now they have changed something crucial. So there is a big question: Is it just to make it harder? Is it just to make money? Is it because of politics and business? Or is it just to see more spectacular things in the race? These are the questions, but I am not the organizer, so I don’t know the answers.” Sunday’s race will be a spectacle, perhaps even more so than in years past. However, the decision to change the historic Flanders route is nothing short of blasphemous, and it was made for all the wrong reasons. Team H & R Block announced its 2007 team this week, which includes junior national pursuit champion... Team H & R Block announced its 2007 team this week, which includes junior national pursuit champion Danielle Kenny and junior national cyclo-cross champion Devon Smibert. The Calgary-based team's primary objective is to continue to develop promising junior and elite riders so that they can meet their full potential, a task which is critically important to the growth of the sport in Canada. The team will be competing across Canada and at select U.S. events for the 2007 season, and will also focus on the World Championships, National Championships, British Columbia Superweek, and the Alberta Provincial Championships. Last year, the team supported Alex Wrubleski, a racer who's is now on the roster for the 2007 UCI women's team Colavita-Sutter Home represented by Cooking Light. 2007 Women's Roster: Danielle Kenny, Carrie Tuck, Sky Mitchell, Dianna Kennedy, and Melanie Zinck. 2007 Development Roster: Dallas Morris, Gideon Kristalka, Adam Boyko, Steve Shiers, Mike Wrubleski, Finn Pedersen, Roy Andrigo, Terry Rice, Phil McDonald and Gordon Smith. For more information, visit www.teamhrblock.ca. The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara won the Tour of Flanders today in Meerbeke, Belgium, thanks to a solo attack on the Muur-Kapelmuur and the work of his ever-present Saxo Bank team. He dropped his last rival, two-time Flanders winner Tom Boonen, on the cobbled climb and rode solo over the final 15 kilometres. "It is really special, it was my perfect scenario," said Cancellara. "The gladiator won the battle." The gladiator's attack on the Muur came after he attacked and rode away with Boonen on the Molenberg, 44 kilometres out. As the two reached the Muur's chapel, 200 metres before the top, Cancellara accelerated away, seated in his saddle as Boonen laboured, standing on his pedals. "It was not really planned, even what I did on the Molenberg was not planned," continued Cancellara. "There were so many people on the Muur, I could hardly understand where Tom was. When I finally looked back, I understood I had some distance." Cancellara's win makes him the only active cyclist with three wins in cycling's five Monuments: Milan-San Remo (2008), Paris-Roubaix (2006) and Tour of Flanders (today). He misses only Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Lombardy, which he plans to target in the coming years. Saxo Bank delivered Cancellara to the win after an eight-man escape dominated the first half of Flanders. Nicolas Rousseau (AG2R La Mondiale), José Vicente Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne), Michele Merlo (Footon-Servetto), Olivier Bonnaire (Française des Jeux), Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha), David Boucher (Landbouwkrediet), Floris Goesinnen (Skil-Shimano) and Joost Van Leijen (Vacansoleil) gained over nine minutes by kilometre 100. Sky relied on Michael Barry and Norwegian Champion Kurt Arvesen to control the escape for leader Juan Antonio Flecha after the first climb, Den Ast. They worked together with Cancellara's Saxo Bank team. After the Den Ast, Kluisberg and Knokteberg, the eight only had a 1'30" advantage at the base of the first cobbled climb, the Oude Kwaremont. Saxo Bank's Matti Breschel led up the Paterberg, pulling away team-mate Cancellara, Boonen, Flecha, George Hincapie (BMC Racing), Thor Hushovd (Cervélo Test Team), Leif Hoste (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Lars Boom (Rabobank) and Steve Chainel (Bbox Bouygues Telecom). They were just ahead of the others at the base of the Koppenberg, where Boonen followed Breschel. Sky's Ian Stannard took up the lead heading to the Steenbeekdries and Taaienberg climbs. More and more riders fell behind the group over the climbs. Geraint Thomas and Mathew Hayman helped Stannard work over the Eikenberg climb, where the escapee's day ended at 59 kilometres to race. Cancellara made the first big step towards victory on the Molenberg. He attacked and rode clear with Boonen, gaining five seconds at the top of the climb. Cycling's power duo had 18 seconds with 40 kilometres and five climbs - Leberg, Berendries, Tenbosse, Muur-Kapelmuur and Bosberg - to cover. David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) led the chase behind Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Hincapie, Stijn Devolder and Flecha. Millar attacked solo and pulled clear Gilbert and Björn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) on the Berendries. They chased at 42 seconds behind at the base of the Muur-Kapelmuur, 1'00" ahead of the group with Flecha. But Millar lost ground on the Muur, leaving only Gilbert and Leukemans to chase. "I ran out of energy, I didn't have energy or bottles for a while," explained Millar. "It's a very beautiful race, but I was too f**ked to even notice the crowds. However, it's the first time I've ridden it, or finished it, and I'm happy." Ahead, Cancellara lived the Flanders dream, attacking and dropping Boonen with 200 metres to the top of the Muur. Boonen, head bobbing, trailed by 40 seconds by the base of the Bosberg and 1'15" at the finish. Gilbert finished third at 2'11", just ahead of Leukemans. American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) led home the next group at 2'35". Britain's top finisher was Classics specialist Roger Hammond (Cervelo) in seventh, just behind Farrar. Fabian Cancellara's full list of wins>> RESULTSTour of Flanders 20101. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Saxo Bank 259km in 6-25-56 3. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 2-11 4. Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil at 2-15 5. Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Transitions at 2-35 10. William Bonnet (Fra) BBox Bouygues Telecom all same time. Tour of Flanders 2010: Photo Special, by Graham Watson Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 *Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1 Cycling Weekly and its team of expert journalists brings cyclists in-depth reviews extensive coverage of both professional and domestic racing as well as fitness advice and 'brew a cuppa and put your feet up' features Cycling Weekly serves its audience across a range of platforms from good old-fashioned print to online journalism 2007 & earlier Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec � Floyd Landis case - On July 27 it was revealed that Tour de France winner Floyd Landis had returned a positive test for an abnormal ratio of testosterone: epitestosterone in an anti-doping test conducted after his victory in stage 17 of the Tour de France Latest news Saturday sees a return to WorldTour one-day races, as Omloop Het Nieuwsblad ushers in the spring Classics season with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the next day Het Nieuwsblad is seen as a compact version of the Monument Tour of Flanders and it’s a fine test of early season form This year the finishing town is Ninove in Flanders its finishing line coming 199.8-km after the start in Gent the riders passing 13 hills and seven cobbled sections in between After climbs like Rekelberg (800-metres of 4 percent) Valkenburg (540-metres of 8.1 percent) and Molenberg (463-metres of 7 percent) the contenders will cross swords on the Muur van Geraardsbergen and Bosberg one-two punch in the final 27-km of racing Leberg, Muur-Kapelmuur, Bosberg… 3 days until the spring classic season begins. Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on Saturday. Rainy weather forecast. pic.twitter.com/fyVlr10Dvi — ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) February 27, 2019 Last year EF-Education First’s Sep Vanmarcke attacked on the steepest part of the Muur (20 percent) and a group of 12 found him on its descent and when its Dane Michael Valgren attacked in the final 2-km Valgren finished 12-seconds ahead of a pack that had grown to 55-riders due to its dithering His rivals will be CCC’s Greg van Avermaet who has two titles on his palmares; Oliver Naesen (Belgium/AG2R); Vanmarcke; cyclocross ace Wout Van Aert in his debut for Jumbo-Visma; Niki Terpstra now plying his trade for Direct Energie; and Lotto-Soudal’s Tiesj Benoot RELATED: How to watch Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Maybe double winner Ian Stannard (Great Britain/Sky) will take on three guys from the Deceuninck-Quick Step Wolfpack Zdenek Stybar and Yves Lampaert in the finale Cobbles, cobbles, cobbles.. #OHN19 pic.twitter.com/AdA2GnJeyy — Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) February 28, 2019 Canadians Hugo Houle and Antoine Duchesne will contest both races while Guillaume Boivin is in K-B-K with his wildcard team Israel Cycling Academy Get the digital edition of Canadian Cycling Magazine Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value"