I don't even have to say this, but the weeks are so stressful at this moment. I'm not unhappy that I work at a newspaper, but I don't have time for anything else. So I must say that I am pleased that I will only stay here for two more weeks. Then I go on a week's vacation to Morocco, but when I return, I will be blogging more. Love / Elin

To dope is not worth anything in the long run. It helps for a while, but then dopers either test positive or they become depressed. They have spent most of their careers as lousy cheaters.

Maurizio Biondo, Inigo Landaluze and Danilo Di Luca will be the first riders who are forced to pay fines for their mistakes this year.

The new rule came into force on 1 January last year, and will compel doped professional cyclists to dispense a fine corresponding to the net annual income.

Danilo di Luca is the rider (of three) who earned the most. He will pay 280.000 euros, while Inigo Landaluze will pay 27.300 euros and Maurizio Biondo 13.750 euros. The fine will be used by Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) in the fight against doping.

I only mentioned this earlier, but Franco Ballerini died this morning. It's a very sad news. He died in a crash during a rally car event in Tuscany, Italy. He was the navigator for pilot Alessandro Ciardi when they crashed. The car  landed on the passenger side and Ballerini was seriously injured.

They were both driven at express speed to Pistoia Hospital, but it didn't help Ballerini. Alessandro Ciardi is still alive, but in a coma. I haven't heard anything about his injuries so far, but they seem to be severe (as well).

He died when doing something he loved. In addition, his family has decided to donate his organs.

Ballerini was the Italian national cycling coach. He won Paris-Roubaix twice, in 1995 and 1998. Paris-Roubaix was also the last race before retiring in 2001.

“What can you say - it is a tragedy for Italian and world cycling,” he stated. “He was a very good figure in the Italian team over several years now, creating an importance within the Italian cycling as regards to the title of World professional Champion." Said UCI President Pat McQuaid, according to Cyclingnews.com. McQuaid hadn't heard the news before, so he was shocked and very sad when he heard it.

“[The World Championships] has been his biggest day every year with the Italian team. He had a very successful tenure as coach, and he was also a great cyclist too. It is a tragedy that he goes like this.”

Another Saxo Bank-rider has problems with his knees. Last year Fränk Schleck received surgery for his sore knees. Earlier today I wrote about Jakob Fuglesang, who was forced to change his sitting position. Now their top rider, Andy Schleck, has pain in his knees as well. He will therefore interrupt Challenge Mallorca before the race even started. His season will now be postponed.

"Looks like my season starts not as planed I have a knee injury an will fligth tomorrow home to LUX and take some rest", he wrote at Twitter.

His brother, Fränk Schleck, are worried. He obviously doesn't want his brother to suffer. He wrote at Twitter that "I m a little depressed!Andy is going home back to lux cause of his kneeproblems,he needs some rest,kine n ultrasound.he better look after it".

It probably will be fine soon enough, but it's true that he should be careful. And he should not stress, because that will only make things worse.

The first rider to cross the finish line at yesterday's stage of Etoile de Bessèges was Samuel Dumoulin. But the winner was the relatively unknown Arnoud Molmy (Roubaix - Lille Metropole). Dumoulin was disqualified.

In the beginning he was appointed the winner, but after a while the jury decided to disqualify the Frenchman. It had been a messy finish.

Molmy's Team Roubaix Lille Métropole protested and said that Dumoulin had taken a short cut that gave him advantage to his opponents. Apparently the jury agreed, as the young Frenchman, Arnaud Molmy, took the victory away from the experienced Samuel Dumoulin.

"The finale was quite crazy," said Dominique Rollin (Cervelo Test Team), who finished fourth. "A few guys cut short the roundabout and created chaos in the run-in to the finish with about 400 meters to go."

"With bad signaling on the last corner, most of the riders took the shortest route, which messed up the finish. I had great legs and was well placed, but with all the confusion I ended up losing spots."

Samuel Dumoulin would lead the race if he hadn't been disqualified. Instead the new leader is Arnaud Molmy.

The wonderful time trial rider Fabian Cancellara will start his season in Qatar.

He missed much of the winter training camps because of the flu. The reigning Time Trial world champion was forced to take it easy for ten days. A nightmare for every restless person, of course.

But once he was healthy, he took his family to Spain and trained alone. Now he will soon start the season on the Tour of Qatar, which is followed by the Tour of Oman.

Other plans for the season is the Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Tour de Suisse, but also the Tour de France.

Ps. Just heard that Franco Ballerini died this morning. Extremely sad. Rest in peace.

Giann Meersman won't race for two months. He, too, suffers from injury.

In 2009 he missed much of last season due to back problems and surgery. And he is still not feeling completely well. Still he doesn't know if it means that he must undergo yet another surgery.

He was feeling fine until three weeks ago. His training felt fine, but then suddenly, *snap* and he was hurt.

“I met the team doctor in Paris on Wednesday,” he told Sportwereld. “At first the doctors thought that the problem was caused by scar tissue, but that is not so.”

Hopefully he feels better soon, but it is important that they actually find the cause of his problems. Otherwise there is the risk that the pain continues and never disappear. Or that he suffers needlessly. Perhaps he needs to revise his position on the bike.

His last race was the Grenoble Six Days race in the beginning of November. He said he was pain-free at that time.

Athletes injure themselves every now and then. One of the latest is the Danish professional cyclist Jakob Fuglesang, who injured his knee. He has tendon problems and have been asked to undergo medical treatments.

“ I can train, but it hurts if I strain it too hard. They say that it would be preferrable not to strain it too much, but it's sometimes hard to resist,” Jakob Fuglesang said when talking to Danish news agency Ritzau.

Now he undergoes daily laser treatment and taking anti-inflammatory medication. He has also adjusted his bike and pedals slightly.

“I've got a new bike and new shoes, and it may well be what triggered it. I have moved around a bit, so I sit differently on the bike.”

Hopefully, it feels better then. It is true that it takes a little while to get used to a new position. Some riders can feel a difference of one millimeter, when riding their bikes. Unbelievable. I personally feel more connected to The Princess and the Pea. When I try to sleep can feel every little wrinkle on the mattress and quilt. The question is what physical sensitivity is really the best.

Today he will start the Mallorca Challenge.

David Kopp will shortly join the German Team Kuota Indeland. He has previously, served a suspension following a positive test for cocaine, the party drug, during the Belgian national race in September 2008.

“It wasn't an easy decision. Germany and the team are very sensitive as to doping and cycling, but I listened to David's view of things and we decided that we should give him a chance. David is one of the strongest German riders and we want to help him become that again", said Kuota Indeland team manager Markus Ganser.

David Kopp received a one-year ban. A short ban, indeed. It wasn't a classical doping case. Markus Ganser has the same view of doping as I have. Everyone deserves a second chance. I may have sound a bit angry when talking about Riccardo Ricco, a few days ago. I still think that he should get a new chance. Although I think that former dopers shouldn't be allowed to race with ProTour racing teams.

What do you think? Should former cyclists be banned for life?

Ps. If you have taken photos of pro cyclists or other athletes, and can accept that I use them, then send me a mail: elin.laennholm@gmail.com.

It was really a day of profound grief when Frederiek Nolf died a year ago. I sat all day staring into the wall. I couldn't really understand that he was gone. I had barely heard of him before, but he died so young, and without warning.

The Topsport Vlaanderen professional Frederiek Nolf died during the Tour of Qatar. He passed away at the age of 21. Apparently he had suffered a heart attack while he slept. Frederiek Nolf disappeared from present life so quickly. One day he was happy and the next day he was forever gone. It left me frighten.

What can I say? It could have happened to anyone. My nightmare has long been that Sergey Lagutin would die. I look at various cycling pages every day to ensure that he is still alive. Hopefully nothing will ever happen to him. He almost never wear a helmet during training, so I have my reasons to be scared.

Let's continue about Nolf. His parents, Freddy Nolf and Mimi Vandekerckhove, have had a tough time.

“We aren't able to deal with it, “ his mother told Sportwereld.be. “The year has passed so quickly. It is as if it happened yesterday.”

“I don't show it, but inside I am shattered; for the rest of my life. We are glad that he is not forgotten.”

To his parents it was extra hard. Their son's coffin was flown home the day of his 22nd birthday. It should have been a day of joy, but life is not always fair.

His parents are not angry that their son became a pro cyclist. Why should they? It was his big dream. And it wasn't cycling that killed him. He may have had a congenital heart defect and it's just a shame that nobody noticed. I think new health tests are needed. Many people have health problems, including athletes, but it is common that people don't know about it.

The five-time Tour de France winner, Eddy Merckx, has suffered from cancer. He fell ill several years ago, but feels well at this moment.

"Since my intestinal cancer, I just have to be careful what I drink or eat," said Merckx to Sud Presse. "No more champagne and white wine."

"Everything is going well. I get regular check-ups."

Previously, he was a bit overweight. It was easy to see that he loved to eat food and drink wine. Perhaps even beer. Suddenly he lost weight. He became so skinny. Now we know the reason. And hopefully he can remain healthy in the future. He is getting old, but not that old.

Many people today get diseases such as cancer. The question is why. And no single researcher know the reason. It seems that nothing should ever go to the extremes. Don't eat too much, don't ride your bike too much, don't swim too much in chlorinated water. Most diseases have increased recently. Maybe it's time to do something about it.

Ps. A day later the Belgian rider denied all this. It was just normal stomach problems. Well, what do you think?

I can't say that it has been easy to work in the last few weeks. It has really disappointed me. It's been a lot of conflicts, especially with a particular person. I will not drag him into the dirt, but I felt indignant when he told me to ask closed questions to get a quote. Every journalist know that closed questions are a big no-no. The thing is that I didn't agree with the question he wished to ask either. That was the sort of question I wouldn't even ask my worse enemy.

I guess I'll have to fight about it in the next two weeks to come, as well. And I'm not totally conviced that it is sane. In this case, I don't intend to give up, because I am right and he is wrong. And that's that!

I have been tired for quite a long time now, so I am glad it's weekend.

Gert Steegmans had a lot of problems last year. He was sacked from Katusha when he refused to sign an anti-doping agreement. Now Steegmans and Team Katusha is meeting in cout. The Belgian cyclist has sued his former team as he said the team didn't pay all his wages from the 2009 season.

If the rider had signed the charter and then tested positive, then he would have to pay back five times his salary. That's a lot. But the team had problems. Two of its riders, Toni Colom and Christian Pfannberger was suspended.

The rider has found a new team now and is racing for RadioSchack. Hopefully he has better luck over there.

Tom Boonen is excited to start the 2010 season. In just a few days time he will travel to Tour of Qatar, which begins in Doha on February 7. He has won this race three times in his career.

"We've won this race in the last 4 years, so it's really hard to do any better than we have," said sport director Wilfried Peeters. "The initial goal is to win at least one stage and to try to be major players every day. Furthermore this year we will participate in the Tour of Oman as well, immediately after Qatar. These two races will represent a good preparation as we look forward to the first weekend of races in Belgium at the end of February - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne."

In 2009 he won the race but well, it wasn't a very good race, to be honest. He has done a whole lot better in other editions. Surely he would love to return to his former shape.

"I can't wait to compete," said Boonen. "This type of race represents an important test to measure your level of preparation and the work undertaken throughout the winter. As always we're going to have to be very attentive to the unexpected changes in the direction of the wind. It will be important to always stay in the first positions of the group in order to avoid any surprises. Our team is competitive and motivated. We're ready."

Stage 3 of Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria-Challenge was won by Giuseppe Muraglia. The stage was won in Catanzaro, Regio di Calabria, which is about 400km from Muraglia's home region.

It was his first victory since returning to the sport in October last year. He received a two-year suspension after having tested positive for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).

"I made mistakes for which I take all the responsibility," said Muraglia. "At the beginning of last year I found that only CDC-Cavaliere was ready to believe in me. I was a bartender in Pescara and I admit that serving coffee in a room for twelve hours a day is less pleasant than riding."

Now he has returned to cycling and it seems he likes it. Hopefully he will stay clean for the rest of his career. And hopefully he will enjoy being a pro cyclist.

"A lot of champions in cycling have been given a chance: it's [through] my own little programme but I do not want to leave any question marks. I have already made three doping tests since last summer and I'm motivated to prove my credibility," he explained.