First Edition Cycling News, Sunday, November 29, 2009

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Date published:

November 29, 2009, 22:50

• Millar joins Dallaglio in Girona for charity ride warm-up

  

  Article published:

  November 29, 2009, 15:09

  By:

  Shane Stokes

  Former England rugby captain aims to raise £1 million on 2010 Rome to Edinburgh ride

  Rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio will lead a group of riders from Rome to Edinburgh during next year’s Six Nations Rugby championship, with the goal of raising £1 million (approximately USD1.65 million) for Sport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation charities.

  The cycling convert will be accompanied by many others during the 2,715 kilometres, 28-day trip. It will take them to Paris, London, Cardiff, Dublin and Edinburgh, with each leg of the journey being broken up into multi-day stages.

  Sunday Times journalist and former Tour de France rider Paul Kimmage will, like Dallaglio, be one of the small core team which will cover the entire distance, while other fundraisers will drop in and out along the journey.

  He wrote about the project in today’s Sunday Times, interviewing Dallaglio during a recent trip to Girona in Spain. There, they met up with Garmin Slipstream pro David Millar and climbed the tough Rocacorba climb with him, getting a taster for the efforts that will be made next February.

  The rugby player’s bulk made the climb even more difficult. Carrying a significant amount of extra muscle, he reached the top in 65 minutes. The record is currently held by Irish climber Dan Martin, who has done it in 28 minutes 45 seconds, while Millar did it in 30 mins 15 seconds. For Dallaglio however the trip is not about speed, but perseverance; reaching Edinburgh, and the fundraising target.

  “The idea was to ride to the venues of the Six Nations but looking at the fixture list it wasn’t possible to get there for every game,” the former rugby star told Kimmage. “We’re going to leave Rome when England play Italy, arrive at Twickenham when England play Ireland and we finish in Edinburgh when England play Scotland.

  “We’ve split it up into six legs. Myself and one or two others will cycle the whole way but we’ll have 50 people flying in to do each leg. [Former international soccer players] Lee Dixon and Les Ferdinand are doing Leg One [Rome to Nice]. [Former international cricketers] Ian Botham, Michael Vaughan and [Olympic rower] James Cracknell are also talking about doing a leg and we’ve got support from each of the countries’ [rugby players].”

  Kimmage will be writing about it for the Sunday Times. “I’m probably taking on a bit more than I chew, but that will certainly concentrate the mind,” he told Cyclingnews recently. “I hadn’t been doing very much before that but I was asked a few weeks ago to do this by the paper. As you might imagine, that has focussed my mind to get in shape again, given me the motivation to get out on the bike on cold mornings.”

  Amongst the rugby players expected to get involved during parts of the journey are Diego Dominguez, Raphael Ibanez, Keith and Niall Woods, Scott Gibbs, Ieuan Evans, David Sole, Gavin Hastings and Andy Nicol.

  One of Dallaglio’s motivations for the ride is the memory of his mother Eileen, who passed away after a battle with cancer in December of last year.
  
  During his career, the former England captain was capped 85 times by the team and is one of only two players worldwide to have won both the Sevens and 15-a-side World Cups. He played on three Lions Tours and has two European Cups and four Guinness Premiership titles to his name.

  Volunteers are welcome to join Dallaglio during the trip, or to donate to the cause. More details about the ride and the charities it will support are available here.

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• Sky join forces with Formula One's McLaren

  

  Article published:

  November 29, 2009, 14:41

  By:

  Richard Tyler

  McLaren lend wind tunnel, will design Sky's high-tech kit

  Team Sky has enlisted the support and expertise of McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) to provide technical support for its riders in the lead up to the squad's debut season.

  Members of the new British ProTour squad last week spent time at the MAT wind tunnel facility in Woking in South-west England to fine-tune their positions on the bike and develop the team's racing kit for 2010.

  Part of the McLaren group, MAT provides the electronic technology for British-based Formula One motor racing team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

  Kurt-Astle Arvesen was one of the riders to undergo testing at the MAT wind tunnel, which was part of Sky's first team meeting in England this week. Arvesen told Norwegian website Nettavisen that although cyclists have become familiar with the high-tech approach, the experience at Sky was a level above his previous experience.

  "The entire programme around this team is very well adapted. I've certainly never encountered anything like it before," he said. "We've still got to pedal the bikes, but I think this will be cycling with very different conditions than anyone else has had before.

  "Most teams test their equipment in the wind tunnel, but this is an upgrade compared to our competitors," said Arvesen.

  Team Sky's association with the McLaren group has come off the back of agreement signed between the MAT and UK Sport in August. The partnership was formed in order to maximise the technological advantages available to British athletes in the lead up to the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic games.

  MAT is also working with Sky to develop the team's racing kit for next season. The technology used is likely to be similar to the skinsuits developed for the all-conquering British track team at last year's Beijing Olympic and Paralympic games. The specially designed suits were reportedly destroyed after the games so as to protect the secrets of the technology used.

  While Sky has leaned on the motorsport expertise of MAT, it was not the only sporting cross-over for the ProTour cycling team this week. Yesterday, the entire Sky squad were VIP guests at English Premier League football team Manchester City's home game against Hull city. Manchester City's home ground is located close to the base of British Cycling, Manchester Velodrome. The game ended in a one-all draw.

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• Garzelli goes for Giro glory once more

  

  Article published:

  November 29, 2009, 12:21

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Italian to aim high ten years after Giro win, hints at final participation

  Stefano Garzelli is looking forward to the 2010 Giro d'Italia, ten years after he won the race. Next year may well be the last time he rides the Giro, and the 36-year-old Italian says he wants to go out with a bang.

  “I have just started my preparations for 2010, thinking only of the Giro d'Italia,” he told the Italian news agency ansa. “It will be tough, but ten years after my victory in the race, I want to do well in what could be my last participation.”

  Garzelli turned pro with Mercatone Uno, as a domestique for Marco Pantani. When Pantani faltered at the start of the 2000 Giro, Garzelli took over as captain and won a tight three-way race against Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande. He finished third in the time trial in the penultimate stage to take the lead, which he held on to.

  He then transferred to Mapei-Quick Step, where during the 2002 Giro he tested positive for a diuretic. A two-year suspension was subsequently shortened by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to nine months. Garzelli then rode for Vini Caldirola and Liquigas before joining Acqua & Sapone in 2007.

  This year, Garzelli place second overall in Tirreno-Adriatico and seventh in the Giro. He also won the best climber's jersey at the Giro.

  The last week of the 2010 jersey is a very difficult one, “punctuated by an incredible series of climbs,” he noted. “However, I still want to do the hard work and meet my goals.”

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• Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano new team principal at Euskaltel

  

  Article published:

  November 29, 2009, 11:36

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Brother Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano moves in as Directeur Sportif

  Euskaltel-Euskadi has announced several changes in its management, with Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano moving up to become the team's general manager. He replaces the retiring Miguel Madariaga. Gonzalez de Galdeano's older brother Alvaro will become a Directeur Sportif with the team.

  Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano, 36, began his professional racing career with Euskaltel in 1995 and rode with the team for three years. After his retirement from racing in 2005, Gonzalez de Galdeano joined the team's management as a technical advisor in 2006. He takes the place of Madariaga, who although retiring, plans to remain involved with the team.

  Alvaro Gonzalez de Galdeano, 39, rode from 1992 to 2004. Since then he has served as a Directeur Sportif for Euskaltel's Continental team, Orbea. At Euskaltel, he will join Gorka Gerrikagoitia and Josu Larrazabal as Directeurs Sportif.

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