First Edition Cycling News, Thursday, August 13, 2009

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August 13, 2009, 10:00

• Cavendish and Millar take part in British Worlds training camp

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 11:14

  By:

  Richard Tyler

  Wiggins absent but expected to be part of Worlds selection

  Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) and David Millar (Garmin-Slipstream) are amongst thirteen British cyclists taking part in a two-day training camp in Mendrisio, Switzerland, this week as the nation prepares for next month's World championships.

  Speaking to Cyclingnews from Mendrisio, the head of the British World championships campaign, Rod Ellingworth, said the camp has been designed to build rapport amongst the riders that will form the final squad.

  "The whole idea is we want to win the world road race championships," he said. "Maybe not this year but we want to win it in the future and how do you do that? It's about getting the group together and motivating people. This camp is just part of that process."

  Cavendish and Millar have joined Cervélo's Jeremy Hunt, Roger Hammond, Dan Fleeman and Daniel Lloyd, Barloworld riders Geraint Thomas, Steve Cummings and Chris Froome, Ben Swift (Katusha), Jonathan Bellis (Saxo Bank), Ian Stannard (ISD) and Russell Downing (CandiTV) for the camp. On Wednesday they will complete the second of two days' training on the Worlds course. The group have also held discussions about strategy for the September 27 race.

  "This is the first time the team has come together on this course. Obviously quite a lot of them have ridden it anyway, like at the Tour of Italy last year. There's been a couple of other pro races around this area in the last couple of years, so a lot of them are quite familiar with the area."

  British Cycling will be able to select nine riders for the World championship road race after the International Cycling Union (UCI) published its latest World rankings on Monday. Great Britain placed eighth, safely within the top-ten cut off for nine-men Worlds representation. Ellingworth said although the team would seek to capitalise on its numeric advantage, the key to success for any nation was establishing the right combination of riders.

  "That was one of the main challenges that we looked at: 'How do we get nine riders to the startline?' We've got nine this year and we've got to make the best of that opportunity.

  "I think that if the French or the Dutch get it right with their six they can still win the worlds. Obviously the Spanish will be very strong with a full hit of nine riders, where we fit into that I'm not sure.

  "Everybody [within the team] agrees that maybe the chances of us winning the worlds this year is slim. In the future I think we've really got a really strong challenge. So yes, we're looking at the road course [on this camp], but it's more about the team coming together."

  Ellingworth will select an 11-man long-list for Britain's World championship team next week. He said the 11 were likely to include the team's two representatives for the time trial. While Bradley Wiggins was unable to attend the two-day camp, Ellingworth said he expected the Garmin rider to be part of the team for the World championships.

  "No, we don't know who'll be taking part in the time trial yet. There's a good chance they'll be part of the 11. We do have massive depth in road racing in Britain. I would say [Bradley] Wiggins will put his name forward and will be on the startline, I would hope; for the time trial in particular."
   

• LPR Brakes fires Di Luca over doping charges

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 11:30

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Team and sponsors plan to sue Di Luca for damages

  LPR Brakes Farnese Vini has dismissed Danilo Di Luca, effective July 23. The Italian had tested positive twice for the third generation blood booster EPO-CERA during this year's Giro d'Italia, where he finished in second place.

  Di Luca “will also be held responsible for all damage” to the reputation of both the sponsor and the team said the squad's management company, BF Cycling Management, according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport. The Italian newspaper also reported that BF Cycling Management has instructed its attorneys to commence legal proceedings.

  The 33-year-old Di Luca tested positive on May 20 (stage 11) and May 28 (stage 18). The positive results were first announced on July 22 and Di Luca was immediately suspended from competition by the International Cycling Union (UCI). His B-samples were subsequently confirmed positive earlier this month by the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory in Paris.

  Di Luca's hearing before the Disciplinary Committee of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) is scheduled for August 26. He faces anywhere from a two-year to a lifetime suspension if the charges are upheld. He previously served a three-month suspension in 2007 for his involvement in the “Oil for Drugs” investigation.

   

• Raisin Hope Ride seeks participants

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 16:13

  By:

  Sue George

  September ride to benefit brain injury-related foundation

  The Raisin Hope Foundation is hosting its third annual Raisin Hope benefit ride in Georgia on Saturday, September 5, and it's looking for more participants.

  "If more people do not sign up for the Raisin Hope ride, we will have to cancel. As of now only 15 people are signed up," said a disappointed Rasin on the foundation's website where he is recruiting riders for the event.

  The ride benefits the foundation, which was started by former professional Saul Raisin and raises funds to support brain injury research, connect individuals and families affected by brain injury and promote public awareness and understanding of disabilities resulting from brain injury.

  Raisin crashed in a race on April 4, 2006. He endured a coma, substantial bodily damage, and a traumatic brain injury, but overcame odds to survive and recover, although he was unable to return to professional racing.

  The ride begins at 8:00 am and starts at Prater's Mill in Dalton, Georgia.

  For more information, visit http://raisinhope.ning.com.

• Martin turns down Team RadioShack

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 16:15

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  German youngster and Sieberg to extend with Columbia

  Tony Martin, one of the discoveries of this year's Tour de France, has rejected an offer to join Lance Armstrong's newly-formed Team RadioShack for the coming season. Martin said he would extend his contract with Team Columbia-HTC. Teammate Marcel Sieberg has also extended with Columbia for two more years.

  The 24-year-old Martin, who wore the white jersey for awhile as the best young rider at the Tour de France, told Sport Bild, "An inquiry from Armstrong is of course complimentary. But Team Columbia is the best for my further development."

  Martin's contract runs through 2010 and the extension will take him through 2011.  "We have agreed verbally. Only the signatures are missing."

  Martin has three wins this season including two individual time trials and the mountainous stage eight of the Tour de Suisse, in which he finished second overall.  He also won the mountains jersey at both the Tour de Suisse and Paris-Nice. In the Tour de France, in addition to leading the young rider ranking for much of the three weeks, he finished second on the difficult Mont Ventoux stage, as part of a successful escape.

  Sieberg extended his relationship with US-based Columbia-HTC for two years.  He rode for Team Milram in 2007 before joining Columbia. The 27-year-old is a Classics specialist and sprinter, and was the team's highest finisher this year in Paris-Roubaix.

• Caisse d'Epargne seeking second sponsor to sign Contador

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 16:20

  By:

  Richard Tyler

  Pereiro contemplates retirement from cycling

  Caisse d'Epargne's Team Director Eusebio Unzué has confirmed his interest in signing two-time Tour de France winner, Alberto Contador, to the Spanish squad. Unzué told Spanish media on Tuesday that he was looking for a second sponsor in order to support the team's bid to recruit Contador from current squad, Astana.

  "Signing [Contador] is feasible, but for the moment is difficult," Unzué told Spanish newspaper Diairo de Navarra. "He would have to be released from his contract with Astana. We are looking for a second sponsor to do that."

  Unzué also revealed that Óscar Pereiro may leave the team as he battles ongoing fatigue and a lack of motivation. Pereiro has not raced since he abandoned the Tour de France on July 11. The 2006 Tour de France winner told Spanish newspaper Marca on Tuesday that he has considered retirement from the sport.

  "I have nothing to hide," he said. "Coming to the end of my contract with Caisse d'Epargne I have three options: renew, change of scenery or quit. I am considering the latter possibility. If I can not find the motivation to continue riding a bike, I will retire."

  The confirmation of Caisse d'Epargne's interest in Contador and news of Pereiro's possible exit come amid a storm of transfers in-and-out of the ProTour squad. Diairo de Navarra also reported that Unzué had plans to downsize the squad from 28 to 25 riders for 2010.

  The team has confirmed that Joaquim Rodriguez, Marlon Perez and Anthony Charteau will leave the squad at the end of the season.

  Last week, Italian Marzio Bruseghin signed on with the team for two years, while Former French champion Christophe Moreau signed a one-year deal. Spanish press agency EFE reports that the team is also keen to aquire the services of Colombian Maurizio Soler (Barloworld) and Belarusian Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Columbia-HTC).

  The team said it has secured extensions with five of its current riders and is engaged in negotiations with a further five, including Chente García, Imanol Erviti and Xabier Zandio. 

• Armstrong to miss Missouri

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 18:27

  By:

  Cycling News

  Livestrong fundraiser conflicts with race

  The Astana team will compete in the upcoming Tour of Missouri, but it will do so without star rider Lance Armstrong. 

  The seven-time champion and third place finisher in this year's Tour de France was already scheduled to attend a Livestrong fundraiser in Canada during the week the race is held, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

  Several top names are scheduled to compete in the week long Tour of Missouri which begins September 7. Team Columbia-HTC's Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie and Michael Rogers as well as defending champion Christian Vande Velde will all be at the start in St. Louis.

  Astana is expected to field a team led by Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer.

• Sprinters to seek revenge in Vattenfall Cyclassics

  

  Article published:

  August 12, 2009, 19:20

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Four times over the Waseberg for the peloton in northern Germany

  The sprinters will have their turn again, as the ProTour moves up to the flats of northern Germany and the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg on Sunday, August 16. The race usually ends in a mass sprint and will be expected to give the sprinters the chance they didn't have in the last one-day ProTour race in San Sebastián.

  Being touted as favourite for the race is Andre Greipel of Columbia-HTC, who has had an astonishing 15 wins this season, despite missing three and a half months due to shoulder surgery. It is almost a home-town race for the German, who originally hails from nearby Rostock. Greipel came back from surgery to win every sprint he contested, until the recent Tour of Poland. There he didn't manage to win until the final stage, and said, “I have to make it up to my teammates.”

  Last year's winner, Robbie McEwen, is tentatively scheduled to ride again, but don't expect him to repeat. He has only recently started racing again after recovery from serious injuries suffered in a crash in the Tour of Belgium the end of May. He will enter Vattenfall with only a few criteriums in his legs.

  Graeme Brown (Rabobank), Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Gerald Ciolek (Milram) are also sprinters to keep an eye on. Milram will look to do well in its one 'home' ProTour race, and has another option with Fabian Wegmann. The latter traditionally does well in one-day races and although recent back problems have cast a cloud over his participation, if fit, he will be a contender. Silence-Lotto has several irons in the fire, with Philippe Gilbert, Greg van Avermaet and Jürgen Roelandts all expected at the startline.

  The strongest team, however, has to be Saxo Bank. The Danish team will send a formidable line-up including Stuart O'Grady, Jakob Fuglsang (who won his second successive Tour of Denmark earlier this month), sprinter Matti Breschel and the always-dangerous Fabian Cancellara.

  Twenty teams will be at the start, including all eighteen ProTour teams. The two wildcards invitations have been snapped up by Skil-Shimano and Vorarlberg-Corratec.

  The 216.4 kilometre course will start and finish in Hamburg, and resembles a rough figure eight. After a 153 kilometre circuit south, the peloton returns to the Hanseatic city and then heads west. Turning south and then east again, along the banks of the Elbe River, they face the day's climb, which has been incorporated four times into this year's course.

  The Waseberg is only some 700 metres long, but features an average gradient of over 10 percent, including more than 16 percent in the last 300 metres. It has featured in the race since 1997.

  The peloton goes over the climb once on its way back into Hamburg to finish the second loop of the figure eight, before heading west again for three laps of a 12 kilometre circuit.
  The riders will tackle the formidable slope on each of these three laps, but once over the top for the final time, will face a rapid 15 kilometre run into downtown Hamburg and the finish line.

  Stay tuned to Cyclingnews for live coverage of the Vattenfall Cyclassics, starting at 13:00CET on August 16.

• Voigt can start riding again in two weeks

  

  Article published:

  August 13, 2009, 09:52

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Saxo Bank rider recovering well from horrific Tour crash

  Jens Voigt can look forward to being back on the bike in about two weeks, according to his surgeon. The Saxo Bank rider suffered multiple facial fractures in a horrific crash in the 16th stage of the Tour de France last month.
  
  “Jens Voigt will come back and ride races again,” surgeon Andreas Eisenschenk told the German news agency dpa. "The head injuries are practically healed, without leaving scars. There is no trace of the broken jaw, not even any swelling," he said. "Even the deep flesh wounds on his shoulder, arm and legs have healed, and within a week there will probably be nothing more to see."
  
  The one permanent reminder of the crash will be the titanium plate that was installed in the roof of the German's mouth. He suffered a broken cheekbone and fractured upper jaw in the crash.
  
  There has been no indication as to whether Voigt would race again this season. The German cycling federation has put him on the long list for the World Championships, but the 37-year-old has already said he will skip the Worlds this year. Saxo Bank team manager Bjarne Riis has said, too, that he will consider Voigt for the Tour de France again next year.

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