First Edition Cycling News, Tuesday, July 21, 2009

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Date published:

July 21, 2009, 11:00

• Sastre blasts the press for disrespect

  

  Article published:

  July 20, 2009, 16:32

  By:

  Anthony Tan

  Defending Tour de France champion calls race "boring"

  On a sun-drenched Monday morning in Martigny, the start town of the sixteenth stage of the 96th Tour de France, it was a miffed Carlos Sastre who presented himself to the media.

  What was he angry about?

  "Because the first question I got about this Tour de France was, 'What do you think about Armstrong and Contador?'" he told reporters in Martigny, his brown eyes appearing to blaze a certain anger.

  Asked Sastre rhetorically: "Do you think that is respectful? I don't know."

  Sastre said he hasn't been treated like a defending Tour de France champion from the Spanish media in particular. "I have more respect from the spectators than all of you," he said to the entire media contingent who gathered at the Mercure hotel in Martigny.

  Instead, the 34-year-old from Madrid says he's been continually asked to feed comments to the press to fuel the rift – if there actually is one – between Astana team-mates Alberto Contador, the new race leader after Sunday's fifteenth stage to Verbier, and seven-time Tour champion, Lance Armstrong, who is second overall, 1:37 behind the maillot jaune.

  Furthermore, while he said he's content with how he's ridden so far – he's currently 11th on the overall classification, 3:52 behind Contador – and happy with his team, the 2009 Tour de France has been lacklustre and uninspiring for him. So much so, that as he grows older, Sastre says he continues to understand less about racing today than before.

  "The race has been like it is since the beginning. It still is the same fight – the rest of the riders are out [of contention to win]. It's a boring race, from outside and inside," he said.

  Prodded what he means by "boring", Sastre replied: "What is boring? There's no attacks, no tactics, nothing… Just a strong team, one rider – one of the best in the world – will win the race, that's all.

  "When you see the tactics on television, I don't know if you like that. Yesterday [Stage 15], it was one rider [Contador] in front, two teammates pulling behind [Klöden and Armstrong]; another rider from another team attacking [Andy Schleck], the other rider of the same team [Fränk Schleck] attacking behind him. I don't understand anything about cycling. This is my twenty-first Grand Tour, but every year I understand less about cycling.

  "Maybe this is the Tour de France they [the organisers] want, and this is what you have now."

  Sastre: "The Tour is over in Paris" – but there's always Ventoux

  So is the winner of the 2009 Tour de France decided for sure, then? "I said so the first rest day. The Tour is over in Paris," said Sastre.
  
  "I didn't have big goals in this race. I'm not here to beat Contador, I'm just here to be in this race.

  "The owner of Cervelo [Gerard Vroomen] said before this Tour de France that we have already won, because we are in the Tour de France. Of course, we had two goals, but nobody asked me to get results; this is a team that grows with a different philosophy. They are happy with the image of the team. It's a boring race, but I'm happy because I have all my teammates close to me, and that is more important than what is going on outside."

  With Sastre's words, there appeared to be a disconnect. On one hand, he was saying he was enjoying his time immensely among his teammates, but on the other, he found the media to be disrespectful based on his previous achievements and the Tour boring, according to how his rivals were racing.

  If there was no race like the Tour de France, the media would not attend, nor would there be reason to create an outfit like the Cérvelo TestTeam. It is true: the media has overplayed the potential Armstrong-Contador rivalry – but one could also argue that on certain occasions, what we have seen out on the road the past fortnight has been a product of having two champions capable of winning the Tour on one team.

  And whether one likes it or not, most teams with a rider or two capable of winning the Tour choose a line-up and strategy with the purpose of winning, as success often guarantees their continued existence. The majority of sponsors look for a result.

  "You create a competition between two riders," explained Sastre, referring to what he regards as a faux-rivalry between Contador and Armstrong. "When you cannot talk more about that fight, you ask Carlos Sastre to do something.

  "Since the first rest day, I said to my teammates, 'Okay boys, you have freedom, you can do whatever you want in this race. If you want to fight for a stage victory, you can do it. Feel free.'

  "I know my limits, and know my limits of just about every one of my rivals. I'm not frustrated with anything," he insisted.

  After much to-ing and fro-ing with the Spanish journalists present, Sastre was finally asked if there's a stage he'd like to win, now that he believes winning overall is no longer possible.

  "I said before the most important stage for me is the Ventoux [on Stage 20]. I would like to try and win that one, because on September 9 this year, people in Belgium and Holland have organised an event to help raise money for people with cancer, and I will be at that event.

  "I think it's more important [to help people in need] than to win the Tour de France. When I won the Tour de France, it was like… nothing. But when you do something for a person who needs help, they give you a lot of things. You don't need to be a star – you need to be just a person. I feel happier doing something for people who really need something than for people who don't need anything. That is the difference," he said.

  By the end of the press conference, and after forty minutes of questions and answers, many of the journalists were wondering what they did that was so wrong, or whether Carlos Sastre really wants to be at this Tour de France. Still, he has declared his intentions to triumph atop Mont Ventoux – so expect a fight.

• Contador on track for second Tour win

  

  Article published:

  July 20, 2009, 17:07

  By:

  Gregor Brown

  Verbier stage gives Contador hope for final win in Paris

  Spaniard Alberto Contador said today that he feels more assured of his second overall victory in the Tour de France. He won a mountaintop stage in the race yesterday and took the overall lead, one week before the race finishes in Paris.

  "We made some important difference in the classification. It was a big step towards final victory, but nothing is decided yet," said Contador in a press conference in Sion, Switzerland.

  Near Sion, Contador attacked and distanced his rivals on the 8.8-kilometre climb up to Verbier. Saxo Bank and Garmin set a high tempo, but Contador was able to attack solo at 5.6 kilometres remaining. He distanced Andy Schleck (Saxo) by 43 seconds and his other rivals by a minute.

  "I am very happy about how the stage unfolded yesterday. I had a lot of dreams and hopes that I could be in this situation."

  Contador jumped from third to first overall with the stage win. He leads ahead of Astana teammate Lance Armstrong by 1:37 and Bradley Wiggins (Garmin) by 1:46. Teammate Andreas Klöden is in fourth and Schleck in fifth.

  The team appeared divided between seven-time winner Armstrong and 2007 winner Contador before and during the Tour de France. USA's Armstrong admitted last week that there were tensions in the team. Yesterday, after losing 1:35, he said he would help Contador win the race.

  "There were never real problems," said Contador. "We don't notice anything different at the dinner table or on the bus. It is like any other Tour de France."

  After today's rest day, the race continues with two days in the Alpine mountains: stages to Bourg-St-Maurice and Le Grand-Bornand. There is a 40.5-kilometre time trial Thursday and a mountain top finish to Mont Ventoux Saturday.

  Contador's rivals have promised to continue their fight for the overall win. Schleck should continue strongly in the mountains and Wiggins will have an advantage in the Annecy time trial.

  "The rider I am most worried about is Andy Schleck. We know that Wiggins is going to be good at the time trail. We also saw that he was strong in Monaco, we would like to get more time on him if we can.

  "I just need to be careful not to have a bad day."

  Organiser ASO did not invite his team to the 2008 edition, but Contador raced and won the two other Grand Tours: the 2008 Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.

  Tags:

  Tour de France

• Powers eyes Women's Prestige Cycling Series victory

  

  Article published:

  July 20, 2009, 17:08

  By:

  Kirsten Frattini

  Team Type 1 rider seeking NRC overall win

  It will be a loaded week for double series leader Alison Powers (Team Type 1) as she heads into the Cascade Classic hoping to wrap up the overall victory in both the Women's Prestige Cycling Series (WPCS) and the National Racing Calendar Series (NRC). The race will also be good preparation to defend her US National Time Trial title the following week in Bend, Oregon.

  The Women's Prestige Cycling Series heads into its fourth and final round at the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic set to begin on Tuesday, July 21 in Bend. As the series leader, Powers starts the final stage race with 484 points, well ahead of Katharine Carroll (TIBCO) at 300 points and third placed Katheryn Mattis (Webcor) with 275 points.

  "I would love to wrap up the Women's Prestige Cycling Series with a win and also the NRC win because it is the last stage race for that series as well," said Powers who will stay and compete in the US Elite National Championship the following week in the same city. "Also, I think the time trial at Cascade is similar to the one at nationals so I can use that as a nice preparation."

  The WPCS four-rounds began in March at the Redlands Cycling Classic held in California. It continued in May at the Joe Martin Stage Race and in Arkansas, followed by the Nature Valley Grand Prix held in June in Minnesota. The competition will heat up in Oregon, where the country's best riders will amass for the finale.

  "The field is going to be really strong at Cascade this week," Powers said. "I think it is the first time that we have all raced together since Nature Valley. It is great that so many riders will be here. We will have a smaller team going but still hope for some good results there if we can."

  Several of the nation's leading women's professional cycling teams stand out in the rankings with Powers leading both the individual standings and the series' best sprinter competition. Powers is tied at 209 points with Tina Pic (Colavita-Sutter Home), with Kirsty Broun (Riverstones-CDA) and Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1) tied for third place with 165 points.

  Webcor-Builders dominates the series' best young rider competition with Rebecca Much leading the way with 484 points ahead of teammate Alexis Rhodes who has 429 points and Julie Beveridge (TIBCO) at 308 points.

  Team TIBCO tops the scoreboard as the series' best overall team with a total of 769 points. Trailing not too far behind is team Webcor-Builders with 740 points and Team Type 1 with 655 points.

  Women's Prestige Cycling Series Standings

  Individual Standings:

  Alison Powers (Team Type 1) - 484
  Katharine Carroll (Team TIBCO) - 300
  Katheryn Mattis (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) - 275
  Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO) - 191
  Kristin Sanders (Value Act Capital) - 162

  Best Young Rider:

  Rebecca Much (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) - 484
  Alexis Rhodes (Webcor Builders Cycling Team) - 429
  Julie Beveridge (Team TIBCO) - 308
  Tiffany Cromwell (Colavita Sutter Home) - 264
  Amanda Miller (Team Lip Smackers) - 220

  Best Sprinter:

  Alison Powers (Team Type 1) - 209
  Tina Pic (Colavita Sutter Home) - 209
  Kirsty Broun (Riverstones CDA) - 165
  Kori Seehafer (Team Type 1) - 165
  Joanne Kiesanowski (Team TIBCO) - 154

  Best Team:

  Team TIBCO - 769
  Webcor Builders Cycling Team - 740
  Team Type 1 - 655
  ValueAct Capital Cycling Team - 459
  Colavita Sutter Home p/b Cooking Light - 301

• Wiggins ready to seize the day

  

  Article published:

  July 20, 2009, 19:48

  By:

  Daniel Benson

  Taking small steps toward becoming first Brit to podium at Tour

  Third overall behind Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins finds himself in unknown territory as the Tour de France heads into its most crucial and difficult third week. To the skepticism of many, Wiggins declared at the race start in Monaco that a top twenty position overall was well within his grasp.

  After a strong first week, and an even stronger display on the stage to Verbier, where he finished in an elite group ahead of Armstrong and Cadel Evans, the Garmin-Slipstream rider is perfectly poised for a possible podium place in Paris. Something no Englishman has ever achieved.

  Not that Wiggins is letting himself get carried away with all the hype and pressure. "My goal, ultimately is to get to Paris with the best result I can achieve. I want to seize the moment as I might never be in this position again," Wiggins said at a press conference during today's rest day.

  There's no doubt, no matter how much Wiggins would like to shy away from the fact, that he's been the revelation of this year's Tour. He's performed higher than even his own expectations as he showed in Verbier, attacking riders like Lance Armstrong, Fränk Schleck and last year's winner, Carlos Sastre.

  "I said at the start that there was a lot that goes into riding the Tour. I could have lost four minutes in the first week due to splits and crashes, but the team has done a great job in staying together. We just had that one slip up in the first few days."

  His stage 15 attack was enough to split a group of favourites who, until this Tour, were not used to seeing the track specialist figure in the high mountains of major tours. "It was spur of the moment," Wiggins said about the attack. "Matt [White] could see the race from behind and was telling me they were on the ropes a bit."

  At that point, Contador and Schleck had already flown the coop, leaving Astana's duo of Armstrong and Klöden setting tempo. "I felt that Klöden kept coming to the front to slow it down, and I didn't want guys coming up from behind, like Sastre.

  "It was a half-hearted attack to see what they had. Then Fränk Shleck went and then Nibali and then I thought it was time to go, too. I was just trying to keep the pressure on."

  It may have been half-hearted, but it was enough to help move him into third overall and prove that he's not just a rider for the track or time trials.

  His mantra of taking the Tour day-by-day has served him well and he'll look to continue that as the race rolls deep into the Alps for two crucial stages that will test both his strength and recovery to limits perhaps not even he knows.

  "I just forget about everything that everyone has been saying about me and just keep doing what I'm doing. Tomorrow is a tough stage with tough climbs," he said before giving an assessment of his methodology. "You don't look at a summit when you're climbing a mountain. You set up base camps and look at certain points. Otherwise you might crack. It's small steps."

  According to Wiggins, Contador is the clear favourite to win his second Tour and he, unlike Wiggins, has a proven Tour pedigree. "I'm not necessarily aiming for yellow, I'm just looking to do my best ride I can and consolidate where I am. I'm not stupid enough to think I can beat Contador. I think he's proven he's by far the best bike rider in this race and you never really know how hard to tighten stuff before it breaks and I don't want to over-tighten things.

  "Paris is along way off yet and this race is by no means done yet.

  "The history of the Tour shows you know everything can be lost in one day. I've been saying day-by-day since Monaco, and everyone is been sick and tired of me saying it. Everyone wants me to say what they want to hear, but I just keep it in perspective at this stage.

  "In Monaco I said I had the possibility of going top twenty and the amount of stick I got for saying that was unreal. People were laughing and calling me all sorts, so at this stage I've come this far with the people around me and we're just going to stick together and take it day by day. Up till now we've done a pretty good job."

  After yesterday's stage Wiggins will find a perfect ally in Christrian Vande Velde, his teammate who lost time and now sits nearly five minutes down. Vande Velde crashed heavily earlier in the year in the Giro'd Italia, and has done well to recover enough to even be at this year's race, never mind near the top of a field he finished fifth in, in last year's race.

  The American also has a proven track record in supporting riders, having served Armstrong at US Postal and then Sastre at CSC in previous seasons.

  "Until yesterday we were still supporting each other right from the start. Christian has had a totally different Tour preparation and I've had a near perfect preparation, so coming into the race we had equal roles in the first week and up until the foot of yesterday's climb. He isn't that far off and a lot can change in this final week. We're both there supporting each other in the mountains. On a personal level it's been really encouraging."

  Tags:

  Tour de France

• Millar expecting tactical final week

  

  Article published:

  July 20, 2009, 21:18

  By:

  Daniel Benson

  "The gauntlet is well and truly down", says Garmin rider

  With Bradley Wiggins sitting third overall in the Tour de France overall standings, the Garmin-Slipstream team is hoping to parlay that good result into a podium finish in Paris next Sunday. However, a few things stand in the way of that goal, namely three days of racing over gigantic mountains and the Astana team and race leader, Alberto Contador.

  Garmin's David Millar spoke to Cyclingnews about the race's next escapade into the Alps, where the race will surely be won.

  "The gauntlet is well and truly down now," Millar told Cyclingnews from his team hotel on the rest day. "Astana are going to have to control the race, which they will. We know their style of riding but they could try a tactic of launching Klöden up the road."

  Andreas Klöden, who has finished on the Tour podium twice and who the media has talked of sparingly as a genuine contender, sits in fourth place, 2:17 down on yellow. However with three Astana riders in the top ten, the other being Lance Armstrong, they have cards to play.

  "That's where a rider like Christian Vande Velde could come into play for us," Millar added. "He could be covering that sort of thing. It could turn into a very tactical race with people calling bluff, so if some of the overall contenders launch pretty early on Tuesday's and Wednesday's stages could be pretty hard for everyone."

  Millar added that despite Vande Velde slipping down the overall and out of contention for a possible podium in Paris, the dynamic would still remain the same within the Garmin team.

  "They feed off each other. They'll be the two that will be in the finale group every time it gets hard. Just because Christain lost time on the stage to Verbier it doesn't effect that he'll be there at crunch time with Bradley."

• Basque boys ready for final week battle

  

  Article published:

  July 21, 2009, 06:36

  By:

  Cyclingnews

  Euskaltel-Euskadi optimistic of strong showing

  Basque squad Euskaltel-Euskadi has enjoyed another solid performance at this year's Tour de France and is confident of maintaining that momentum through the race's tough final week.

  Egoi Martinez and Amets Txurruka have shown strong form during the hilly transitional stages of the past week, the former in 19th on the general classification, 5:37 behind race leader Alberto Contador. Txurruka, most combative rider at the 2007 Tour, lies in 43rd place, 21:18 off the pace.

  Martinez has been at the front of the fight for the mountains classification, battling Liquigas' Franco Pellizotti for the polka dot jersey. He trails the Italian by a mere eight points and said during the rest day that he feels good, the day of respite coming at the perfect time for him to attack the final week.

  Txurruka, meanwhile, has been prominent off the front of the field, looking to gain the attention of journalists to again receive the honour of being named the most aggressive rider throughout the three weeks of racing.

  "We will continue to try and get into breakaways; it's one of the ways we can win a stage and provide resistance," Txurruka told Europa Press. "We must try again, hang in there. We're beginning to feel the fatigue, the stage to Verbier became very hard for me, but the rest day relieved much of the suffering," he explained.

  Directeur sportif Igor González de Galdeano is understandably pleased with his team's efforts, saying that the team is, "having a good performance" because they are "very plugged into the race and the aggressive attitude of the group is remarkable."

  González de Galdeano is no stranger to the Tour's machinations once the roads point skywards and explained that the time has come for the team to play its other card - Igor Anton. He finished 16th in the Verbier stage and lies in 65th overall, 41:49 behind Contador.

  "Egoi's time in the jersey has been a nice prize but frankly, I think we deserve more and we'll work for it," continued González de Galdeano. "The team is good and has strong morale. Now the stages are complicated and we must play to our strengths. Igor Anton is coming and is a rider who has already won in big races such as the Vuelta a España, Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse," he added.

• Russia suspends three young riders

  

  Article published:

  July 21, 2009, 10:35

  By:

  Susan Westemeyer

  Two positives for steroids, one for carphedon

  The Russian cycling federation has suspended three riders for anti-doping violations, it announced this week. It did not say when or how the violations occurred.

  Ilnur Zakarin, 19 years old and European junior time-trial champion in 2007, was suspended two years after testing positive for the forbidden anabolic methandienone. The product introduced in the 1960s was very popular with bodybuilders for building up body mass. It has been banned in the United States, but is still readily available in Russia.

  Former Russian mountain bike champion Ykaterina Melnikova, 22, was also banned for two years for the same product.

  Mountain biker Kiril Bozhenko, 22, was banned for one year after testing positive for carphedon. The Russian-developed drug is said to increase physical stamina and improve tolerance for cold. Russian athletes in other disciplines have been suspended for the use of carphedon in 2006 and 2008. In cycling, German Danilo Hondo was suspended after testing positive for it in 2005.

• Impey planning race return in August

  

  Article published:

  July 21, 2009, 11:02

  By:

  Cyclingnews

  South African recovering from Tour of Turkey injuries

  Daryl Impey (Barloworld) has returned to Italy to prepare for his return to racing on August 6 in the GP Carnago. The South African was seriously injured after crashing in the final metres of this spring's Tour of Turkey, which he won.

  "It will be good to be back in the peloton in August and I hope to get onto the podium in one of my remaining races, doing well for the team and the sponsors," he said.

  In the final stage of the Tour of Turkey, Impey was brought down by Rabobank's Theo Bos. He suffered multiple fractures, with two fractured vertebrae in his lower back keeping him bed-ridden for two months, and a fractured jaw requiring him to keep a liquid diet.

  Bos was subsequently suspended by the UCI for one month for the incident.

  Impey, 24, began riding again two weeks ago and has been doing strength work in the gym. "I'm very happy with my recovery process," he said from South Africa. "Finally my jaw is free of wires and I am able eat properly and my back is definitely better. I started off with just 20 minutes a day and I feel I'm in the right direction. I managed to ride over three hours."