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Mont Ventoux
Photo ©: Sirotti

Latest Cycling News for April 25, 2005

Edited by Anthony Tan & Jeff Jones

An interview with Alexandre Vinokourov

In Vino veritas

By Hedwig Kröner in Ans

Alexandre Vinokourov (T-Mobile)
Photo ©: Luc Claessen
Click for larger image

The truth lies - if not in wine, then in the first Kazakh winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Alexandre Vinokourov, who scored his team's first victory this season and finally took the pressure off the entire T-Mobile squad. Although 'Vino' is not a man of great words or exuberant emotions, one could tell that he was still touched by this achievement as he received his award on the podium in Ans, close to Liège, on Sunday.

"I wasn't sure about winning until I reached the finish line," Vinokourov said after his victory asked by Cyclingnews. "I was thinking that we might get our chance if we still had one minute in Saint Nicolas [the penultimate climb before Ans, where he and Voigt led by 1'13 at the bottom - ed.]. Then, I thought it was feasible."

Asked about his co-leader, Jens Voigt, who was also very strong, Vino replied, "Yes, of course I feared him. I tried to drop him on the Saint Nicolas climb, but he wouldn't let go of my wheel. Then, my directeur sportif told me to wait for the sprint, so I did, and then gave everything I had. And I succeeded, so I'm happy."

Click here for the full interview
Full results, report & photos
Live report
Photos

Rumble in the Romandie jungle

By Anthony Tan in Vevey, Switzerland

Tyler Hamilton raced the Tour de Romandie to great success in 2003 and 2004, winning both editions. However, the 34 year-old was handed a two-year suspension for blood doping last Tuesday, April 19, ruling him out of this year's event.
Photo ©: Reuters

The final lead-up race to the Giro d'Italia, an early indication of who will be where at the Tour de France, and an extremely hard-fought and prestigious race in itself, the Tour de Romandie is significant for a number of reasons.

2005 marks the 59th edition of Romandie, so named because its entire 656 kilometre parcours is held in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, German and Italian being the country's two other secteurs. While distances are not demanding in itself - the longest being the second stage around Fleurier, measuring 171.9 kilometres - the same can't be said of the race profile, which boasts a total 7,985 metres of climbing.

At 1605 Tuesday afternoon (yes, the Swiss are rather precise with their timing), the first of 160 riders from 20 ProTour teams will test himself against the clock in a 3.4km prologue held in the streets of Geneva. Last year, it was no surprise to see previous world individual pursuit champion Bradley McGee do better than the rest, and the 29 year-old Sydneysider will be back to try and do it again on April 26.

Compared to the rest of the race, the first stage held around Avenches in the northern part of Romandy is very tame indeed: just two Cat. 3 climbs in 166.9 kilometres is very much a 'calm before the storm' style stage. Stage 2 is a bit more like it, with two Cat. 2s and the Cat. 1 to Les Sagnettes, but given their placement on the race route, it's likely to be another stage for the escape-artists - maybe one for CSC's Frank Schleck, Iles Baleares' Unai Osa, Quick.Step's José Antonio Pecharroman, Cofidis' David Moncoutie, Rabobank's Thomas Dekker, or Credit Agricole's Nicolas Vogondy.

Stage 3 begins outside the world HQ for the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) in Aigle, and it looks like hard-man Hein Verbruggen's had something to do with it. Three Cat. 1 climbs - all in the space of less than 50 clicks - with the third marking the stage finish atop the ski-town of Anzère, 1,526 metres above sea-level, where high-altitude cow-fighting happens to be a popular pastime for these people of the Canton du Valais.

While less vicious on paper (and maybe high-altitude cow-fighting), the fourth stage which begins in Châtel-St-Denis is in fact the stage with the greatest amount of vertical climbing; the bumpy 146.9km route is again tailor-made for the breakaway specialists - but only if the previous day's sufferfest didn't kill their legs or ambitions.

And if anyone thought the race was over, the final stage in the Olympic capital of Lausanne says it's not. The tough time test measures only 20.4 kilometres in length, but the variation in parcours makes it one for neither that flat or climbing TT specialist.

With 2003/04 champ Tyler Hamilton serving a two-year suspension for blood doping, who will take his place on this year's honour roll?

The American's former team-mates from Phonak, Alexandre Moos and Oscar Pereiro, will certainly give it a go. The rest? Take your pick from: Aïtor Gonzalez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Dario Cioni and recent Vuelta a Aragon winner Stefano Garzelli (Liquigas-Bianchi), 2001/02 winner Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo), Bradley McGee (Française des Jeux), Carlos Sastre (Team CSC), 2000 winner Paolo Savoldelli, Manuel Beltran and Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery Channel), Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner), José Antonio Pecharroman (Quick.Step), David Moncoutie (Cofidis), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), last year's runner-up Fabian Jeker (Saunier Duval), Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto, 3rd in 2002), 2004 Giro winner Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Cafitta), and Joseba Beloki, Jörg Jaksche & Alberto Contador (Liberty Seguros).

The Stages

April 26 - Prologue: Genève, 3.4 km
April 27 - Stage 1: Avenches - Avenches, 166.9 km
April 28 - Stage 2: Fleurier - Fleurier, 171.9 km
April 29 - Stage 3: Aigle - Anzère, 146.5 km
April 30 - Stage 4: Châtel-St-Denis - Les Paccots, 146.9 km
May 1 - Stage 5: Lausanne ITT, 20.4 km

Garzelli & Cioni lead Liquigas in Romandie

As with many teams scheduled to ride the Giro d'Italia, Italian ProTour team Liquigas-Bianchi will use the upcoming Tour de Romandie as their final tune-up event before the race begins in Reggio Calabria on Saturday, May 7. Stefano Garzelli and Dario Cioni have been appointed as the team's captains in the Swiss race, who will also be leaders for the Giro, along with Mario Cipollini and Danilo Di Luca.

"The 'Romandia' has always been an important test to value the riders' condition before the Giro," said team manager Roberto Amadio. "It will be the very first test both for Garzelli and Cioni; I believe they are well motivated, especially Stefano, who may try to win a stage as well."

According to a statement from the team, 31 year-old Garzelli and winner of the Giro in 2000, has been training alone, while 30 year-old ex-mountain biker Cioni raced yesterday's Giro dell'Appennino and will reconnoitre the Giro's 31 kilometre Turin time trial today, which comes on the third last day could prove decisive with the inclusion of the Colle di Superga climb.

Team roster: Michael Albasini, Patrick Calcagni, Dario Cioni, Daniele Colli, Stefano Garzelli, Oscar Mason, Vladimir Miholjevic, Marco Milesi
Directtore sportivi: Stefano Zanatta, Dario Mariuzzo

Ullrich confirms start in Suisse

In other news regarding Switzerland, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich has decided to defend his title at the 69th edition of the Tour de Suisse, opting to race on 'home soil' where he now lives, according to German publication Radsport.

The T-Mobile Team rider won last year's Tour de Suisse in a thrilling finale, claiming a last-minute victory from local hero Fabian Jeker by one second after winning the final time trial in Lugano. By confirming his participation in the event, scheduled for June 11-19 this year, Ullrich throws out any speculation of a pre-Tour de France duel with American Lance Armstrong at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, which overlaps the Tour de Suisse.

"It is one my favourite races," said the 31 year-old. While his participation in Suisse is more than likely, Ullrich has not yet decided to race the German road championship in Mannheim, a title he won four years ago, with the 2005 route considered to be held on a relatively easy parcours.

It is expected that his team-mate and yesterday's Liège-Bastogne-Liège victor Alexandre Vinokourov will lead the team at the Dauphiné Libéré. However, after being ruled out of Liège at last-minute, T-Mobile have not announced the pre-Tour race schedule for 2004 runner-up Andreas Klöden, who is reportedly suffering from poor form.

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