First Edition Cycling News for August 18, 2005Edited by Hedwig Kröner and Jeff Jones Deutschland Tour stage 3 wrapBennati wins stage as high mountains loom
Today's flat sprinter's stage of the Deutschland Tour from Bodenmais to Kufstein was won by Italian Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Caffita), who got his front wheel just ahead of his compatriot Filippo Pozzato's, who already scored a stage win yesterday. German Sebastian Siedler (Wiesenhof) came in third under finally sunny skies in Austria. "I dedicate this win to my wife, Chiara, who is always with me, also in the bad moments, and to my teammates who did a wonderful job today: they all worked at 100 percent for me and I really want to thank them," said Bennati after the finish. Meanwhile, Gerolsteiner's Fabian Wegmann added one more mountain point to his score and took the mountains jersey from his teammate Levi Leipheimer. "I will try to defend it," said the 25 year-old German, "although this isn't really my league." But who knows? Wegmann already showed in 2004 that he was able to match the big guys when he won the mountains jersey in Italy. No big changes occurred at the top of the general classification, and Dutchman Bram Tankink (Quick.Step) will wear the leader's jersey again tomorrow when the Deutschland Tour hits the high mountains. Stage four on Thursday is considered the Queen stage of the race, as it will see the riders take on two Hors Catégorie climbs on their way from Kufstein to Sölden, with the highest mountaintop finish of this season atop the 2,670m high 'Rettenbachferner'. The general classification favourites all are within reach of the leader's jersey, except T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov, who's already more than 12 minutes down. Jan Ullrich, who was suffering from a light cold at the start of the Deutschland Tour, has recovered from his illness and is happy about the change of weather - while the first days were rainy and cool, today's stage finish in Kufstein finally saw some sunrays. "I'm really relieved that the weather finally improved - that gives my morale an extra boost," Ullrich said after the stage. "For tomorrow, I hope that I'll have really good legs and am able to ride up front." Full results,
report & photos Tour de France antidoping controls all negativeThe International Cycling Union's anti-doping commission has announced that all urine and blood samples collected during the 2005 Tour de France, except for one sample containing pseudoephedrine and norpseudoephedrine, returned only negative results regarding doping products and forbidden methods. In-depth investigations of the sample containing the two aforementioned substances determined that the presence of norpseudoephedrine in small quantities can result from the taking of pseudoephedrine, an authorised product, in a greater quantity. After obtaining the opinion of three world-recognised scientific experts, the UCI anti-doping commission has decided to file the case. Moreover, the UCI anti-doping commission has proceeded to the control of all usual therapeutic use exemptions (TUE). All riders who resorted to medical treatments have produced TUE's, in accordance with requirements imposed by the UCI anti-doping regulations. In terms of numbers, 164 anti-doping controls were carried out during the 2005 Tour de France, made up of 143 urine samples and 21 blood samples. At the request of the UCI anti-doping commission, in collaboration with the French Sports Ministry, the Châtenay-Malabry laboratory also searched for EPO in blood transfusions and synthetic haemoglobin. Transfer newsDutch rider Stef Clement (Rabobank Continental) will ride for Bouygues Telecom next year, according to ANP. "The structure of the team, the age breakdown with an average age of 24 years, and the program gave him a good feeling," said his agent Jacques Hanegraaf about Clement. The 22 year-old won Olympia's Tour this year. French website Cyclismag.com reports that Dmitri Fofonov will move from Cofidis to Credit Agricole next season, while 2003 U23 World Champion Sergey Lagutin will ride for Naturino-Sapore di Mare, leaving Landbouwkrediet-Colnago. Glasgow Grand Prix opens Tour of BritainThe preliminary event of the Tour of Britain (August 30-September 4, 2005), the 2005 Glasgow Grand Prix is scheduled to take place one day prior to the event on Monday, August 29. The one hour race will be held within the spectacular setting of George Square in the heart of Glasgow. As an official round of the British Criterium Race Series, The Glasgow Grand Prix will start following the official Tour of Britain team presentation which also takes place inside George Square, starting at 18:00 finishing approximately 18:45. Amongst the riders starting at the Glasgow Grand Prix will be representatives of the Recycling.co.uk/Litespeed Team, Team Barloworld-Valsir, Team DFL as well as Scottish and Welsh teams, who will all be participating in the Tour of Britain one day later. The Grand Prix event is also open to all Elite and category 1 and 2 riders and all entries should be sent to: Graeme McGinty Other cycling rides are also supporting the Tour of Britain, such as the Yorkshire Tour Ride (www.bcrides.co.uk) and the Pedal for Scotland (www.pedalforscotland.org). Spiuk finishes 2005 season in SpainSpanish Continental team Spiuk will be lining up for three more home turf races before calling it a day this year. The team has announced that it will not take part in the Tour de l'Avenir in France from September 1-10 although it had initially planned to do so. Instead, the team will concentrate on the Spanish races taking place in Vigo on August 20 and 21, as well as the Clasica Los Puertos, also on August 21. These are team Spiuk's last team rosters for this season: G.P Área Metropolitana De Vigo (1.2) and G.P. Ciudad De Vigo (1.2), August 20 and 21: Enrique Salgueiro Alonso, Ángel Rodríguez García, Jesús Pérez Priego, Alfonso Rodríguez García, Pedro Romero Ocampo and Francisco J. Aguilar. Clásica Ciclista Los Puertos (1.1), August 21: Fernando Torres Martín, Aitor Pérez Arrieta, Jorge Ferrío Luque, Sergio Domínguez Rodríguez, Israel Pérez Rodríguez, Jorge Sánchez Pimienta, Javier Ramírez Torres, Rafael Macarrón Jaqueti and Alberto Benítez Román. Ride with Jittery Joe's-KalahariThe Jittery Joe's-Kalahari team has announced that it will be offering rides in its Mini Cooper team car during the Barclay Investors San Francisco Grand Prix on September 4. The idea is a way of raising money for the team, according to manager Micah Rice: "We have always been a team funded by our fans with the sale of Jittery Joe's coffee and Kalahari FruitTrekkers. This is taking this idea one step further and allowing our fans to see this race from the perspective of the riders themselves, without having to ride up Fillmore Street!" The team will be 'selling' a total of six laps in the back seat of the orange Hank Aaron Automotive Mini convertible. Each lap is a $500 donation to the team and includes a can of Jittery Joe's Morning Ride coffee, a box of FruitTrekker bars, and a team t-shirt. Those interested should email the team at mail@thebeanteam.com. Track cycling for all ages at Lehigh Valley VelodromeThe Lehigh Valley Velodrome in Pennsylvania, USA, will be hosting the Air Products Developmental Cycling Program Finals on Friday, August 19. This event, now in its 29th year, is a free, introductory track cycling program for anyone 5 years of age or older. The program has graduated over 14,000 children and adults and garnered nearly a thousand junior national, elite national and international competition medals. Graduates of the program include Olympians Marty Nothstein, Giddeon Massie, Tanya Lindenmuth, 2004-2005 World's medalist Kim Geist and Champion Sarah Uhl. This year's graduates will be racing in front of the large Friday night crowd at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. The finals will include races in eight categories for boys and girls ages, 9-10, 11-12, 13-15, and 16-18. In addition, adult racing includes women aged 19-plus, men 19-39, 40-plus men and 60+ men. The top three in each category are awarded medals and the overall winner receives a championship jersey. The organisers will also be honouring the achievements of this year's USA Junior National Championship participants: Lehigh Valley Velodrome riders won 50 medals on the track and 15 on the road. "The Air products program, one of the most successful developmental programs in the country, has been once again, a rousing success in 2005. We look forward to challenging the riders that have qualified for this week's AP Finals, as they race to see who will earn the jersey of AP champion for 2005," the velodrome's cycling coordinator Erin Hartwell said. International racing for the evening will include a variety of race events with all of the Velodrome's top riders. Events on the men's side include one mile heats and final, a 10k and a flying 1000m record attempt by Jon Norfolk and Dave Cresswell. The women will compete in a 5 mile final and a miss and out. There will be some musical action before the racing gets underway by the Friends of Greyhounds, Pierogie Man and the Pierogie Mobile, and the Allentown Municipal Band, who will be performing in the infield. Gates open at 6:30 pm on Friday, August 19, with racing to begin at 7:30 pm. More information: www.lvvelo.org (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005) |
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