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Dauphiné Libéré
Photo ©: Sirotti

First Edition Cycling News for March 16, 2005

Edited by Anthony Tan

Freire the King of Tirreno

Sprinters dominate "race of two seas"

Oscar Freire (Rabobank)
Photo ©: Sirotti
Click for larger image

With six out of the seven stages being won by either Oscar Freire or Alessandro Petacchi, and the top four on general classification all being sprinters, it's fair to say that this year's edition of Tirreno-Adriatico was dominated by riders blessed with lots of fast twitch muscle fibres. But in many ways this was not surprising, as nearly all of the world's top sprinters were at the "race of two seas" and that meant their teams as well. With so many squads interested in controlling the race for their fast men, there were few chances for successful breakaways. Only Servais Knaven's solo win in stage 5 broke the monopoly.

After Oscar Freire's win in stage 2, his very strong and motivated Rabobank team rode to protect him each day, as they had placed a high value on winning this race, the second in the new ProTour - Rabobank has been one of the main teams which has fully grasped the concept of what it means to be a ProTour team, and deployed its resources accordingly between Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

Then there was the always powerful Fassa Bortolo team, that worked hard for their top man Petacchi, who, despite a few setbacks in the race, still bagged three wins and second overall, and has already racked up 11 wins for the season! Today's final stage in San Benedetto Del Tronto again fell to Petacchi, who beat a fast finishing Mario Cipollini and Danilo Hondo for the victory.

"Last year I also won three stages in Tirreno, but this year I feel a lot stronger," said Petacchi afterwards. "It seems strange, but in spite of the second place overall, I worked less hard than I did in 2004. The improvement on the climbs has helped me a lot. In the sprint, which was managed perfectly by my teammates, my bike was jumping around a bit because of the uneven road. In the end it all went well and I succeeded in beating all of my rivals.

"With respect to Sanremo, I see Freire above everyone else, but I don't forget Zabel, Hondo, Cipollini, McEwen and at the same time Bettini, who is improving. All will depend on how they confront the Poggio and Cipressa, even if it doesn't finish in a sprint. If the other teams have an alternative, so do we. We have Kirchen who has come out of Paris-Nice well, who can remain with the best on the climbs and is fast in small group sprints."

Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 7

Full results, report & photos
Stages & results
Map
Start list
Photos

Northern Classics continue with Nokere-Koerse

T-Mobile sends youthful roster to Belgium

After Het Volk and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, today's 60th edition of the Nokere-Koerse is Belgium's third semi-classic for the year, which gives riders targeting the bigger events in April an opportunity to fine-tune their form before such races as the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix. 25 teams will take to the start for this UCI-classified 1.1 race based around the cobbled Nokereberg in East Flanders, including ProTour teams Rabobank, Cofidis, Bouygues Telecom, Française Des Jeux and local favourites Davitamon-Lotto and Quick.Step.

The 193 kilometre race parcours consists of a 45.7km loop, including cobbled sections at Mater/Kerkgate, followed by 10 laps of a 14.8 km circuit around Nokere, with the riders tackling the aforementioned Nokereberg climb on each lap. Thousands of spectators usually line the 400m Nokereberg (6% average gradient) to watch the race, which has added importance for the local favourites, in that the highest-placed native East Flandrian rider is awarded the championship of the province.

The T-Mobile Team is sending a youthful roster to tackle today's event, with three new-pros making their northern European debut. For Bas Giling, Marcus Burghardt and Bernhard Kohl, Nokere-Koerse will be their first taste of pro racing in northern Europe. The trio have already cut their teeth in early season pro races on the roads of Spain, Portugal and Qatar, but today, they will become acquainted with the hard slog of northern European pro racing.

Although 22 year-old Giling is no stranger to the parcours or the area: the Dutchman trains in Belgium and scouted the short, sharp cobbled Nokereberg climb last week. According to team press officer Luuc Eisenga, Giling is in good shape and is keen 'to show himself' in the race.

Joining the neo-pros on T-Mobile are sprinters Eric Baumann and André Korff, as well as Jan Ullrich's best friend and training partner Tobias Steinhauser, who will make his season debut in Belgium. Fully recovered from a recent flu, the veteran has spent the past two weeks training intensively with Jan Ullrich in Tuscany. Sporting manager Frans van Looy will accompany the team in his native Belgium.

T-Mobile roster for Nokere-Koerse: Eric Baumann (24), Marcus Burghardt (21), Bas Giling (22/Niederlande), Bernhard Kohl (23/Österreich), André Korff (31), Tobias Steinhauser (33).

Quick.Step, Bouygues Telecom for San Remo

Virtually all of Belgian team Quick.Step's top riders are scheduled to ride Saturday's Milan-San Remo, with Paolo Bettini and Tom Boonen ably supported by Davide Bramati, Kevin Hulsmans, Cristian Moreni, Nick Nuyens, Bram Tankink and Guido Trenti, and the team directed by Serge Parsani.

Jean René Bernaudeau's Bouygues Telecom also fields a competitive line-up for La Primavera, with previous world champion Laurent Brochard, 2004 Tour de France hero Thomas Voeckler, and in-form rider Jérome Pineau riders of note in their seven-man line-up. The team shall be directed by Christophe Faudot.

Milan San Remo: March 19
Giovanni Bernaudeau, Laurent Brochard, Mathieu Claude, Anthony Geslin, Maryan Hary, Jérome Pineau, Franck Renier, Thomas Voeckler.
Directeur sportif: Christophe Faudot

Bouygues Telecom will also represent themselves at the Grand Prix Rudy Dahenens in Belgium on March 20 with a younger, less experienced team:

Grand Prix Rudy Dahenens: March 20
Sébastien Chavanel, Pierre Drancourt, Yohann Gêne, Christophe Kern, Frédéric Mainguenaud, Alexandre Naulleau, Anthony Ravard.
Directeur sportif: Dominique Arnould

Lequatre to miss M-SR

Credit Agricole's Geoffroy Lequatre (Credit Agricole) will not take part in Milan-San Remo because of a problem with his ankle, which he says is "blocked", according to French cycling website www.cyclismag.com. The 23 year-old attempted to ride today but couldn't do so for more than an hour, and is obviously very disappointed to miss of one cycling's biggest one-day races.

Nobili Rubinetterie for Primavera Rosa

Running in tandem with Milan-San Remo on March 19 is the Primavera Rosa women's World Cup race, where Nobili Rubinetterie Menikini Cogeas will field a team of six riders lead by Sigrid Corneo and Edita Pucinskaite.

Primavera Rosa: March 19
Edita Pucinskaite, Sigrid Corneo, Modesta Vzesniauskaite, Silvia Valsecchi, Daniela Fusar Poli and Milena Pirola

Tour of Nigeria cancelled

As a result of general repairs of all major roads nationwide by the Federal Ministry of Works, the UCI 2.2 Maltonic International Tour of Nigeria has had to be postponed, with no set date fixed for the future. The recent UCI 2.2 Tour du Cameroun was also the victim of similarly poor organisation, with several stages cancelled after just the first stage completed, but eventually revived itself three days later.

The tour was scheduled to begin this Monday, March 14, and run through till March 25. African website allAfrica.com reports that the secretary of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Mr Olumide Bamiduro, intends to meet with the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to ascertain exact dates on the finish of the road repairs on particular routes, to enable the 10-day event to be rescheduled.

"We quite appreciate the fact that the agency is rendering such a social service to the populace but it is quite unfortunate that the timing coincided with our programme, and we have since notified the World Cycling Federation (UCI) of the development," said Mr Bamiduro. "We want to be specific now and know exactly when they will finish, so that we can start our road mapping," he added.

According to allAfrica.com, 10 countries, namely Britain, Burkina Faso, Germany, Italy, Malta, Estonia, China, South Africa, Egypt and Cameroon were set to join Nigeria for the largest-ever cycling race in the country, with the host nation slated to field three teams before the setback occurred. Each team was to be comprised of four cyclists each.

Despite the interruption, CFN Secretary Bamiduro was optimistic, believing the roadworks, once completed, will ensure accurate timing and reduce the potential for accidents.

Muscle torn for McLeod

By Jean-François Quénet

Ian McLeod
Photo ©: J-F Quénet
Click for larger image

The crash involving Ian McLeod and Kevin Hulsmans during the last stage of Paris-Nice has had more consequences than expected for the South African neo-pro from Française des Jeux, who was released by the doctors from Nice's St-Roch hospital last Sunday evening.

The morning following the race, McLeod was taken to another hospital in Antibes, where a torn muscle was diagnosed as well as a large haematoma. He has a tube inserted to allow the leg to drain and must stay in hospital at least until Thursday before he returns home and begins rehabilitation. "This will take a month, including some exercises on the bike," acknowledges his team manager Marc Madiot, who has withdrawn him from the start list of Cholet-Pays de Loire on Sunday.

McLeod may resume racing in May but he will very likely skip the Tour of Italy, for which he was initially scheduled by FDJ. "We still want him to ride a Grand Tour this year and it should be the Tour of Spain, Madiot said. Since we've started this team in 1997, we have never dropped a rider because of an injury. I've told Ian not to worry about his future. We're fully behind him and we'll look after him closely during his rehabilitation."

The 24 year-old from Vereiniging near Johannesburg was so promising that he got starts for the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, the Tour of the Mediterranean and Paris-Nice, a programme that shows a lot of confidence from his directeurs sportifs. On the other hand, FDJ will welcome Carlos Da Cruz back in the squad, where he will partake in the GP Rudy Dhaenens in Belgium on Sunday. The team captain resumed training a month ago after an accident while skiing in December last year.

USA team announced for Track World's

USA Cycling have announced the 10 member squad that will represent the country at the upcoming 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Carson, Calif. March 24-27. In the roster are seven Olympians, including six riders who competed in Athens last summer.

Two-time Olympic medalist and 2000 Olympic champion Nothstein is set to ride in his last world championships and will contest the madison along with Pearce. Arguably the most notable name in American track cycling history, Nothstein hopes to close out his stellar career with a fourth world title before turning his focus to the professional road circuit this spring.

Pearce is on pace for a promising performance after the latest World Cup yielded two podium results. He first cracked the top-three in World Cup competition this season at the round in Los Angeles last December finishing second in the points race to Olympic champion Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS). A month later in Manchester, Great Britain, Pearce finished third. The 2004 Olympian will ride the points race and the madison at the world championships with an eye on a medal ride in each event.

1992 and 2000 Olympic team member Carney kicked off the World Cup with a win in the scratch race in Moscow last November. A seventh-place ride in the World Cup finale in Sydney last month left Carney with a third-place overall World Cup ranking despite only competing in half of the events. A cagey veteran competing in a traditionally unpredictable event, Carney gives the U.S. another legitimate shot at a medal in the scratch race.

Teammates on the 2004 Olympic team, sprint specialists Massie and Stahl will again take on what will likely be a stacked field of international sprinters. Massie, the reigning Pan American champion in the sprint and keirin, will contest both of those events in Los Angeles while Stahl, the Pan American champion in the one kilometer time trial will ride in only the keirin. Relatively new to the keirin at the international level, Stahl performed admirably in his two World Cup appearances this year and is coming off a seventh-place effort at the World Cup in Sydney.

Led by 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Mirabella on the endurance side and '04 Olympic teammate Reed in the sprint events, the women's squad is also strong and has medal and rainbow jersey potential. Mirabella will contest both the points race and the individual pursuit at the world championships. The points race is the stronger of her two events referenced by a World Cup win last December in Los Angeles and a bronze in Athens.

Reed's third-place finish in 2004 provided the only medal for the U.S. team at last year's world championships in Melbourne, Australia. It was also the first world championship medal for the U.S. since Erin Hartwell scored a bronze in the kilometer time trial in 1998. This season, Reed has flirted with success while landing on two keirin podiums this season - third place finishes in both Manchester and Sydney. Reed will ride both the sprint and the keirin in Los Angeles.

With a second-place ride in the scratch race at the Manchester World Cup in January, Quinn has recently shown that she can compete for a spot on the podium. Conzelman will ride both the 500 meter time trial and the sprint against what is also shaping up to be an ultra-talented field. A pair of seventh-place finishes in the 500 meter time trial in World Cup competition this year will be tough to improve upon against an even stronger pool of riders.

Men

Giddeon Massie (Sprint, Keirin)
Christian Stahl (Keirin)
Colby Pearce (Points Race, Madison)
James Carney (Scratch Race)
Marty Nothstein (Madison)
Robert Lea (Individual Pursuit)

Women

Erin Mirabella (Points Race, Individual Pursuit)
Jennie Reed (Sprint, Keirin)
Becky Conzelman (Sprint, 500 Meter Time Trial)
Becky Quinn (Scratch Race)

Ag2R, Landbouwkrediet for upcoming races

Pro Continental team AG2R-Prévoyance shall field the following team rosters at the upcoming races:

Classic Loire Atlantique: March 18
Simon Gerrans, Yuriy Krivtsov, Lloyd Mondory, Christophe Oriol, Erki Putsep, Marc Scanlon, Aliaksandr Usau, Tomas Vaitkus
Team Manager: Arturas Kasputis

G.P. Staussee - Rundfahrt Klingnau: March 20
Cyril Dessel, Samuel Dumoulin, Laurent Mangel, Jean-Patrick Nazon, Christophe Oriol, Aliaksandr Usau, Tomas Vaitkus
Team Manager: Gilles Mas

Cholet - Pays de Loire: March 20
Simon Gerrans, Stéphane Goubert, Yuriy Krivtsov, Lloyd Mondory, Nicolas Portal, Erki Putsep, Marc Scanlon, Ludovic Turpin
Team Manager: Arturas Kasputis

Meanwhile, Belgian-registered Pro Continental Team Landbouwkrediet - Colnago will use the following riders for today's Nokere-Koerse, Cholet - Pays De Loire and the GP Rudy Dhaenens:

Nokere-Koerse: March 16
Bert De Waele, Ludo Dierckxsens, Glenn D'hollander, Mathieu Criquielion, Thierry De Groote, Geert Verheyen, Maxime Monfort, Sergey Lagutin; reserve: James Van Landschoot

GP de Cholet: March 20
Bert De Waele, Jurgen Van de Walle, Maxime Monfort, Nico Sijmens, Thierry De Groote, Jean-Paul Simon, Sergey Lagutin Geert Verheyen; reserve: Sven Renders

GP Dhaenens: March 20
Ludo Dierckxsens, Ludovic Capelle, Johan Verstrepen, Glenn D'Hollander, James Van Landschoot, Mathieu Criquielion, Jurgen Van Loocke, Sven Renders

Amstel Gold awards wild-card to Shimano - Memory Corp

Organisers of the Amstel Gold Pro Tour race have awarded one of two wild card entries to the Shimano - Memory Corp Professional Cycling Team, the Netherland's only Pro Continental team.

Slated for April 17 this year, Shimano - Memory Corp's participation enables the team's captain, German Stefan Schumacher, to compete with the world's best riders in one of the world's biggest one-day events. For the Japanese riders in the team, the Amstel Gold will be their first acquaintance with an event of the highest level, and for the young Dutch riders, participation in the 40th edition of the youngest of the Spring Classics is obviously of great value for their development.

Naturally, the team is ecstatic with the decision, and are motivated to race in their home country. The Amstel Gold is one of three ProTour races that shall take place in the Netherlands this year, the other two being the team time trial in Eindhoven on June 19 and some stage of Benelux Tour, to be held from August 3-10, 2005. Last year's winner was Davide Rebellin, who went on to a historic triplet of victories after winning both La Flèche Wallonne and Liège - Bastogne - Liège, all in the space of a week.

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