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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

First Edition Cycling News for March 19, 2005

Edited by Jeff Jones and Hedwig Kröner

Petacchi confident

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo)
Photo ©: Sirotti
Click for larger image

Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo) will be aiming for another jewel in his sprint crown when he lines up for Milan-San Remo on Saturday morning. The winner of 11 races already this year spoke at a press conference in his hotel on the eve of the race, and predicted that he has a good chance to win this time.

"I have trained to arrive at this race in the best possible condition and I think, that if nothing strange happens, I will be in Via Roma contesting the victory with the others," he said. "Yesterday [Thursday], I went and did the last 100 km of the parcours, doing the Cipressa twice and the Poggio once. I studied the descents well, which are just as important as the climbs in this race, and I tested out the gear ratios. I will climb in the 42 tooth small chainring instead of the 39, while I will keep the 53 big ring and use a 10 speed block from 11 to 21.

"On Thursday, when I came to the finish, I remembered 2004. The finishing straight is slightly uphill and seems to never end. I hope that this year the conclusion is different, even if it is not, however, a drama. At the end of the day, it will be the second time that I will fight for the victory, and if I lose, I will still be Alessandro Petacchi. There will be many rivals and besides the "usual" sprinters, I put an asterisk next to Valverde, who I am sure will ride an attacking race. I don't even forget Bettini, even if he has said that he will help Boonen.

"Once again, I say that this year there will be a different Petacchi at the start compared to last year, stronger. I lost weight and I have improved on the climbs, winning the Vuelta Valenciana and finishing second in Tirreno-Adriatico. All of this was "thanks" to the sprint I lost last year in Sanremo. I put it in my head that if I hadn't had those extra kilograms, I wouldn't have got to the sprint too tired. I'm here because I wanted to lose weight and, up until now, it has produced results. On the other hand, this Petacchi should be suited to more. I have always loved complete riders, like Freire, who can defend themselves a little bit everywhere.

"The responsibility? Certainty I feel it, that is normal. I felt it also at the Giro d'Italia 2004 when they made the whole squad available. Then I won nine stages. Tomorrow will be harder to start than to race, I hope to sleep well tonight."

Davis feels good about Sanremo

Liberty Seguros sprinter Allan Davis is confident about the ProTour race this season, Milano-Sanremo. The young Australian has been training in the region the last few days, and said that he felt positive about his form. "I feel good, and I have ever since November," Davis said. "I've never skipped a training session and I'll have no excuse for not being strong," he added.

"I'm better than last year, because I have another year of experience behind me. Especially riding the Tour de France - I learned a lot during that race and matured as a cyclist," he said, very happy with his role of an outside favourite for the upcoming "classicissima". "I think the pressure of victory is on the others: Rabobank with Freire, Fassa with Petacchi, T-Mobile with Zabel and Quick.Step with Boonen and Bettini. That's good for us, because it removes responsibility. We're in a good situation where we can surprise the favourites, Freire and Petacchi," Davis concluded.

Van Heeswijk definitely out

Max van Heeswijk will definitely not be riding Milan-San Remo on Saturday. The Dutchman has suffered from toothache and a cold this week, and doesn't rate his form good enough for the 300 km event. He will instead aim for next Wednesday's Dwars door Vlaanderen. Van Heeswijk's place in the Discovery Channel team will be taken by New Zealander Hayden Roulston.

Live coverage

Cyclingnews will be covering the 96th Milan - San Remo live, starting 09:30 local time (CET)/03:30 (USA East)/23:30 (Friday, USA West)/19:30 (Australia East).

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Fassa for Settimana Internazionale

Italian team Fassa Bortolo has announced its roster for the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali from March 22-26. Francesco Chicchi, Massimo Codol, Mauro Facci, Kim Kirchen, Vincenzo Nibali, Fabio Sacchi, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Marco Velo will take the start of the Italian stage race.

The Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali includes the following stages:

Stage 1a - March 22: Riccione - Riccione, 95,2 km
Stage 1b - March 22: Misano Adriatico - Misano Adriatico, 12 km TTT
Stage 2 - March 23: Riccione - Faenza, 206,9 km
Stage 3 - March 24: Finale Emilia - Finale Emilia, 184,1 km
Stage 4 - March 25: Fiorano Modenese - Serramazzoni, 152,4 km
Stage 5 - March 26: Castellarano - Sassuolo, 170,3 km

Team lineups for Setmana Catalana

Spanish Pro Continental team Spiuk has announced its line-up for the UCI 2.HC rated Setmana Catalana taking place from March 21-25. The team will send the following riders to compete:

Aitor Pérez Arrieta, Fernando Torres Martín, Jorge Ferrío Luque, Pedro Romero Ocampo, Sergio Domínguez Rodríguez, José Alberto Benítez Román, Israel Pérez Rodríguez and Enrique Salgueiro Alonso.

ProTeam Euskaltel-Euskadi will also participate, lining up Mikel Artetxe, Unai Etxebarria, Markel Irizar, Alberto Lopez De Munain, Iban Mayo, Aitor Silloniz, Gorka Verdugo and Joseba Zubeldia at the stage race.

Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne is sending the following riders to the start in popular recreational seaside town Lloret de Mar: Toni Colom, Chente García, Iván Gutiérrez, Vladimir Karpets, Cayetano Julià, David Navas, Toni Tauler and David Arroyo.

The roster of Italian Lampre team at the 42nd edition of Setmana Catalana will be: Juan Manuel Fuentes, Gerrit Glomser, Andreas Matzbacher, Sylvester Szmyd, Gilberto Simoni, Michele Scotto d'Abusco, Daniele Righi and Patxi Vila.

Finally, Fassa Bortolo will be represented by: Paolo Bossoni, Marzio Bruseghin, Fabian Cancellara, Claudio Corioni, Dario Frigo, Massimo Giunti, Gustav Larsson, Julian Sanchez Pimenta.

The Setmana Catalana will total 668 km, with the following stages:

Stage 1 - March 21: Lloret De Mar - Lloret De Mar, 165 km
Stage 2 - March 22: Lloret De Mar - Empúriabrava, 168 km
Stage 3 - March 23: Castelló d'Empúries - Coll De Pal, 157 km
Stage 4 - March 24: Baga - Palau Solita I Plegamans, 162 km
Stage 5 - March 25: Instalaciones Würth - Instalaciones Würth, 16 km ITT

Holland Ladies Tour takes shape

This year's edition of the Holland Ladies Tour will start on August 29 in Scheveningen and finish on September 3 in Heerlen. The towns of Dronten, Leende, Roden and Almelo will feature as stage finishes, and there will be a team time trial in Roden. The organisers are hoping to expand the race into an eight day affair with stages in Belgium and possibly Luxembourg next year, and have submitted a proposal to the UCI to that effect.

MTB team Merlanduo-Be One 2005 presented

A new Dutch mountain bike team, Merlanduo-Be One was presented in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands. Both of the team's main sponsors, MerlanDuo and Be One Bikes have decided to support the squad for four years, effectively taking its riders on a four-year programme to Beijing 2008. Team manager Ralf van Heugten has gathered 12 cross-country, downhill and four-cross riders, as well as young riders with a lot of potential.

World road champion Marianne Vos (Ned) and talented Bjorn Brems (Bel) are part of the team's development riders. At downhill and four cross, Bas de Bever (Ned) is joined by Belgian champion Nico Vink and Canadian rider Claire Buchar. Buchar, top 15 rider in the World's, is also member of Warwick Patterson's Be One Canada team.

In cross-country, MerlanDuo-Be One provides a small national team and three riders that will be riding cross-country on a more international level. These are: Jelmer Pietersma (Ned), Rudi van Houts (Ned) and runner-up in the Belgian championships Jimmy Tielens. All riders are aged between 20 and 26 and are already capable of finishing top 25 in the World Cup circuit.

Team MerlanDuo-Be One will be riding the Sea Otter Classic (USA) as its first international event this April. Meanwhile, first good results were achieved in Dutch and Belgian races.

The MerlanDuo-Be One team consists of: Jelmer Pietersma (Ned), Rudi van Houts (Ned), Jimmy Tielens (Bel), Bjorn Brems (Bel), Marianne Vos (Ned), Sander Bouwens (Ned), Tim Wijnants (Bel), Bram van der Wal (Ned), Micha de Vries (Ned), Nico Vink (Bel), Bas de Bever (Ned), Claire Buchar (Can)

More information on: www.merlanduo-beone.nl

UCI doping news

The UCI has announced that the following riders have been sanctioned for doping offences:

João Manuel Janela Martins (POR), tested positive to triamcinolone acetonide during the European Masters Championship (POR), on July 25, 2004, sanctioned by Federacão Portuguesa De Ciclismo, suspension of two years from September 24, 2004 to September 24, 2006, disqualification from the race.

Mattia Gavazzi (ITA), tested positive to Benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, during the race Trofeo Papa’Cervi (ITA), on May 1, 2004, sanctioned by Federazione Ciclistica Italiana, suspension of 14 months from November 11, 2004 to January 11, 2006, disqualification from the race.

Francisco Torrella Gomez (SPA), tested positive to triamcinolone acetonide during the race Vuelta Ciclista a Leon (SPA) on August 7, 2004, sanctioned by Real Federacion Española De Ciclismo, fine of €601 (art. 64 AER).

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