Latest Cycling News for March 29, 2005Edited by Anthony Tan Discovery to ride CamembertAfter a solid though not spectacular performance at the Brabantse Pijl in Belgium, Discovery leader Lance Armstrong is set to ride today's Paris-Camembert Lepetit as final preparation before Sunday's Ronde Van Vlaanderen. Finishing in 43rd place last Sunday, 3'43 behind eventual winner Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Armstrong appears to have found the rhythmn of racing once again after an untimely exit from Paris-Nice earlier this month, where he contracted a fever as a result of unseasonally cold weather. As he has vowed to do in this weekend's Tour of Flanders, Discovery's Big Cheese was riding for the team's Classics captain, George Hincapie, who is in excellent form and finished the Brabantse Pijl in sixth place. "He called me this afternoon and said he feels great in training and is hungry to race," said Bruyneel on ThePaceline.com. "He wants to race. That's definitely a good sign." "The sensations he's had during training have been pretty good and I think he's back to where he's in similar condition at this point of the season as in past years," he added. Joining 'the Boss' at Paris-Camembert will be: Cyclingnews diarist Tom Danielson, Ryder Hesjedal, Fumiyuki Beppu, Benjamin Noval, Jason Mccartney and Jurgen Van Den Broeck. said Danielson in his latest diary, "Normally I am not too excited about one day races, but this one I get to do with Lance, so I am pretty pumped. "Not only am I here to help Lance out, but also to continue to make progress, learning about the peloton and how to race at this high level. I feel like I made some real progress last week at Setmana Catalana and I'm just so motivated to be learning from my amazing team." Following the Ronde, Armstrong, along with a number of his Discovery team-mates, will return to the United States to defend his title at the Dodge Tour of Georgia, to be held from April 19-24. From there, he is likely to ride the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (June 5-12) and the ProTour team time trial in the Netherlands on June 19 as final preparation heading into the 92nd edition of the Tour de France. Gerolsteiner for De PanneAfter finishing last year's edition as runner-up to George Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Danilo Hondo and seven of his team-mates will be attempting to take the top step of the podium at the three-day KBC Driedaagse van De Panne - Koksijde, starting today in Belgium. The team shall be managed by Christian Henn. Team roster: Robert Förster, Frank Hoj, Sven Krauss, Thomas Ziegler, Danilo Hondo, Sebastian Lang, Michael Rich, Markus Zberg. See also: Driedaagse van De Panne preview NZ team for the Oceania MTB champsNew Zealand is sending its largest-ever contingent of riders to compete in the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships, to be held in Lysterfield and Mt Buller in Victoria, Australia from April 2-3, 2005. Today (Tuesday), 48 riders - comprised of elite men/women and junior men/women, across two disciplines - flew across the Tasman along with team manager Dereck McCarthy, to compete in both cross-country (April 2) and downhill (April 3) events. New Zealand's best chance of success lies in the cross country with New Zealand national champions and national series winners Rosara Joseph in the women's competition and Michael Northcott in the men's. Joseph had a stunning first season competing at the pro-elite level, winning the national series title and the national championships early this year. Northcott finally managed to usurp Stuart Houltham's reign over the cross country series from the previous four years, with Northcott also taking the national XC title. Justin Leov, the country's highest internationally-ranked mountain bike rider and national series winner and Nathan Rankin are New Zealand's best hope in the men's downhill. In the Junior age groups, Clinton Avery ,is expected to dominate the boys' cross country, while Sam Blenkinsop and Keiran Bennett are their best chances in the downhill. 2005 Oceania MTB Championships team roster:Cross Country Elite Men Michael Northcott Elite Women Rosara Joseph Junior Men Andrew Hughson Junior Women Monique Avery Downhill Pro-Elite Men James Barron Elite Women Jenna Makgill Junior Men David Scandrett Advantage Benefit-Endeavour: All for one... one for allThis first-year team brings enthusiasm and sheer love of the sport to the pro circuit in 2005. With a strong group of riders and experienced management which is producing a great vibe around the squad, that same pro circuit may be in for a shake up. Ella Lawrence visits their training camp in scenic Fresno, CA. Okay, If you've ever been to Fresno, you know it's not that scenic. But it was the place for three NRC race weekends in March, which is why the Advantage Benefits/Endeavour pro cycling team chose it as the landing spot for their 2005 spring training camp. This year marks former Saturn director Tom Schuler's return to professional road team management. Schuler talked a little about how this first-year pro team got its start. "The team began last year as two amateur teams, one in Michigan (Advantage Benefits), and one in Wisconsin (Endeavour)" he says. Schuler managed the Endeavour team in 2004, and when the two teams joined forces, the sponsorship came together with the financing and the support to allow the Advantage Benefits-Endeavour team to go pro. Co-manager and directeur sportif Robbie Ventura brings 11 years of professional race experience to the team: he spent four years on the Saturn roster, three years with Navigators and raced for US Postal for the last four years of his career. Ventura says of the team's lineup for 2005 - "We have a lot of spectacular racers that are going to get great results. We also have a lot of young guys whose talents haven't yet been defined. They're strong and fast; but finding out where they fit into the equation - criterium racer, road racer, time-trial guy, breakaway guy - that's going to be the fun part." Click here to read the rest of the story Vuelta de Bisbee 27 in 2005The 27th edition of La Vuelta de Bisbee stage race (LVDB) will be held from April 22-24, 2005. This three-day, four-stage event features an uphill time-trial prologue, two road stages and a time trial. The senior men, Pro 1-2, riders will cover more than 175 miles of racing and 10,000 feet of climbing, while the senior women and master men will cover slightly less distance and climbing. The high-desert terrain of Southeastern Arizona with its rural highways that lace through mountainous desert canyons and slope down and away from the historic mining town has drawn racers to Bisbee since 1976. LVDB boasts past winners such as Greg Lemond (who won as a 16-year old in 1978), Bob Cooke (1977, 79), Alexi Grewal (1992), Scott Moninger and Jeannie Longo (2002) and most recently, Davide Frattini and Lynn Gaggioli (2004). The race's location is also attractive for racers making an early-season, west coast swing. It proceeds the NRC-ranked Redlands and Sea Otter stage races (held west of Arizona), comes one week before the Tour of the Gila (a 2.5 hour drive east to Silver City, New Mexico). The StagesLVDB opens with a tough time trial that gains 837 feet of elevation in just 2.8 miles. The three stages that follow will test competitors climbing, sprinting, and time-trialing skills. If this race has not sorted itself by Sunday, the final stage features an extended uphill finish (5 miles at 6%) uphill climb, with two category 3 climbs in the last 15 miles. Prologue - Friday, April 22: Mule Pass Individual Time Trial, 2.8 miles
(all) More information: www.lavueltadebisbee.us Boomerang road event non-sanctionedIn a joint memorandum, Cycling Australia (CA) and Cyclesport Victoria (CSV) have advised that the road race event being promoted as the Adventure Travel Company Boomerang Tour by Topbike Tours (David Olle) at Mt. Beauty this weekend from April 2-3 has not been approved or sanctioned by the UCI, CA or CSV. Accordingly, the rules prohibit all CA/CSV members from competing in this road event. This prohibition does not apply to the mountain bike event being promoted by Topbike around the same time.
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