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Mont Ventoux
Photo ©: Sirotti

First Edition Cycling News for May 15, 2005

Edited by Anthony Tan & Jeff Jones

Good news for Evans

Cadel Evans' crash on Friday while training in the Pyrenees will not put his Tour de France in danger, his team Davitamon-Lotto confirmed today. Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow spoke to Cadel's team director and mentor Allan Peiper at the Giro d'Italia, where he updated us on the situation.

"He crashed going down the Aubisque with Mario Aerts, behind the team car. There was some gravel on the road and he hit it, slipped, and did his knees, hip and shoulder. He's got a hairline crack in his collarbone, but it's not broken. They didn't have to open him up, he had the scan last night at the hospital in Belgium.

"I got a phone call from the doctor at 2:00am and I spoke to Cadel at 10pm last night. He was more worried about me than himself! 'I'll be fine, I'll be fine. It's OK,' he said. And Steegmans won in France yesterday, and Robbie wins, so we got two wins and a broken collarbone."

Cadel's recovery prospects look good, and he shouldn't miss too much training, according to Peiper. "He'll have three days off bike, four days on the rollers, then back on the bike. He's got to go into Brussels tomorrow or the next day to get an intravenous injection into the bone marrow. We'll probably change his program a bit. He was down for Catalunya, but we'll bypass that. He was going to do the Dauphine, then the team time trial, then the Tour, so we'll have to look at that. He'll probably do the Tour de Suisse, and a bit later, still do some training in the Alps, depending on what he wants to do as well. We'll make the decision when we get a bit closer. The Dauphine is not as important this year, because it doesn't do any of the climbs that are in the Tour.

Peiper also indicated that Henk Vogels is in with a good chance of riding the Tour de France. "Yep, he's going well. Marc [Sergeant] spoke to Henk's manager last night and he wants Henk in the Tour."

In his diary on his website, cadel.com.au, Cadel wrote, "I've got a sore ankle, hip, knee, head and shoulder. I'm a bit buckled up actually. It was only a silly crash but something that I just couldn't avoid...And now I can report that there's a little break in one of the holes where the pins were placed during a previous operation. It's a small fracture, and of course I'm being honest when I say that I really don't think it will affect anything for my preparation for the Tour de France."

"The crash happened while we were descending the Col d'Aubisque. Considering I was riding at over 50kph, I've got to consider myself lucky that I'm not worse off. It's only the second time that I've crashed my road bike during a training ride over the past 15 years and I'm just thankful that my injuries aren't worse than they are."

White can sympathise

Cadel's compatriot Matt White (Cofidis) could relate to what happened to Cadel, as he had something similar happen when he crashed while warming up for the prologue of the Tour de France last year in Liege. Cyclingnews' John Trevorrow asked Matt about the bone healing operation that Peiper mentioned. "Yeah, I had it last year," said White. "They take a bit of your blood out, they take the white cells out and inject the white cells back into the fracture, and it heals up quickly. It's really painful - seriously, it hurts like hell, but it's amazing, and it helps repair the bone very fast. I had it three times, and after the first time I was back on my home trainer in 36 hours and I was back on the bike in eight days. I had to take a lot of calcium to heal quicker. Brad McGee broke his collarbone before the Sydney Olympics, and that's what they did for Brad."

White also lost one of his Spanish neighbours, Kiwi Julian Dean (Credit Agricole), due to a crash in Stage 6 at the Giro d'Italia. "That's really bad luck for Julian," said Matt. "They're taking him back to Valencia and he's having surgery today."

Gerolsteiner news update

By Susan Westemeyer

Gölz returns part-time to Gerolsteiner; test for Faresin

Team Gerolsteiner announced former directeur sportif Rolf Gölz has come back to the team to resume his position with the team, a position he occupied in 2002, but now on a part-time basis. Explained team boss Hans-Michael Holczer: "We have discovered that it makes more sense to have two sporting directors at ProTour races. So we spoke to him about it." 42 year-old Golz will continue to be employed full-time by an auto-rental company, and, according to Holczer, will work for Gerolsteiner about 20 days a year.

The emergence of another old face is that of 39 year-old former pro Gianni Faresin, who retired at the end of the last season and began working for Gerolsteiner at the Giro on Saturday, where he will be riding in the second team car. "This is a test. We are giving Gianni the opportunity to gather some experience," said Holczer.

Hondo to appeal

Sacked Gerolsteiner rider Danilo Hondo has said he will not accept the two-year ban he is facing, and will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). "I was sentenced like one who has purposely doped," he said. "That just isn't right."

Hondo hopes to be found innocent, in an as-yet unscheduled hearing before the CAS. However, the 31 year-old admits he still has no explanation for the positive test results. "There are many theories, most of which don't make any sense. I am in a situation where I have to prove something that even the laboratories can't prove. That is the difficulty," he said.

FBD Insurance Rás update

By Tommy Campbell

Wales' most promising young rider, Yanto Barber, has obtained a late release from his team DFL in Britain and will now take his place alongside former winner Julian Winn as co-leader in the FBD Insurance Rás, which goes to post Sunday week. Yanto has figured prominently in all the top British races so far this year. His form would suggest that he can be relied upon to give a good account of himself.

On the home front, the Irish national team suffered a setback when Paul Griffin was forced to miss the Rás because of contractual problems with his trade team, Giant Asia. Griffin had targeted the race and his forced withdrawal is a devastating blow to his hopes for a top-three finish. However, while Griffin's experience will be a lost to the Irish team, the selectors were very fortunate in Stephen Gallagher coming into the frame at short notice. This will be the second outing for Stephen in a green jersey this year; he was also a participant in the 2005 Telekom Malaysia Le Tour de Langkawi.

Gallagher will be a huge asset to top pro, Mark Scanlon, as he attempts to add his home tour to his growing list of achievements with his Ag2R. Gallagher and Scanlon are firm friends and regular training partners in the hurly-burly of continental cycling.

The other three riders on the Irish team are also excellent riders, and should Scanlon or Gallagher be marked out of the race, then Brian Keane, Paidi O'Brien and Conor Murphy are capable of snatching a win for Ireland. Stena Ferry Line is the official maritime carrier for the race.

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