First Edition Cycling News for January 31, 2006

Edited by John Stevenson & Les Clarke

Walker staying chilled for another year

By Anthony Tan

William Walker (Rabobank)
Photo ©: Mark Gunter

Up against the best in the country, victory in the Australian open road championship not surprisingly gave 20 year-old William Walker plenty of confidence, even if the rules didn't allow him to wear the elite men's green and gold striped jersey.

A week later, and now riding with some of the best in the world at the Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under, finishing fourth overall and wearing the best young rider's jersey was another boost. Yet despite this, one of the country's biggest future stage race hopes is staying put in Rabobank's Continental team this season, preferring to stay "chilled" for another year.

"Well, last year I had a good season; I came seventh in Tour de l'Avenir and second at [the U23] world's and had quite a few other good results, too, but I didn't feel I had quite the level to do pro races all the time. I was always finishing in the top 30 or something, but I'd rather work on a better level this year," Walker told Cyclingnews in a recent interview.

His silver medal in Madrid last year created a piece of cycling history, becoming the best-performing under-23 Australian rider at a world road championship and equalling Robbie McEwen's second place at Zolder in 2002, where Italian Mario Cipollini became the elite men's world champion.

"I trained really hard in July, and felt like I deserved to do something well; I didn't get a win in the second half of the year, but I got a lot of good placings," Walker said about his lead-up to the world's.

"The guy [Dmytro Grabovskyy] that won it deserved it, and second I was pretty happy with - really happy, actually... it was a good end to the season. If I had lost by a millimetre, I probably would have been a bit disappointed but I lost by quite a lot; I can't even remember what it was, 27 seconds or something."

Ukrainian Grabovskyy is another who is choosing to bide his time in the Continental ranks for one more season, and like Walker, will aspire to the ProTour in 2007. "I am not really ready yet; I want another year before stepping up," said the 20 year-old after his world championship win.

This year, as well as targeting the Tour de l'Avenir and world championships, Walker is also hoping to make the Commonwealth Games team, but apart from that, "I'm just going to try and go well in every race I do - it's as simple as that," he said. "I'll probably have a bit easier time in July in terms of training, but [my objective] is just go well in every race. Except for the ones with cobbles - I'll take those ones easy," joked the Victorian cycling prodigy.

"I've got plenty of time: the Rabobank team's really good, and they didn't put too much pressure on me when I wasn't going that well last year. They just let me do what I wanted, so they're pretty cool and all the guys on the team are good; I'm chilled out and try and have another year with quite a lot of wins in slightly easier races."

Look out for the interview with Will Walker tomorrow on Cyclingnews.

T-Mobile heads to France

By Susan Westemeyer

The T-Mobile Team is heading to France to open its season this week at today's GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise and the Etoile des Bessèges (February 1-5). Newcomer Jörg Ludewig is looking forward to his T-Mobile debut and is even a bit nervous. "At the thought of pinning my start number on a magenta jersey, I get flutters in my stomach," said the 30-year old. "The media's interest in the team and in me at the team presentation and afterwards was very big." Ludewig already knows what he wants to accomplish with the team. "I can imagine taking over the role of Rolf Aldag. I could like to ride at a high level and be a good all-rounder," he said. "In Marseille I want to be in the leading group on the first climb. I'm riding for results." In the following stage race, Ludewig will slip back into his role as a helper. "I want to be a good helper for our sprinters, especially for Olaf Pollack, and help to bring in wins for our team."

The team will be one rider short, as youngster Marcus Burghardt will have to sit the races out while recovering from a bad cold. Burghardt is now expected to make his season debut in the Vuelta a Mallorca, starting February 5. Asked if another rider would stand in for Burghardt, team spokesman Luuc Eisenga told Cyclingnews, "We will start with seven riders; we have defined specific goals for specific riders and therefore it wouldn't make sense. We hope that Marcus will recover soon and can continue the development that he has already shown last season."

Another youngster, Bas Giling, is starting his second pro season with T-Mobile, and says, "I have to say, I'm really glad the waiting is over. I trained well, I feel healthy, so I'd say: Let the season start! Of course, the first race is always pretty tough. Getting used to the speed is the hardest part. And a French race like Tuesday's GP Marseillaise is not exactly my idea of 'easing into the season'..."

AG2R Prévoyance for upcoming races

The AG2R Prévoyance team has announced its line-ups for the next couple of weeks of racing, starting with today's French season-opener, the GP d'Ouverture La Marseillaise.

For that race, AG2R will field Sylvain Calzati, Hubert Dupont, Philip Deignan, Simon Gerrans, Lloyd Mondory, Christophe Moreau, Mark Scanlon, and Tomas Vaitkus. Cyril Dessel and Stéphane Goubert will be reserves.

For the Etoile de Bessèges (February 1-5), AG2R will be represented by Philip Deignan, Hubert Dupont, Stéphane Goubert, Christophe Moreau, Mark Scanlon, Ludovic Turpin, Alexandre Usau, and Tomas Vaitkus, with Sylvain Calzati and Cyril Dessel as reserves.

For the Tour de Langkawi (Malaysia, February 3-12) AG2R will line up Renaud Dion, Julien Loubet, Laurent Mangel, Carl Naibo, Erki Putsep, and Christophe Riblon.

Finally, for the Vuelta a Mallorca (Spain, February 5-9), AG2R will field José-Luis Arrieta, Mikel Astarloza, Iñigo Chaurreau, Samuel Dumoulin, Yuriy Krivtsov, Lloyd Mondory, David Navas, and Jean-Patrick Nazon.

Relax-Gam-Fuenlabrada for Langkawi

The Relax-Gam-Fuenlabrada team has announced its squad for the Tour de Langkawi. The team will field Miguel Elías, Raúl García, Angel Vallejo, Nacor Burgos, Xavier Tondo and Daniel Moreno.

Spiuk-Extremadura presented

Spiuk-Extremadura

The Spiuk-Extremadura team for 2006 was officially launched on Sunday in Zafra, Spain. As well as team staff and riders, Manuel Martínez Dávila, minister for sport of the Extremadura regional council, Manuel García Pizarro, mayor of Zafra, and José Manuel Fernández, manager of clothing and component company Spiuk also attended.

The 2006 team will comprise José Mondelo, Jesús Ramírez, Ángel Rodríguez, Fernando Torres, Ignacio Sarabia, David Sojo, Pedro Romero, José Antonio Arroyo, Rafael Macarrón, Alfonso Rodríguez, and Enrique Salgueiro.

Fresh faces for TIAA-CREF in 2006

With several new faces in the lineup, Team TIAA-CREF, America's 'youngest' professional cycling team, has announced its 2006 roster. Making the most of youth and experience, Team TIAA-CREF features the country's top up-and-coming professional cyclists mixed with experienced riders, including former Discovery Channel pro Mike Creed, 2001 U23 world time trial champion Danny Pate, two-time espoir national champion Ian MacGregor and Canadian professional road champion Francois Parisien.

Former Credit Agricole pro Jonathan Vaughters, TIAA-CREF team director, believes that, "Our 2006 squad contains the finest young racers in the USA, and we are looking forward to aggressive racing from them in both the US and in Europe." The team begins its 2006 season with the French season openers GP Marseillaise and Etoile des Besseges this coming week.

Click here for all rider profiles

Sean Kelly Team gets together in the sun

Sean Kelly always seemed in a hurry to head for the sunshine at the beginning of the season, at least if his seven wins in "The race to the sun" - Paris-Nice - are anything to go by. Now, the team that carries his name is also heading for warmer climes as Ireland's Sean Kelly team starts a ten-day training camp in Benidorm, on Spain's Costa Blanca.

Most of the team's riders have trained and raced together on an ad-hoc basis over the past year, but this camp will be their first official get-together as a team.

"The lads are excited to get this trip underway," said team director Sean Kelly. "The fanfare of the launch on Monday is now forgotten and it's time for the boys to get down to some serious work. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors we have the funding to provide camps like this which are very important if The Sean Kelly Team members are to be given the same opportunities as other Continental teams."

Following its training camp, the team hopes to compete for the first time some time in mid-February.

Biemme sponsors USA Cycling

Italian clothing maker Biemme, in conjunction with US importer Trialtir, has become the new official supplier of performance clothing for all US national cycling teams. As part of an agreement that extends through to the 2008 UCI road world championships, Biemme will provide performance clothing for all national team competitions, including world championships, Pan American championships, the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2008 Olympic Games. Ongoing programmes like the women's endurance programme and track programme will also wear Biemme at all national team events.

"It's a very big honour to be associated with USA Cycling. It's good recognition for us because we want to be involved in anything that furthers the sport and promotes our brand," said Trialtir national sales manager Trey Henderson. New sponsors this year include four other companies - Mavic, Easton, Innovations and Stan's No Tubes - who'll supply carbon wheels, bars, stems and forks, carbon dioxide cartridges and tyre sealant for tubeless mountain bike tyres respectively.

Trialtir will also pay a royalty to USA Cycling for every USA Cycling Development Foundation jersey sold through the USA Cycling Development Foundation website.

'Race under the Sun' offers a warm season start

Organisers of the 'Race under the Sun' a new MTB race in Cyprus, March 19, 2006 are making final preparations for what promises to be a world-class event. Thomas Frischknecht's Swisspower team, has recently confirmed its participation in the event which will take place in the town of Limassol/Yermasoyia. The Swiss outfit will be sending three riders, including Frischknecht, along with Nino Schurter and Till Marx.

Organisers hope that the Race under the Sun will be a good test for elite riders before the first World Cup round in Curacao two weeks later, April 1-2. The similarity of the two climates during March will offer riders who train and race in Cyprus the chance to acclimatise to the warm conditions also present in Curacao. For more information and registration for the event, visit www.mtbcyprus.com.

Valley of the Sun even bigger in 2006

The 14th annual Valley of the Sun John Earley Memorial stage race, to be held February 17-19 in the greater Phoenix, Arizona area will be bigger and better than ever, according to the organisers. In 2005, approximately 850 cyclists competed in the event, and in 2006 even more riders are expected to compete for their share of over $15,000 in cash and prizes. The three-day event also hosts a variety of fund raising events for various non-profit organisations, including a kids race and the first annual Special Olympics bike race.

The three stages are:

February 17: Stage 1 - Individual time trial
February 18: Stage 2 - Trek road race
February 19: Stage 3 - Landis Cyclery downtown capital criterium

For information or registration for the 2006 Valley of the Sun, John Earley Memorial stage race, please visit www.wmrc.org.

Kelly chases the Austral

Shane Kelly, currently in strong form and fresh from a stunning victory in the keirin at the recent World Cup in Los Angeles will race from the scratch mark in the 108th edition of the Jefferson Ford Austral wheel race at the Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, on February 4.

Kelly, who'll be looking to add this race to a long list of career wins, will become one of only 12 scratch markers to be victorious since 1888 if he takes the victory on Saturday night. In what will possibly be his last public race outing before the 2006 Melbourne Games, Kelly is keen to fine tune his form for the Melbourne games against the likes of Tasmania's Darren Young, who won the event in 2002 and 2003 and a contingent of foreign riders from Canada, England, Ireland, Isle of Man, New Zealand and Scotland, who are all eager to get a win ahead of the games in March.

Racing starts at 7pm, February 4, and tickets are available from $20 at the door, or contact Ticketek on 132 849.

For more information see www.cyclistsinternational.com.au

GWRTeam/Total Bike ready for 2006

On January 28 the GWRTeam/Total Bike launched their new racing team in Swindon, backed by Scott Wilson, Steele Davis, Meta Sports and GWR FM. Forming a new seven-man team for 2006, including the evergreen former Olympian and world championships rider Phil Bayton, the GWRTeam/Total Bike crew will consist of Bayton, his son Grant, Nic Tilling, Ben Luckwell, Peter Kench, Daniel Smith and Gary Smith.

With the aim of becoming the top ranked team in the south division, GWRTeam/Total Bike will compete in the southern crit series, the south divisional championships, the national road race championships, selected national criterium events and the tour of the south in July. There'll also be trips to Belgium for selected kermesses when the national season calendar permits. The team's first target will be the seven-bridge road race on 5 March.

Scott Wilson and Steele Davis will sponsor the team by supplying the riders with Trek and Specialized bikes, with clothing, helmets and Nike shoes provided by Total Bike in Swindon. GWR FM will support the team at selected events this year with the black thunder road show support vehicles and radio coverage of events.

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