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Giro finale
Photo ©: Bettini

Latest Cycling News for June 8, 2006

Edited by Hedwig Kröner

Coming up on

Cyclingnews will cover the 60th edition of the Dauphiné Libéré live as of stage 4 on Wednesday, June 10, at approximately 15:00 local Europe time (CEST)/ 23:00 Australian time (CDT)/ 9:00 (USA East).

WAP-enabled mobile devices: http://live.cyclingnews.com/wap/

King of the GC jungle

An interview with George Hincapie

During last year's Dauphiné Libéré George Hincapie won two stages before heading to France to help secure Lance Armstrong's seventh Tour victory; this year, the week-long tour is one of Hincapie's final preparation races before he tackles France in July as one of Discovery Channel’s GC hopes. It was just before the Dauphiné that he spoke to Cyclingnews' Shane Stokes about his new role, life without Lance and that crash in Paris-Roubaix.

Donning the yellow jersey
Photo ©: AFP
(Click for larger image)

The 2006 edition of the Tour de France has the potential to be a very different experience for George Hincapie after spending the last seven Tours in the service of Lance Armstrong, helping the Texan take a record seven wins. But now, with Armstrong retired, the team will head to the race with no clearly defined chief. Instead, they will have a more open look - José Azevedo, Yaroslaw Popovych, Paolo Savoldelli and Hincapie himself will be the team’s potential GC riders, with support likely to be given to whoever is in the best position later in the Tour.

The notion of Hincapie as a candidate for the yellow jersey may seem a strange one.

He’s better known as a Classics rider after all, with victory in the 2005 Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne and second in that year’s Paris-Roubaix to his credit. Improved performances in the mountains in recent years and good time trialling ability have seen his stock rise in stage races, however, to the point where he's being factored into some observer's Tour calculations.

Last year he won two stages in the Dauphiné Libéré, including the prologue, before going on to take a mountain victory at Saint-Lary Soulan (Pla d'Adet) in the Tour de France. With a 14th place finish overall in Paris, 23'40" behind team leader Armstrong, it's prompted some to wonder what he could achieve if he wasn’t always expending energy riding for someone else.

This year, he may get his chance to find out. Around the time of last year’s Tour directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel first discussed the idea of Hincapie as a possible GC contender; now, almost twelve months later, the American is putting final touches to his Tour preparation at the Dauphiné. He’s looking forward to July, but is also a bit nervous about making any predictions.

“I have never been in this position before,” he told Cyclingnews days before the Dauphiné started in Annency. “I'm very excited about it but I'm definitely hesitant to say how well I will do. I just don't know. I'm pretty sure that I can do a lot better than last year, without expending that energy [riding for Armstrong], but how much better I don't know. Hopefully as good as I can be!”

Click here to read the full interview with George Hincapie.

Basso recons Tour mountain stages

2006 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso
Photo ©: Sirotti
(Click for larger image)

After meticulously preparing for the Giro d'Italia over winter and spring, 2006 maglia rosa winner Ivan Basso is now in phase two of his objectives for this season. The Italian is currently in the French Alps with his directeur sportif and mentor Bjarne Riis, to recon the Alpine stages of the Tour de France coming up in little more than three weeks.

On Saturday, Basso may be seen on the parcours of the Dauphiné Libéré as he intends to take a closer look at the stage between Briançon and La Toussuire, the finish if the 16th stage of this year's Tour.

Boonen in top shape for Tour

The World Champion and one of the peloton's best sprinters, Tom Boonen, has proven again that he is coming along just fine in view of the Tour de France, by winning the Dutch one-day race Venendaal-Venendaal on Wednesday. Indeed, Boonen's preparation for July's Grand Tour seems to have been flawless and certainly spared of any injuries or illnesses after another successful spring classics season.

"After the Tour of Belgium, I went on a training camp in the Alps, and now I could test my legs again here," said the Belgian, who had never participated in the race before. "On Friday, I'll go to the Tour de Suisse, then the Belgian Championships and the Tour de France right after that." Although his biggest rival in view of prestigious French stage wins and the green jersey, Robbie McEwen, wasn't present at the Dutch event in Venendaal, Boonen showed he was on the right track by taking his 16th win this season.

However, his Tour de France teammates are yet to be unveiled. Boonen regretted that Servais Knaven had not been nominated, as reported yesterday: "Of course, that's a shame," the winner of this year's Tour of Flanders said. "The team management is looking for riders who are able to hold on a bit longer in the mountains. That's understandable, but it's still bitter."

Gerolsteiner, Quick.Step for Tour de Suisse

German team Gerolsteiner has announced its line-up in the neighbouring Tour de Suisse starting this Saturday in Baden. Team manager Hans-Michael Holczer has high hopes for his squad in the mountain challenge, especially for team leader Beat Zberg, who just won the GP Gippingen last Sunday. "Beat is in excellent shape," said Holczer. "He can surely lay an eye on the general classification."

Beat Zberg and his brother Markus will be accompanied by fellow Swiss teammates Sven Montgomery and Marcel Strauss, as well as German Markus Fothen and Austrians René Haselbacher and Georg Totschnig. While Haselbacher will want to prove himself in the first four stages, possibly ending in sprint finishes, both Fothen and Totschnig are gearing up to be worthy of their Tour de France selection.

"They will surely try and get their nose into the wind," added Holczer.

Belgian outfit Quick.Step-Innergetic has also released the names of those riders participating in the 1528.4 km stage race in Switzerland. Paolo Bettini, Tom Boonen, Steven De Jongh, Nick Nuyens, Hubert Schwab, Bram Tankink, Matteo Tosatto and Geert Verheyen will be defending the blue colours of the team led by Wilfried Peeters.

Herrero leads Euskaltel in Switzerland

By Antonio J. Salmerón

David Herrero, second in the final general classification of the Euskal Bizikleta, will be the leader of the Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team at the Tour de Suisse, taking place from June 10-18. Herrero will be accompanied by Unai Etxebarria, Iker Flores, Andoni Aranaga, Rubén Pérez, Markel Irizar, Joseba Zubeldia and neo-pro Alan Pérez, the latest acquisition of the orange squad after having to replace Roberto Laiseka, who crashed heavily in stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia and was forced to abandon.

The Basque ProTour team has one main goal this season, namely winning a stage of a ProTour race. Iker Flores, Andoni Aranaga and Markel Irizar are back in competition after their participation in the Giro. Unai Etxebarria showed his good form in the recent Euskal Bizikleta, where he won the G.P. Montaña.

Hondo wins in latest comeback

Danilo Hondo took advantage of his latest comeback to pro cycling and won the Michelstadt Criterium race in Germany on Wednesday. He finished in front of Dirk Müller of Team Target on the 66 km course, clocking 1:35:19. Hondo's doping related ban was lifted on Tuesday by the highest Swiss court, allowing him to race again, at least temporarily.

The court gave the UCI and the WADA until June 23 to submit their written arguments. A date for his new trial has not yet been set.

Courtesy of Susan Westemeyer

Willems signed by Liquigas

Belgian Sportwereld reports that the former leader of the Continental EuropeTour, Frederik Willems (Chocolade Jacques-Topsport Vlaanderen) will be joining Italian Liquigas for the next two seasons. The 26 year-old will then be a teammate of Danilo Di Luca and Vincenzo Nibali.

"I have a basic agreement," said Willems. "I chose Liquigas over Bouygues Telecom which also wanted me. I started my professional career four years ago in Italy, with Mapei, but the project was stopped after one year. Directeur sportif Mario Chiesa noticed me in the Tour Down Under and followed up on me throughout spring. With the arrival of Belgian co-sponsor Primagaz, Liquigas is now also looking for Belgians. I think that there will be more younger riders coming."

Beat Cancer Team Race Across America

Raceplan Coaching and Racing and Swami’s Cycling have announced the formation of the 2006 Beat Cancer Team, an eight-member cycling team that will race in the 2006 edition of the 24-hr Race Across America Relay from San Diego, California to Flagstaff, Arizona on June 11, 2006, to raise money for The Breast Cancer Fund.

"We are more than just eight guys riding through the desert in our pink outfits on top of pink Serotta bikes," said Kam Zardouzian, co-captain of both teams and founder of Raceplan Coaching and Racing. "This is our second year at this event. Last year we managed to complete the 494-mile course in about 25 hours and took a respectable second place to Team Clif Bar. But our biggest accomplishment was raising over $7,000 for the San Diego Chapter of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Fund. This year, with the support of Serotta, Capo Forma and all of our other sponsors, we have raised the stakes. Our goal is to surpass $30,000 for the Breast Cancer Fund and the entire team is wearing pink until we reach our goal."

As a dominant supporter of the Beat Cancer team, Serotta Bikes has donated eight custom pink coloured Legend Ti frames to be raced by the team during the relay race across 494 miles. The bikes will then be auctioned off and proceeds donated to The Breast Cancer Fund.

More information about the Beat Cancer Team can be found at beatcancer.raceplan.com.

Cox Charities Cycling Classic to feature champions

The 5th annual Cox Charities Cycling Classic, featuring 500 cyclists, will take place in Station Park, Providence, Rhode Island, on Sunday, June 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and has announced the participation of riders such as Davide Frattini and brothers Mark and Frank McCormack, all members of the Colavita Olive Oil/Sutter Home Pro Cycling Team.

Frattini is the 2001 winner of the "Baby Giro", the U23 Giro d’Italia. Frank McCormack, a former US Pro Champion, is the defending 2005 Cox Charities Cycling Classic winner, while brother Mark, former U.S. professional champion, won the Tour of Connecticut in 2005.

Racers will compete on a one-mile, five-corner criterium course adjacent to the Providence Place Mall and Rhode Island State House. The money raised will benefit Cox Charities of New England which awards grants to non-profit organizations in Cox’s service area that focus on the education and development of youth.

Food vendors and exhibitors, as well as other family-friendly activities will be set up in Station Park adjacent to the race course throughout the day. Most family activities will start at 9 a.m., and the first race is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. The women’s feature race is scheduled for 10:45 a.m., and the men’s feature race for 1:15 p.m.

This year the Cox Charities Cycling Classic will be held as part of the inaugural New England Raceweek. The top races in New England joined together to kick off the summer cycling season and offer a week of cycling competition from June 24-July 2 in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

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