Latest Cycling News for June 9, 2006Edited by Jeff Jones
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). Disappointments on the Ventoux?
Among the Tour de France candidates riding the Dauphiné Libéré stage to Mont Ventoux yesterday, there were a few surprises. Only a handful of the favourites took the bull by the horns and gave it their best on the Giant of Provence, while the others either didn't want to burn themselves too much with the Tour just over three weeks away, or simply lacked the form. Even stage winner Denis Menchov (Rabobank) was surprised that he reached the top first, having started his season only a month ago. But third placed Levi Leipheimer, who took over the leader's jersey, is definitely of a mind to attack the race with the ambition to win. Christophe Moreau, Francisco Mancebo and Jose Azevedo also rode hard on the climb, but the rest were lacking. Perhaps the most surprising was Floyd Landis (Phonak), who was the best placed GC rider behind Gilbert before the stage, and even had his team riding on the front to bring the break back before the climb. But Landis ended up finishing 56th, losing 9'30 and any hope of the GC win, and it will be his first week-long stage race loss this year. "I had a really bad patch," said Landis to L'Equipe. "Everything was still going well up until the bottom, because I asked my teammates to ride. But, on the first slopes, there were accelerations. Then, out of gas..."
Alejandro Valverde and George Hincapie finished in the top 20, 3'13 behind the winner. They were the best of the rest, as far as Tour GC contenders were concerned, and while Hincapie looked the better of the two, Valverde found it genuinely tough going. "I was not really good. It's the first time I've climbed the Ventoux, and I can say that it's more difficult than the Pyrenean cols that I've done before. Pereiro tried to give me morale by indicating that Landis, Hincapie and Vinokourov were in difficulty. I wasn't able to catch up with him to point out that we were, too." Besides Hincapie losing 3'13, Discovery's Yaroslav Popovych also lost 5'02, but team boss Johan Bruyneel told Sportwereld that there was no reason to panic. "This was only their first big climbing effort in a race," he said. "This is also the reason why the Ventoux was three kilometres too long for a climber like José Azevedo." Finally, Alexandre Vinokourov (Würth) was only 81st at 13'10, riding within himself and perhaps taking a leaf out of Bjarne Riis' book in light of the Tour. "I have calmly set my preparation further back," said Vino. "I just rode my own rhythm to the top." Two more mountain stages remain in the Dauphiné, and the Tour favourites will be watched, and will be watching each other with interest. Niermann: "We made it easy" for Menchov"Denis Menchov was the strongest today in the Dauphiné and could celebrate on Mount Ventoux for the second time in his career," wrote Grischa Niermann, who takes credit for his teammate's stage win, on grischa-niermann.de. "Of course, we made it very easy for him. At the foot of the final climb, I brought Denis to the head of the field so that all he had to do was raise his arms in victory." Was it really that easy? "Oh well, before that he still had to go 20 km up the mountain." The Rabobank rider added that the win was "exactly the right answer to all the media criticism in Holland the past weeks. We won't get the leader's jersey until Saturday, I hope, that way we won't have to ride in front so much." Stitches for Erik DekkerErik Dekker (Rabobank) will not start Friday's fifth stage of the Dauphiné, as he had to have stitches in his knee following a crash yesterday. Dekker will have to rest for a couple of days before he can ride again. Saunier Duval for the Tour de SuisseSpanish/Swiss team Saunier Duval-Prodir has named a strong but young line up for the Tour de Suisse. The team will include José Ángel Gómez Marchante, winner of the Vuelta a Pais Vasco earlier this season, who will use the Tour de Suisse to fine tune for the Tour de France. Koldo Gil, the recent winner of the Euskal Bizikleta, has highlighted the Tour de Suisse as one of his main events, while David Cañada, who won the Volta a Catalunya, will also be part of the roster. The rest of the team is Oliver Zaugg, David de la Fuente, Javier Mejías, Alberto Fernández and Luciano Pagliarini.
An interview with Chris Wherry - Part IIIn Part I of Mark Zalewski's interview with Chris Wherry they spoke about the reigning USPRO champion's illness and consequent late start to racing in 2006, something this year's Captain America has dealt with well. In Part II of their chat, Wherry speaks about changes to the USPRO Championship, Health Net and his aspirations for this year and beyond with Toyota-United Pro. Those streets of Philadelphia
While Wherry is benefiting from the fact that the USPRO is three months later, he's still a little nostalgic about winning it in Philly, which is no longer possible. "It's a race that has a spot in my heart now. It's one of those races I'll always want to do well at. I've had some good rides there in the past, and last year it finally all came together. I do have mixed feelings about the USPRO championship not being [in Philly.] Obviously it means a lot to me to race in Philadelphia now, and I would like to have a good race there on Sunday. But it is also a positive sign that we can have a good American-only championship. That's an indicator that the sport is alive and well here in America."
"I am happy that these guys got Philly together even at the last minute because it is such a great race. It would have been a huge loss to American cycling to lose the week of racing. We already lost San Francisco, and yeah, Tour of California stepped in which is a huge bonus for the early part of the season - but to lose New York and San Francisco...if we'd lost this [Philly] things would have been tough," he says. With one race of the series down, Wherry believes that having only one ProTour team represented isn't such a bad thing for the racing. "If Lancaster is any indication of what this week will be like, the races seem almost harder to me," he says. "It was so aggressive in Lancaster - constant attacks. I'm sure it's going to be like that on Thursday night, and the race in Philadelphia will force some to conserve because of the distance. I'm sure it will be a more active race than usual." Click here for the second part of the interview Gesink goes pro with RabobankThe Rabobank team has announced that Robert Gesink will join its ProTour squad some time in 2007. Currently riding for Rabobank Continental, Gesink has reached a two year agreement with Theo de Rooij, general director of the Rabobank Cycling Teams. The team has not yet decided when Gesink will make the switch. This season, the 20 year-old Gesink won the general classification of Settimana Ciclista Lombarda, after winning the wet stage to Vertova. Earlier, he made quite an impression by beating well-known professionals like Davide Rebellin and Kim Kirchen in finishing second in the tough mountain stage of the Volta ao Algarve. In 2002 and 2004 he was Dutch national junior champion in the individual time trial. At the junior World Championships of Verona 2004 he finished eighth in the individual time trial and sixth in the road race. Team Successful Living signs Gordon McCauleyThe Successful Living Professional Cycling Team has signed New Zealander Gordon McCauley for the remainder of the 2006 season. McCauley was released voluntarily by Team Monex, and will make his Successful Living debut at the Philadelphia International Championships, on June 11 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Team Successful Living Director Steve Hegg commented, "Adding a rider like McCauley gives our team some additional horse power, and experience as we move into the second part of the year." McCauley is the current New Zealand road race champion and will compete to keep his title in November after the season here comes to a conclusion in September. "Gordon just came off a bronze medal performance in the Commonwealth games a few months ago, and I'm personally looking forward to seeing his abilities against the clock, as well as his aggressive riding style I've heard much about," said Hegg. "I think his racing style will set a good example for some of our younger riders in stretching their limits." Ryan Yee, a former teammate of McCauley with Monex, added, "He fits in well with the squad, and I am looking forward to racing with him again in upcoming events like Tour de Nez, Cascade Cycling Classic, and Philadelphia PCT." The Ditty Bops cross the USA on bikes
American rock band, the Ditty Bops, is taking a novel approach to promoting an album: by riding their bikes across the USA. Assisted by the Adventure Cycling Association, the group's members Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald will tour the country on two wheels, playing live shows at theatres, music halls, bike shops, and old barns (Nebraska farmers get ready) in support of their new album Moon Over the Freeway, recently released on Warner Bros. Records. "We decided to do the tour this way to promote not only our album, but also cycling and cleaner air," said DeWald, who left Los Angeles with Barrett on May 25. "If we can ride our bikes across the country and play music, we hope others will be inspired to ride their bikes more often." Bicycle travel expert Adventure Cycling is providing the Ditty Bops with route and technical expertise. Whenever possible the Ditty Bops are following Adventure Cycling's 34,000-mile National Bicycle Route Network. Adventure Cycling's maps for the network try to show the best, safest, and most scenic routes as well as bike shops and places to stay, camp, and eat. When they're not following the NBRN, the Ditty Bops will use The Cyclists' Yellow Pages to locate other routes, maps, and cycling resources. For example, in Missouri, they'll ride the 220-mile Katy Trail, in Illinois they'll follow the Route 66 Bicycle Route (recently developed by the League of Illinois Bicyclists), and in Cleveland they'll ride bicycle routes mapped by Columbus Outdoor Pursuits Cyclists' Yellow Pages. As they ride, The Ditty Bops are raising money for Adventure Cycling's efforts to inspire people to travel by bike (www.adventurecycling.org/dittybops). As a nonprofit, all donations are tax-deductible. They'll also be handing out Adventure Cycling flyers at their shows. You can check out the Ditty Bops' blog at www.thedittybopsbiketour.blogspot.com, where besides daily ride and show updates, they keep a running tally of everything they eat and all the roadkill they pedal past. (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006) |
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