Latest Cycling News for May 15, 2006Edited by Jeff Jones
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Ivan Basso's CSC team didn't have to sit on the front for the entire 10th stage of the Giro between Termoli and Peschici. The Danish team marked the dangerous attacks in the first hour, then settled in once the big breakaway got away. In the final half of the stage, it was Lampre-Fondital doing all the chasing, bringing the leaders back from around six minutes to 3'23 at the finish. Although stage winner Franco Pellizotti moved himself up to fourth on GC, it's unlikely he will threaten Basso in the big mountains next week.
"There were other teams which had an interest in controlling the stage, so we just took it easy and didn't worry too much about the break," said team manager Bjarne Riis on team-csc.com. "We had Lombardi up front and Jens Voigt delivered Ivan perfectly at the finish, so everything went according to plan for us."
Broken rib for Rebellin
The Gerolsteiner camp has reported that Giro d'Italia captain Davide Rebellin is out of the race due to a broken rib, the result of a crash in Stage 10. On the rest day, Rebellin underwent a detailed examination at the hospital in Prato. Based on the X-rays, doctors diagnosed a broken rib as well as a deep flesh wound below his right knee.
"Our team doctor Giuliano Peruzzi already determined yesterday that it could be a serious injury, and registered him for X-rays in the Prato hospital," said team director Christian Henn. "Davide was in a lot of pain breathing." Henn also noted that Rebellin had broken a rib "a couple of ribs higher" during the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, which hindered him in the Ardennes Classics.
Rebellin returned home today and will start his recovery there. "It's a shame that I have to leave my home tour in this way, because by the end of the week there would have been another suitable stage for me," said Rebellin.
Rogers at the dentist; Ullrich happy to be "safe and sound"
Michael Rogers (T-Mobile) had a quiet day in the saddle on Tuesday, finishing 54th in the 10th stage of the Giro between Termoli and Peschici. "As a team we weren’t so active today, no maglia rosa to defend, no bunch to control or sprint to lead out, but it was another chance to get race kilometres into the legs; the reason I’m here in the first place," he wrote in his diary on t-mobile-team.com.
But it hasn't all been easy for Rogers, who had to pay a visit to the dentist on Monday evening. "I suffered toothache and had to visit the dentist after the race. He found two cavities. Got that sorted and was able to continue this morning without any problems. Though I took a bit of a backseat in the race."
After another late night transfer, Rogers and the team are looking forward to today's rest day, which will be another day tuning up on the time trial bikes, ready for Thursday's flat test against the clock. "Then on Thursday it is really down to business; the time trial is flat and fast and over 50k, a distance that suits me and a chance to get my diesel motoring. For me, it's definitely the most important stage still to come in the Giro and a chance to test my progress ahead of the Tour. Serhiy and Jan are also looking forward to. It’s a useful benchmark fro all of us and a big day for the team."
Jan Ullrich commented after the stage, "Things went smoothly for me out there today. Unfortunately there were none of us on the winning break. Maybe we started today with a few tired legs from the previous stages. Lampre really upped the pace in the final kilometres. I am just happy that I reached the line safe and sound."
Matthias Kessler turned 27 yesterday, but didn't get any special birthday presents. "It was a tough stage," said T-Mobile sporting director Rudy Pevenage. "'Matze' wanted to do something on his birthday, but unfortunately the breaks he got into didn't stick."
Boonen back in Tour of Belgium
The 76th Tour of Belgium runs between May 24-28, and will see the return of World Champion and defending champion Tom Boonen to racing. "I'm a bit tired of the long training rides I've done in recent weeks," said Boonen to VRT. "I yearn for competition. After the Scheldeprijs, I did nothing for eight or nine days. I had to recover, especially get my head clear again. I was still in reasonably good form, so then you come back to your level quickly. I built up calmly and I'm reasonably good again. Of course I'd like to win the Tour of Belgium again, but I don't know if that will happen immediately."
The five day race starts on the west coast in Oostende, and finishes in Putte. The race consists mostly of flat stages, with the first two being run around the coastal region (Oostende and Knokke-Heist), then a split day on Friday with a 15.9 km time trial in Buggenhout in the morning, followed by a flat 111.7 km stage between Buggenhout and Londerzeel in the afternoon.
The fourth stage, on Saturday, should be more decisive. It's the longest of the race at 203.6 km, and takes place between Londerzeel and Huy. The notorious Mur de Huy features in the route, although it comes with 17 km to go, and is not the finishing climb. However, with a total of six climbs in the last 80 km, the stage will not suit the sprinters. The final stage is between Nuy and Putte, and is again mostly flat.
Apart from Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) and teammate Nick Nuyens, the start list will see most of the top Belgian riders present. Davitamon-Lotto (Peter Van Petegem, Gert Steegmans) and Discovery Channel (Leif Hoste, Stijn Devolder, Jurgen Van den Broeck) are the other two ProTour teams present among the 17 total teams. The other teams include Chocolade Jacques (Eeckhout), Unibet.com (Cooke), Landbouwkrediet (De Waele), Jartazi (Abakoumov, Muravyev), Bodysol (Cornu), Bergasol (Streel), Yawadoo (Vanderaerden), Profel (De Champs), Panaria (Matveyev), Skil (Vierhouten), Ubbink (Slippens, Stam), Tenax (Baldato, Petito), Rabobank Continental (Nys, Boom, Groenendaal), LPR (Konyshev, Maccanti).
The race is ranked as a 2.1 category event on the UCI's European Tour, but the organisers hope to get it promoted to Hors Category.
The stages
Stage 1 - May 24: Oostende-Oostende, 180.9 km
Stage 2 - May 25: Oostende-Knokke Heist, 180.5 km
Stage 3a - May 26: Buggenhout ITT, 15.9 km
Stage 3b - May 26: Buggenhout-Londerzeel, 111.7 km
Stage 4 - May 27: Londerzeel-Hoei, 203.6 km
Stage 5 - May 28: Hoei-Putte, 182.7 km
Valverde voted best sportsman in his region
By Antonio J. Salmeron
Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne-Illes Balears) has been voted the best sportsman of 2005 in his home region of Murcia. Valverde shared the prize, which was organised by the Murcian Sport Press Association, with Olympic athlete Juan Manuel Molina (UCAM-Athleo). The celebration took place in the capital of Murcia, and was presented by local president Ramón Luis Valcárcel, who highlighted in his closing speech, "the extraordinary honour and individual effort of Alejandro Valverde as one of the best riders in global cycling."
Kelly and Beutler to ride for Aaron's at Triple Crown
The Aaron's Pro Women's Cycling Team will be adding World Cup contenders Helen Kelly and Annette Beutler for the USA's Triple Crown Series, including the Philadelphia International Classic. Coming off of a very successful first half of the World Cup season, Beutler currently ranks 7th in the individual standings. Aaron's team director, Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat commented, "Helen, Annette and the Aaron's team have been anxious to ride with each other all season long. We have been working diligently to find time where Helen and Annette's World Cup schedule would allow them to race with the Aaron's Pro Women's Team. The timing worked out perfectly for us, as everyone is very excited to have them join our squad for the Triple Crown series!"
Helen and Annette will be joining recent NRC podium finishers, Catherine Powers (2nd place at Sunny King last weekend) and Shannon Hutchison-Krupat (3rd at Athens the weekend before), as well as Candice Blickem and the up and coming Mackenzie Dickey.
Australian BMX World's team named
Cycling Australia and BMX Australia have announced the 11 member team that has been selected to contest the 2006 World Championships in Sao Paolo, Brazil from July 28-30.
Elite Men (5)*
Wade Bootes (Broadbeach Waters, Gold Coast, Qld)
Jamie Gray (Eagelby, Brisbane, Qld)
Kamakazi (alias Jamie Hildebrandt) (Jimboomba, Qld)
Michael Robinson (Greenbank, Brisbane, Qld)
Warwick Stevenson (Minto, NSW)
* Luke Madill (Cranebrook, Sydney NSW) qualified as the 6th team member however due to injuries sustained at the National Championships he has withdrawn.
Elite Women (3)
Tanya Bailey (Mariginiup, Perth, WA)
Krystal Cranfield (Gladstone, Qld)
Renee Junga (Capalaba, Brisbane, Qld)
Junior Elite Men (2)
James Dixon (Safety Bay, WA)
Todd Pascoe (Kelso, Townsville, Qld)
Junior Elite Women (1)
Melissa Mankowski (Moranbah, Qld)
Dutch journalists' championships in Boekel
This year's Dutch cycling journalists' championships will take place in Boekel on September 16. The event will receive a boost with the scheduling of a professional women's men's derny race, which will run in between the journalists' races. The defending journalists' champions are Rodrick de Munnik (Fiets, Men A), Pieter Evelein (ANP, Men B) and Manon Colson (Sportweek, Women).
A day after the championship will be a special women's cycling event called Leontien's Ladies Ride, which will start in ’s-Hertogenbosch. From Den Bosch, the around 4000 women will ride to Boekel and back, finishing with a big party on the Parade. More information: www.leontiensladiesride.nl
Program
15:00: Dutch journalists championships B Men/Women, 20 km
15:50: Women's Derny Spektakel Boekel, 15 pairs, 45 km
17:00: Ceremony for elite women
17:15: Dutch journalists championships A Men, 40 km
18:15: Presentation GP Boekel derny race
18:30: GP Boekel behind dernys, pro men, 15 pairs, 75 km
19:30: Ceremony for GP Boekel
19:45: Host Rick van der Kroon
21:15: End of program
(All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2006)
