Latest Cycling News for August 2, 2005Edited by Anthony Tan August preview: The summer heats upThe ProTour schedule for August means that all teams will be racing for almost every day of the month. Les Clarke takes a look at what's in store for the ProTour and the Women's World Cup, both of which will keep riders and teams busy right throughout the remainder of summer.
After a tiring July for ProTour teams as they battled their way around France, August is upon us, and with it the ProTour and Women's World Cup get right back into the swing of things. With five ProTour events, plus two women's World Cup rounds, it's one of the season's most demanding periods as the season is far from finished. The calendar for August ProTour races: August 3-10: Eneco Tour of Benelux Women's World Cup schedule: August 20: Grand Prix of Wales Five ProTour events fill the four weeks, with two being one-day events (Clasica San Sebastian and GP Ouest France-Plouay), two shorter stage races (Tour of Benelux and Deutschland Tour) and a Grand Tour (Vuelta a Espana) thrown in for good measure. Some observers make the point that August is no busier than April, when there are eight ProTour events, including the cobbled classics of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. The difference, however, is that April's races are mostly single-day events, with the longest race being the Tour de Romandie, which lasts six days. The total number of days racing in April is 17, whereas in August there are 24 days spent slugging it out against the world's best over half a dozen countries. In April, riders are relatively fresh and working into some form - in August they are either carrying form over from the Tour de France or coming out of mid-season races and training blocks. It's sure to stretch riders to the limit both physically and mentally, and potentially causes plenty of headaches for team management. Click here to read the rest of the story. Will Gerrans get his chance?By Anthony Tan
With Ag2r-Prevoyance unable to compete in the bidding war against teams like Discovery Channel, T-Mobile and Liberty Seguros when it comes to recruiting new blood, combined with the perennial lack of results from French riders, Australian neo-pro Simon Gerrans is likely to get more chances to shine after his performance at this year's Tour de France. Vincent Lavenu's team, along with Crédit Agricole, was said to be in the running for the Alexandre Vinokourov's signature in 2006. But in the end, it came down to a question of money - which both teams don't have a lot of - and the overall capabilities of a team that could support the Kazahkstani in his bid to win the Tour de France. "I've had the guarantee I will be able to fully focus on the Tour de France," said Vinokourov of his move to Liberty Seguros for the next three seasons. "I chose the team with the best arguments. It's the most organised and the most experienced team. They have the best riders in the mountains and are among the best in the team time trials. It was a natural choice." For Ag2r, some consolation was the recent signing of Christophe Moreau, the best-placed Frenchman at this year's Tour in 11th place overall, but still, Vino was an opportunity lost. But what can you do with a budget of four million Euros a year? One thing is to rely more heavily on promising foreigners like Simon Gerrans, Mark Scanlon, Yuriy Krivtsov and Tomas Vaitkus. On the Tour's seventeenth stage from Pau to Revel, which came after a difficult final day in the Pyrenées, Gerrans proved to be one of the four strongest riders in what was originally a 17-man breakaway, and eventually finished third to winner Paolo Savoldelli, this year's Giro d'Italia champion. "I thought it could be a good stage for me, so I just played my cards," said the 25 year-old Gerrans. "Tried to make the early break and look after myself in that group until the attacks starting going with about 40k to go, and managed to get into the front group and once again look after myself on that last climb. Unfortunately, I had nothing left in that last kilometre." Said his proud mentor Phil Anderson, still Australia's best Tour de France rider and who hails from the same area of Victoria as his protégé: "Simon just blew me away. The hairs on the back on my neck were standing up and it was just like I was there with him! You could see he was really stuffed, but geez, just to get a placing like that, just to finish in that front of the field was great. "I still remember Simon when he was still in nappies," chuckled Anderson. "My wife and I spent quite a bit of time with Simon and his family back in the high country, back in Victoria. It's just awesome to see a young, snotty-nosed kid from Goughs Bay be up there and be at the top of world cycling." However, with the divide between Professional Continental and ProTour teams ever-widening, Lavenu will need to find more money or Gerrans a new team to realise his full potential in years to come. Quick.Step for upcoming racesQuick.Step-Innergetic will send the following teams to the upcoming races, all starting this week: Eneco Tour of Benelux (August 3-10) Riders: Dimitri De Fauw, Kevin De Weert, Ad Engels, Servais Knaven, Kevin
Hulsmans, Nick Nuyens, Jurgen Van Goolen, Rik Verbrugghe GP Camaiore (August 4) Riders: Paolo Bettini, Davide Bramati, Mads Christensen, Davide Viganò,
Luca Paolini, Filippo Pozzato, Stefano Zanini, Ivan Santaromita Giro del Lazio (August 6) Riders: Paolo Bettini, Davide Bramati, Mads Christensen, Davide Viganò,
Luca Paolini, Filippo Pozzato, Stefano Zanini, Ivan Santaromita Liquigas for upcoming racesLiquigas-Bianchi will send the following line-ups to this week's upcoming races, which sees Danilo Di Luca at the GP Camaiore and Giro del Lazio, the ProTour leader making his return at the HEW-Cyclassics-Cup last weekend in Germany. Italian champion Enrico Gasparotto will be at the Benelux Tour, while stagiaire Mauro Da Dalto from Marchiol IMA Famila Site, the feeder team for Liquigas-Bianchi, will test himself at Camaiore and Lazio. Two more stagiaires, Eros Capecchi (GS Mastromarco) and Alberto Di Lorenzo (Bottoli-Artoni-Zoccorinese), will make their debut with the team at the Due Giorni Marchigiana, from August 9-10. Eneco Tour of Benelux (August 3-10) Riders: Patrick Calcagni, Enrico Gasparotto, Nicola Loda, Marco Milesi,
Matej Mugerli, Marco Righetto, Gianluca Sironi, Marco Zanotti GP Camaiore (August 4) Riders: Kjell Carlström, Dario Cioni, Mauro Da Dalto, Danilo Di Luca,
Oscar Mason, Miholjevic, Devis Miorin, Andrea Noè, Franco Pellizotti,
Charles Wegelius Giro del Lazio (August 6) Riders: Kjell Carlström, Dario Cioni, Mauro Da Dalto, Danilo Di Luca,
Oscar Mason, Miholjevic, Devis Miorin, Andrea Noè, Franco Pellizotti,
Charles Wegelius Lampre & Gerolsteiner for Eneco TourGeneral Manager of Lampre-Cafitta, Giuseppe Saronni, has confirmed the following line-up of riders to the Eneco Tour of Benelux ProTour race, which begins in Mechelen, Belgium tomorrow and continues until August 10. Riders: Alessandro Ballan, Daniele Bennati, Gianluca Bortolami, Giosuè
Bonomi, Enrico Franzoi, Samuele Marzoli, Paolo Fornaciari Gerolsteiner will send the following eight riders to the Eneco Tour: Riders: René Haselbacher, Frank Hoj, Andrea Moletta, Sven Montgomery, Uwe Peschel, Davide Rebellin, Marco Serpellini, Thomas Ziegler (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2005) |
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