News from Romandie

Schleck under the weather

Although Team CSC's best-placed rider on the overall classification at the Tour de Romandie, Fränk Schleck wasn't feeling too good before the start of the second stage in Fleurier yesterday, with his directeur sportif Alain Gallopin saying the Luxembourger caught a cold overnight. However, the 25 year-old still managed to finish in the 128-strong peloton after a moderately difficult day, the same time as stage winner and new race leader Alessandro Petacchi (Fassa Bortolo), and therefore hold onto his top 10 position.

"Last night Fränk didn't feel well, but today he was more or less ok, and like the rest of our riders he had no problem keeping up with the peloton," said Gallopin on the team's website, www.team-csc.com.

Schleck's team-mate Giovanni Lombardi also finished fourth in the stage behind Petacchi, but Gallopin acknowledges there's little any team can do against the La Spezia speedster. "Lombardi was right on Petacchi's wheel, and he tried to go for it by opening the sprint. Unfortunately for him, Petacchi is almost unbeatable at the moment," he said.

Kohl looking forward to the cols

Boasting three category one climbs in less than 50 kilometres coupled with a mountain top finish, today's queen stage [Stage 3] of the Tour de Romandie is one for the climbers and could well decide the overall winner of the race. One rider looking forward to the challenge is T-Mobile's Austrian neo-pro, Bernhard Kohl.

"I felt good today and tried my luck with a few attacks," said the 22 year-old, who was part of the short-lived 15-rider break that formed on the climb of La Sagne at roughly the 75 kilometre mark. Prior to joining T-Mobile, Kohl rode for Rabobank's feeder team in 2003 and 2004, as well as Austrian Division III squad Elk Haus Radteam Sportunion Schrems in 2002.